G/L/1477  
G/SPS/66  
 
22 December 2022  
(22-9713) Page: 1/3 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures    
 
SPS COVID -19 RELATED ACTIONS  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SPS COMMITTEE  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Committee), Mr Tang -Kai Wang, under his own responsibility, at the 
request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods  (CTG) .1 The report was prepared with 
the assistance of the Secretariat.  
 
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1  COMPILATION OF INFORMATION FOR THE CTG REPORT ON SPS COVID -19 RELATED 
ACTIONS  
1.1  Dedicated COVID -19 information sessions  
1.1.  In June 202 0, the SPS Committee held an informal information -sharing session on COVID -19. 
The programme was circulated in document G/SPS/GEN/1795 . The WTO  Secret ariat presented an 
overview of documents submitted by Members in relation to COVID -19. The STDF presented on its 
COVID -19 response , underscoring the importance of building food safety and animal and plant health 
capacity  to enable the public and private se ctors, especially in developing countries, to respond to 
crises . WTO Members, the three relevant international standard setting bodies (Codex Alimentarius, 
the World Organisation for Animal Health [ WOAH ] and the International Plant Protection Convention 
[IPPC]), WHO and other observers provided information o n their activities undertaken since the 
beginning of the pandemic.  WTO members stressed the importance of providing a coordinated 
response to global crises such as the COVID -19 pandemic and ensuring that  trade in agricultural 
and food products was not unduly  disrupted. The standard -setting bodies  stressed  the importance 
of enhanced global networks in effectively tackling emergency situations and warned against the 
temptation of relying solely on national measures , to avoid further trade disruptions.  WHO explained 
the role  of the International Health Regulations in facilitating information exchange on public health 
responses, ensuring that the responses are commensurate to the risk and avoiding unnecessary 
interference with international trade and transportation. The WHO also referred to COVID -19 related 
guidance , produced with FAO,  for food businesses and food safety control systems.  The report of 
the session is contained in document G/SPS/R/98  and a news item on the discussions held in the 
session is available here. 
1.2  Committee work  
1.2.  As a result of the pandemic -related lockdown , the SPS Committee meeting scheduled for 
19-20 March 202 0 was cancelled.2 
1.3.  The 25 -26 June 202 0 SPS Committee meeting was held through a combination of a virtual 
meeting with written procedure.  SPS eAgenda was use d for the first time, allowing for the exchange 
of written statements. Because of time constraints on virtual meetings, only  a limited number of 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 See WTO document JOB/SPS/5/Rev.1/C orr.1. G/L/1477 • G/SPS/66  
 
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  agenda items  were addressed orally .3 At a consultation held after the meeting, delegates expressed 
a preference for oral meetings. The Committee therefore decided that in the future, the ability to 
exchange written statements through eAgen da would only be used to complement oral exchanges 
in SPS Committee meetings, but not to replace them.  
1.4.  Since November 2020, the SPS Committee meetings took place in hybrid mode, with some 
delegates attending in person and others joining via a virtual platf orm. Until June 2022, the agenda 
of informal and formal meetings included  a standing item on COVID -19 and SPS issues, where the 
Secretariat, Members, the international standard -setting bodies and other Observer Organizations 
regularly reported on activitie s related to the pandemic. A summary of discussions held in the 
SPS Committee has been included in the corresponding summary reports  of the meetings. 
In June 2022, the  Chairperson noted that there had not been any interventions under this agenda 
item in recent Committee meetings and the Committee agreed not to include  this agenda item for 
the next SPS  Committee meeting.4 
1.5.  The Committee held a Thematic Session on the Use of Remote (Virtual) Audit and Verification 
in Regulatory Frameworks  in June 2022.5 The purpose of the thematic session was to provide an 
opportunity to share experiences on the use of remote assessment methods, discuss how such 
approaches may assist Members with their obligations under Annex C of the SPS Agreement, and 
take a closer look at the relevance and scope for future use. It also sought to provide insight on 
ongoing initiatives includi ng guidance being developed by Codex under its Committee on 
Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), and allow Members and 
industry representatives to discuss the benefits and challenges of remote audit, drawing from their 
experiences. Members' presentations shed light on the forms of remote assessment, including those 
used during the COVID -19 pandemic, and the link with regulatory frameworks.  
1.3  Transparency  
1.6.  The dedicated  WTO COVID -19 and world trade  web page contains all  COVID -19 related news 
as well as  information on COVID -19 related  WTO work, reports and events. SPS notifications and 
documents related to COVID -19 submitted since February 2020  can also b e found there . 
1.7.  As of 1 November 2022 , 31 Members have submitted a total of 127 SPS COVID -19 related 
documents, including notifications of new or changed SPS regulations and other communications,  
representing 26% of all COVID -19-related documents received b y the WTO.6 Initially, the notified 
measures mainly related to restrictions on imports of animals or animal products and/or transit from 
affected areas and increased certification requirements. Many of these restrictions were 
subsequently lifted. While a few new restrictions were imposed at a later stage, most notifications 
and communications submitted since the beginning of April 2020 relate to measures taken to 
facilitate trade , representing about 2/3 of all notified measures . For example, some Members  have 
allowed temporary flexibility for control authorities to use electronic versions or copies of veterinary 
and/or phytosanitary certificates, since the COVID -19 situation has made the transmission of original 
paper certificates problematic. Similarly, so me Members authorized virtual verifications of production 
conditions and of their trading partners' facilities. In some cases, the implementation period of the 
TF measures was subsequently extended. The last COVID -19-related SPS notification was received 
on 8 July 2021.  
1.8.  Additionally, 40 Members submitted a request for the suspension of the processes and entry 
into force of reductions of maximum residue limits (MRLs) for plant protection products in light of 
the COVID -19 pandemic.7 In addition to the extension of the timelines, co -sponsors requested the 
European Union, as well as other Members who were in the process of reviewing or modifying MRLs 
with a view to establishing more restrictive levels, to base their MRLs on internationa l standards, 
guidelines and recommendations. This proposal was discussed several times in the Committee 
 
3 See WTO document JOB/SPS/8  and JOB/SPS/8/Add.1 . The report of the meeting is available in 
G/SPS/R/99 . 
4 See paragraph 6.20 in WTO document G/SPS/R/107 . 
5 The dedicated webpage for the Thematic Session can be accessed here: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/t hematic_session_21jun22_e.htm . 
6 WTO database, WTO members' notifications on COVID -19. COVID -19-related SPS notifications can 
also be tracked through ePing  search and alert functions.  
7 See WTO document G/SPS/GEN/1778/Rev.5 . G/L/1477 • G/SPS/66  
 
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  between June 2020 and March 2021. In response, the European Union circulated document 
G/SPS/GEN/1814 and revisions , and reported on actions taken to facilitate the continuation of t rade, 
which included launching a number of financial and technical assistance packages to support its 
partner countries.  
1.9.  Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the two reports that the WTO Secretariat 
produces twice a year in the context of the trade monitoring exercise  have included information on 
COVID -19-related SPS measures . 
1.4  Specific trade concerns  
1.10.  COVID -19-related measures have also been raised  as specific trade con cerns (STCs) and 
discussed as part of the regular work of the SPS Committee. Members have discussed two STCs in 
the SPS  Committee  that refer to COVID -19. These relate to trade restrictions or import procedures 
put in place by importing Members in relation to COVID -19, where other Members are of the view 
that trade is restricted more than necessary for health -protection purposes, and/or the measures 
may be creating unjustified barriers to international  trade. Specifically, the following STCs have been 
discus sed by Members:  
− STC 487 : China's actions related to COVID -19 that affect trade in food and agricultural 
products, raised for the first time in November 2020 by several Members, and 
subsequently raised 6 more times.  
− STC 488 : The Philippines' ban on poultry imports due to COVID -19, only raised once 
in November 2020. The temporary b ans imposed by the Philippines on importation of 
poultry meat originating from Brazil ( G/SPS/N/PHL/467 ) were subsequently lifted, 
although the STC has not yet been  reported as resolved.  
1.5  Information notes  
1.11.  An information note titled "Standards, regulations and COVID -19 – What actions taken by 
WTO members " was first published on 11 May 202 0 and subsequently revised on 4 December 202 0. 
The note describes  standards and regulations notified by Members under the TBT and 
SPS agreements in 2020 in response to the pandemic, most of which affect trade in personal 
protective equipment (PPE), food, medical equipment, plant products and live animals.  
1.12.  On 11 November 202 0, the note "Future resilience to diseases of animal origin: The role of 
trade" was published, summarizing current issues, status of legal frameworks, and planned future 
actions to avoid the spread of zoonoses through trade. The information note included a section on 
COVID -19. 
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