. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/161 
19 October 2004 
 (04-4395) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
SECOND REVIEW OF THE OPERAT ION AND IMPLEMENTATION  
OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
 
Comments from the Separate Customs Territory  of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on 
Monitoring the Use of International Standards (Articles 3.5 and 12.4 ) 
 
 I. BACKGROUND 
1. Article 3.4 of the SPS Agreement states that, "Me mbers shall play a full part, within the limits 
of their resources, in the relevant international orga nizations and their subsidia ry bodies, in particular 
the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Internationa l Office of Epizootics, and the international and 
regional organizations operating within the frame work of the International Plant Protection 
Convention, to promote within these organizations th e development and periodic review of standards, 
guidelines and recommendations with respect to all aspects of sanitary and phytosanitary measures". 
2. Members are deemed, therefore, to have the right  and the obligation to actively participate in 
the process of the SPS-related international or regi onal organizations in developing, amending and 
reviewing relevant standards, guidelines and recommendations, in order that the greatest possible 
harmonization of SPS measures with international sta ndards may be achieved.  Furthermore, in its 
Background Document (G/SPS/GEN/510, paragraph 22 ) the SPS Committee considered that it was 
more appropriate for the concerns of the developi ng countries to be addressed within the relevant 
international organizations. 
3. The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu is a developing 
country Member of the WTO and, in addition, a me mber of only one of the relevant international 
organizations in this context, the OIE.  We are not a member of the CODEX or of the IPPC-associated 
organizations.  There is no direct channel throug h which we are able to submit our comments to these 
latter organizations, or participate in  the review process of draft intern ational standards.  Our interests, 
and those of other Members in a similar situation,  could thus be impaired by the application of 
international standards set by the above-mentione d international organiza tions.  We take the 
opportunity in this paper to share with Members our comments and proposals. 
II. SUGGESTED WAYS TO IMPROVE MEMBERS’ PARTICIPATION 
4. Various suggestions have already been put forw ard on ways to improve Members’ awareness 
of, and participation in, the work of interna tional standardizing bodies.  In our view, the 
implementation by the SPS Committee of the follo wing could produce some extremely beneficial 
results: 
(a) Continue to request from the relevant bodies regular updates on the latest 
developments in interna tional standardization; 
 
 G/SPS/W/161 
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 (b) Invite WTO Members to assess and identify on  a regular basis the priority issues 
concerning international standardization; 
(c) Ask the relevant standardizing bodies to: 
(i) evaluate the practicability of video conferencing the technical committee 
meetings for those interested Member s that do not have the funding or the 
resources to attend, and/or, 
(ii) invite interested WTO Members as guests or observers to the technical 
committee meetings, even if they ar e not members of the standardizing 
bodies. 
(d) Members benefiting from any of the above would be asked to report progress to the 
SPS Committee. 
III. THE SPS COMMITTEE AS A "BRIDGE" TO THE INTERNATIONAL 
ORGANIZATIONS 
5. At the same time, because most of the above -mentioned initiatives will have to come from the 
international standardizing bodies themselves, we would propose that the SPS Committee, in 
cooperation with the international organizations , seeks to establish adequate trans-organization 
mechanisms that will allow us, and Members in situations similar to ours, the opportunity of 
participating in their operations and thereby en suring that ideas are implemented effectively and 
equitably. 
6. To be more precise, we envisage the SPS Committee acting as the "bridge" to the 
standardizing bodies, in order that the interests under the SPS Agreement, not just of Members in 
special situations but those of all WTO Members, may be secured. 
IV. AD HOC ADMINISTRATIVE REGIME 
7. If such a system of direct cooperation with the international organizations via the SPS 
Committee cannot be established, we suggest that the WTO shall (at least passively) act to ensure that 
the rights and interests of WTO Members will not be impaired in any international standards 
developed and adopted without adequa te Member participation.  In this respect, we propose that the 
SPS Committee establishes an ad hoc administrative regime for the purposes of reviewing the 
adequacy of each relevant international standard  under free trade conditions, receiving claims and 
complaints submitted by Members with regard to th e implementation of such international standards, 
and assisting Members in overcoming relevant difficulties. 
8. We believe that such a mechanism will be  required in order to establish a regular 
communication channel between the SPS Committee a nd the relevant international standardization 
bodies, if all Members’ needs in this respect ar e to be properly addressed.  Tangible results should 
also be produced that can be used to evaluate th e effectiveness of the technical assistance provided. 
 
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