RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SPS/W/82/Rev.1
1October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4107)
Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
APROCEDURE TOMONITOR THE PROCESS OF
INTERNATIONAL HARMONIZATION
Proposal bytheChairman
Revision
Introduction
1. Articles 3.5and12.4oftheSPSAgreement require theCommittee todevelop aprocedure
tomonitor theprocess ofinternational harmonization andtheuseofinternational standards, guidelines
orrecommendations. Withtheaimofencouraging Members touseinternational standards, guidelines
andrecommendations, theunderlying purpose ofthisprocedure istoidentify where there isamajor
impact ontrade resulting from thenon-use ofthose international standards, guidelines or
recommendations andtodetermine thereasons forthenon-use ofthestandard, guideline or
recommendation concerned. Moreover, itshould alsohelptoidentify, forthebenefit oftherelevant
international organizations, where astandard, guideline orrecommendation wasneeded orwasnot
appropriate.Thisrequires(a)identificationoftheinternationalstandards,guidelinesorrecommendations
ofconcern oranidentification ofthecaseswhere aninternational standard, guideline orrecommendation
wasrequired; and(b)information fromMembers ontheiruseornon-use oftheidentified standards,
guidelines orrecommendations, andthereasons therefor. InthelightofMembers 'reasons fornon-use,
theSPSCommittee might wanttomake anappropriate recommendation toMembers, ortotherelevant
international standard-setting bodytoconsider reviewing andpossibly revising theexisting standard,
guideline orrecommendation.
2. Thedevelopment ofamonitoring procedure hasbeendiscussed atevery formal meeting of
theSPSCommittee. Three submissions from Members have suggested possible approaches:
G/SPS/W/51 from theEuropean Communities (March 1996), G/SPS/W/76 from theUnited States
(October 1996) andG/SPS/W/81 fromtheUnited States (March 1997). During thediscussion ofthese
various submissions participants havemade itclear thattheydonotwantaburdensome procedure,
thatduplication ofthework undertaken bytherelevant standard-setting bodies mustbeavoided, and
thatthemonitoring procedure should focus onthose standards, guidelines orrecommendations that
haveamajor impact ontrade.
3. Onthebasisofthese concerns, andtoavoid further delays, itisproposed thattheCommittee
agree toimplement thefollowing monitoring procedure onaprovisional basis. Theproposal isdrawn
fromthesubmissions bytheMembers mentioned above, aswellasfromthediscussion intheCommittee
onthese submissions. TheCommittee should alsoagree toreview theoperation oftheprovisional
monitoring procedure [18]months afteritsimplementation, withaviewtodeciding atthattimewhether
tocontinue withthesame procedure, amend itordevelop another one.G/SPS/W/82/Rev.1
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Proposed Monitoring Procedure
4. Intheinitial stages, thescope ofamonitoring system should belimited tothestandards,
guidelines orrecommendations developed bytheinternational organizations specifically citedinthe
SPSAgreement.1TheCommitteeshould,atasubsequentstageandiftheneedarises,considerstandards,
guidelines orrecommendations produced byother international organizations.
5. Theinternational standards, guidelines orrecommendations proposed byMembers tobe
monitored (seeparagraph 6),onthebasis ofthelistsavailable totheCommittee2,should belimited
tothose which haveamajor trade impact. Thetrade impact ofaninternational standard, guideline
orrecommendation should bedetermined primarily onthebasis oftheextent towhich Members use
thestandard (apply ittoimports) andthefrequency orseverity ofproblems experienced inthetrade
ofthegoods covered bythestandard.
6. Members should submit, atleast[15]daysinadvance ofeachregular meeting oftheCommittee,
concrete examples ofwhattheyconsider tobesignificant tradeproblems which theybelieve arerelated
totheuseornon-use ofrelevant international standards, guidelines orrecommendations. Intheir
submissions, Members should describe thenature ofeachtrade problem andnotewhether itisthe
result of:
(a) thenon-use ofanappropriate existing international standard, guideline or
recommendation; or
(b) thenon-existence orinappropriateness ofanexisting international standard, guideline
orrecommendation, i.e.thatitisout-dated, technically flawed, etc.
7. Thestandards, guidelines orrecommendations identified byMembers asabove willbecompiled
bytheSecretariat. TheSecretariat should circulate thesubmissions ithasreceived toallMembers,
asmuch inadvance oftheCommittee 'smeeting aspossible, inorder toprovide allMembers which
haveaninterest intheidentified standards, guidelines orrecommendations withsufficient opportunity
toprepare anyresponses theydeem appropriate, inparticular withrespect totheiruseornon-use of
thestandards, guidelines orrecommendations andthereasons therefor. Should anyMember sorequest,
theSecretariat willnotinclude initsannual report onthismonitoring procedure (seeparagraph 10)
anyspecific issueraised inthesesubmissions untilMembers havehadtheopportunity toprovide further
commentsandtodiscussthosecommentsinoneadditionalCommitteemeetingsubsequenttothemeeting
inwhich theissue isfirstraised.
8. TheCommittee ortheChairperson mayinvite therelevant standard-setting body toprovide
information, either inwriting orthrough presentations attherelevant regular meeting oftheCommittee,
onthestandard under consideration, including withregard toanychanges oron-going revisions.
9. Iftheinformation submitted byMembers indicates theexistence ofissues thathaveamajor
impact oninternational trade andareofwidespread concern toMembers, suchissues maybeplaced
ontheregular agenda oftheCommittee meeting, or,asappropriate, theChairperson maycoordinate
consultations within thisCommittee aimed atdeveloping proposals forresolving suchissues.
1Codex, OIEandIPPC
2G/SPS/GEN/29 (Codex), G/SPS/GEN/30 (OIE) andG/SPS/GEN/31 (IPPC)G/SPS/W/82/Rev.1
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10. TheSecretariatshouldprepareanannualreporttotheCommitteeonthetradeproblemsidentified
byMembers andtheircomments regarding theuseornonuseoftheidentified international standards,
guidelines orrecommendations andofthecases where aninternational standard, guideline or
recommendationwasrequired.TheCommitteewilltransmitthisreporttotheinternationalorganizations
responsible fordeveloping therelevant sanitary andphytosanitary standards, guidelines or
recommendations. Itisexpected thatMembers willtakethisinformation intoaccount, through their
participation inthese international organizations, inestablishing those organizations 'work priorities.
Further Action
11. Asnoted inparagraph 3,inreviewing theoperation ofthisprovisional monitoring procedure,
theCommittee maywantatalaterstagetoconsider theneedforamore focused monitoring procedure.
Inparticular, theCommittee maywishtoconsider using those standards which havebeenidentified
ashavingamajorimpactoninternationaltradeandareofwidespreadconcerntoMembers(paragraph10
refers) asthebasisforapilotproject toascertain howMembers aredealing withmeasures pertaining
tothestandards ofconcern.