WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/85
23 July 1998
(98-2921)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Submission made by India at the Meeting of 10-11 June 1998
1. In India’s view  the operation of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
Measures,  during the first three years of its existence reveals the significant potential of the
Agreement to further the objectives of GATT 1994, especially in ensuring that SPS measures do not
in any way create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.  India is of the view that the SPS
Agreement strives to achieve the twin objectives of  providing Members the flexibility  to adopt such
measures which may be necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, while at the same
time specifically providing that such measures do not constitute a disguised restriction to
international trade.  In India’s view one of the prime objectives of this review is therefore to examine
whether these twin objectives have been achieved, or whether in trying to meet one objective the
achievement of the other is being  derogated.  Issues related to the "special and differentialprovisions" and those related to "technical assistance" are obviously fundamental to such an analysis .
Special and differential provisions
2. The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, while providing
Members flexibility to adopt such measures which may be necessary to protect human, animal or
plant life or health, simultaneously stresses that these measures should not in any way becomedisguised barriers to international trade. The Ag reement accordingly enshrines the principle that SPS
measures should not become a means of arbitrary or  unjustified discrimination.  Very often, however,
it has  been observed that SPS measures have been invoked in a discriminatory manner to the
detriment of international trade, particularly that  originating from developing and least developed
countries.  Developing countries are at times constrained by lack of adequate infrastructure, as well asconstraints of technology, finance and skilled manpower, because of which they encounter special
difficulties in complying with the SPS measures of their trading partners.  As a result, their market
access suffers, particularly since developing countries often find it difficult to adjust to constantly
evolving SPS measures.
3.  It is evident that due recognition needs to be given to the needs of developing countries.
India therefore places special importance, as a developing country, on the successful implementation,
both in letter and spirit, of those provisions of the Agreement which are directed towards addressing
the special interests of developing countries.  At the outset we would like to note that special and
differential provisions in favour of developing country Members are an integral part of the WTOAgreements.  It is therefore important to assess the status of implementation of these provisions in the
context of the functioning of the SPS Agreement in the first three years of its existence. Any such
assessment should necessarily be made with the obj ective of ensuring that the legitimate expectations
of developing countries are being met, and if not, then to consider the possible remedial measures.
4. Article 10 of the SPS Agreement, which provides special and differential treatment for
developing countries, has three important ingredients, namely that:G/SPS/GEN/85
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(i) In the preparation and application of sanitary or phytosanitary measures, Members
shall take account of the special needs of developing country Members.
(ii) Where the appropriate level of protection allows scope for the phased introduction of
new SPS measures,  longer time frames should be provided for compliance on products of
interest to developing country Members, so as to maintain opportunities for their exports.
(iii) Members should encourage and facilitate the active participation of developing
country Members in the relevant international organisations.
5. Unfortunately, the in-built provisions in Article 10 for Special and Differential Treatment to
developing countries have not been converted into specific guidelines, which would have given
tangible benefits to the developing and least developed countries.  Hence the provisions of Article 10
remain as general guidelines instead of having been transposed into more specific, and perhaps
mandatory obligations.  Developing countries suffer from certain handicaps which need to be
considered by the developed Members especially in the context of the SPS Agreement.  This hasperhaps not been the case, as a result of which developing countries often face barriers in the form of
stringent SPS standards in exporting their products to developed countries. In our view, it is therefore
important that the Committee reviews the implementation of Article 10 of the Agreement to see
whether particular attention has been given by developed country Members, since the entry into force
of this Agreement, to take into account the sp ecial developmental, financial and trade needs of
developing country Members.
6. Third world countries have traditionally been accustomed to lower levels of processing
technology.  In many cases, they do not have access to technologies developed abroad, for achieving
standards acceptable to certain importing countries.  Moreover, the preponderance of small scaleindustries and peasant farming in the production pattern makes it difficult for these countries to
achieve some of the standards set by developed countries.  This makes it all the more important for
developed country Members to take cognizance of the constraints of developing country Members,
while formulating their SPS measures.
7. The absence of specific international standards, guidelines or recommendations for specific
products also create problems for developing countries, since this often means that exports of thesame product from developing countries have to comply with varying standards.  Also countries do
not always specify their level of SPS protection. Developing countries are therefore not clear as to
what measures would enable them to meet the importing countries appropriate level of protection.
8. India would accordingly like to propose for the Committee’s consideration that the following
issues, related to the special and differential provisions for developing countries, be examined in the
course of the review of the Agreement. These issues could be analyzed on the basis of notifications
received from Members during the operation of this Agreement, as also from the submissions made
during the course of this review, and could be supplemented by asking for additional information
from Members and relevant international standard setting bodies.
(i) Examination of the action taken by developed country Members since the entry into
force of this Agreement to take into account the special development, financial and trade
needs of developing country Members in the implementation of the Agreement.
(ii) Examination of the steps taken to engender the capacity of developing country
Members to prepare and adopt SPS measures, keeping in view their technological and
socio-economic constraints, and thereafter suggestion of measures which could be taken in
the future to enhance this capacity.G/SPS/GEN/85
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9. India would therefore like to make th e following suggestions in this regard:
(i) We would like the Secretariat to undertake a study to identify the market access
barriers faced by developing country suppliers in the context of SPS standards, especiallyfrom buyers in developed countries insisting on the enforcement of standards, including test
methods, which may not be appropriate to the developmental and technical standards
prevalent in developing countries or  to prevalent practices in international trade.  This study
could also draw upon the work which may have been   already done in this regard by other
international bodies and could be structured on the lines of the Secretariat paper G/TBT/W/42
which brought out the restrictive trade effects of standards, technical regulations and
conformity assessment procedures.
(ii) Article 14 of the Agreement provides that the least developed country Members may
delay the application of the provisions of this Agreement for a period of 5 years following the
date of entry into force.  Similarly, other developing country Members may delay application
of the provisions of this Agreement for 2 years following the date of entry into force.However, keeping in view the prevalent level of technological development and lack of
adequate infrastructure and trained manpower both in least developed countries and
developing countries, India feels that this transition period provided in the Agreement needs
to be extended. This additional time period, coupled with the provision of providing requisite
technical and financial assistance would enable the developing country Members to graduallybring their standards in conformity with the in ternational standards and would also give them
time to forge equivalence agreements with developed country Members. It may be noted that
Article 10.3 already provides that the SPS committee can grant specified time limited
exceptions to developing country Members. We are building upon the existing provision by
suggesting that in view of the fairly uni form problems being faced by the developing
countries, and taking into account their financial, trade and development needs, this extension
should be granted to all developing country Members
(iii) Inviting representatives of relevant inte rnational standardizing bodies to make written
and oral presentations to the Committee, with a view to assess the extent to which special
problems of developing countries have been taken into account in these bodies and what steps
can be taken in the future in this regard.
10.  We have made our suggestions in the light of the important role of special and differential
provisions of WTO Agreements vis-a-vis the rele vance of the WTO for developing countries. The
implementation of these provisions in letter and spirit are important for meeting the objectives of the
WTO Agreement.  In our view it is important to ensure the balance and equity of these Agreements,which is ensured through the special and differential provisions contained in these Agreements.
Unless developing countries are able to derive the benefits they have legitimately expected from the
multilateral trading system by entering into the different agreements under the WTO Agreement, it
would be extremely difficult for developing countries to be expected to proceed further along the path
of trade liberalisation. It is therefore important that the opportunity provided by this review is used toobjectively evaluate the constraints being faced by developing countries and to thereafter adopt such
amendments in procedure which would help to overcome these difficulties.
Technical assistance
11. Under Article 9 of the Agreement Members agreed to facilitate technical assistance to others,
especially developing countries, either bilaterally or through the appropriate international
organisations, the objective being to allow such count ries to adjust to and co mply with sanitary and
phytosanitary measures necessary to achieve the appropriate level of protection in their exportG/SPS/GEN/85
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markets.  So far technical assistance has largely comprised of holding seminars and workshops of a
general nature.   However, given the low levels of processing technology available within the
developing countries, technical assistance today is primarily needed in setting up the requisite
infrastructure necessary for ensuring quality te sting in accordance with international standards.  A
mechanism needs to be set up whereby technical assistance and training provided, including in theareas of risk analysis and techniques of risk assessments, are monitored in the SPS Committee,
perhaps through annual notifications.
12.   It may be noted that it has also been mandated that where substantial investments are
required in order for an exporting developing coun try Member to fulfil the sanitary or phytosanitary
requirements of an importing Member, the latter shall consider providing such technical assistance as
will permit the developing country Member to maintain and expand its market access opportunitiesfor the product involved.  This too has unfortunately been an exception rather than a rule as far as
products of developing countries are concerned.  In our view, in the implementation of this clause it is
necessary to keep in mind that technical assistance compromising transfer of technology should be on
fair and reasonable terms, keeping in view the le vel of economic development of the subject country.
13. India would therefore like to suggest that an examination be carried out of such technical
assistance which may have been provided to developing country Members under the provisions of this
Agreement, so as to ensure that the preparation and application of SPS measures do not create
unnecessary obstacles to the expansion and diversification of exports from developing country
Members. It is our view that the provisions of Article 9 should be translated into specific andimplementable guidelines so that positive gains of  the technical assistance clause could accrue to
developing country Members. In particular, it woul d be important to consider measures which would
help in the transfer of technology on preferential and non-commercial terms to developing countries
for preparing and adopting standards which are conducive to their technical and socio-economic
conditions and to their development, financial and trade needs.  Another possibility which needs to beexplored is the provision of technical assistance in concrete, "hands-on" terms.  That is, it may be
appropriate to give on-the-job training for representatives of different industries in like industries of
developed countries for imbibing the necessary technology required to meet the SPS standards set for
these industries.
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