MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/254
12 November 2001
(01-5697)
AGENCIES TO BOOST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’ PARTICIPATION IN
SETTING FOOD SAFETY AND RELATED NORMS
At the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, five international organizations have
issued a joint statement committing themselves to he lp developing countries participate more fully in
setting international norms for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures — food safety and animal
and plant health.
The issue has been discussed in the WTO in the debate over developing countries’ difficulties
in implementing current WTO agreements. The new statement commits the organizations to
strengthen developing countries’ capacity to establish and implement SPS measures as well as to
participate fully in the work of international or ganizations responsible for setting international
standards, guidelines and recommendations. The agencies are also committed to coordinating the
technical assistance they give to these countries as part of this effort.
The five organizations are the WTO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the
International Animal Health Organization (Office International des Epizooties or OIE), the World
Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank.
Three organizations or conventions, sometimes unofficially described as the “three sisters”,
are responsible for international standards, guidelines and recommendations relevant to the WTO SPS
Agreement. The OIE handles animal health. The FAO and WHO jointly provide the secretariat of
Codex Alimentarius, which deals with food safety. The International Plant Protection Convention
(IPC), which deals with plant health, whose secretariat is provided by the FAO.
Developing countries say they face problems in exporting food products in particular both
because they have difficulty meeting standards in importing countries and because they are unable to
participate fully in developing internationally-agr eed standards. The joint statement is designed to
address this problem.
This is what the statement says:PRESS/254
Page 2
Participation of Developing Countries in the Development and Application of
International Standards, Guidelines and R ecommendations on Food Safety, Animal and
Plant Health
A Joint Statement by
the Directors-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
the Office International des Epizooties,
the World Health Organization,  the World Trade Organization
and the President of the World Bank
Food safety and animal and plant health are essential components of sustainable development,
particularly as they contribute to public health, the reduction of poverty, food security and the
protection of the environment.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), th e Office International des Epizooties (OIE),
and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) are the recognized instruments for thedevelopment of international standards, guidelines and recommendations to assist in ensuring food
safety for human health protection as well as animal and plant health, and to facilitate trade.
1 The
objective of international harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary measures is to reduce the need
for individual countries to develop and justify their own measures, to limit disputes and to take
advantage of international trade opportunities.
We are committed to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to establish and
implement science-based sanitary and phytosanitary measures, to meet the sanitary and phytosanitary
requirements of trade partners and to participate fu lly in the work of standard setting organizations in
the establishment of international standards, guid elines and recommendations. To this end, the FAO,
OIE, WHO, WTO, the World Bank and other multilateral, regional and bilateral agencies undertake
technical assistance activities and investment in infr astructure, to assist developing countries in the
establishment and implementation of appropriate food safety and animal and plant health measures.
We reaffirm our commitment to work together on the basis of our respective mandates and to
further exploit the synergies between our organiza tions, standard-setting bodies and other agencies.
We agree to explore jointly new technical and financial mechanisms for coordination and resource
mobilization and to build alliances between standard-setting bodies and the implementing and
financing agencies so as to ensure the most effective use of technical and financial resources.
This statement is submitted to inform the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha of our
commitment to enhance developing countries' capacity  to participate effectively in the development
and application of international standards and to take full advantage of trade opportunities.
END
                                                     
1 FAO provides the Secretariat for the IPPC. FAO and WHO provide the Joint Secretariat for the CAC.