WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/371
18 February 2003
(03-1012)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
THE STANDARDS AND TRADE DEVELOPMENT FACILITY
Note by the Secretariat1
1. A key objective of the Doha Development Agenda is to further integrate developing countries
into the international trading sy stem, including through capacity building.  With a view to help
meeting this goal, the Heads of the Food and Ag riculture Organization (FAO), World Organization
for Animal Health (OIE), World Health Organiza tion (WHO), World Bank and WTO issued a joint
communiqué at Doha committing the institutions to explore new modes of collaboration2.  This relates
specifically to food safety, plant, and animal heal th, and to the standards developed by the FAO/WHO
Joint Codex Alimentarius Commi ssion (Codex), the FAO International Plant Protection Convention
(IPPC), and the OIE.
2. In the joint communiqué, the Heads of the five  institutions reaffirmed their commitment to
work together on the basis of their respective manda tes and to further exploit the synergies between
their organizations, standard-setting bodies and other agencies.  They also agreed to jointly explorenew 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.
3. Building on this commitment, on work alread y underway in the five institutions and on
developing country demands for enhanced capacity-building programmes in the areas of food safety,
plant and animal health, FAO, OIE, WHO, Wo rld Bank and WTO established on September 2002 a
Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) to facilitate the collaboration in enhancing thecapacity of developing countries in meeting SPS standards.  The WTO accepted to serve as the
executing institution to administer the STDF.
Objectives
4. The overall objective of the STDF is to strengthen the capacity of developing countries in
meeting international standards for food and othe r agricultural commodities.  To this effect the
participating organizations have committed to enhancing their collaboration, and the cooperation with
other relevant institutions, with respect to SPS-related activities.  The STDF will facilitate:
(a) Coordination of the delivery of development assistance in SPS standards-related areas
by the partner institutions so as to make the most efficient use of their respective
expertise and resources.
(b) Capacity enhancement of developing countries to better enable them to effectively
participate in the development of relevant international standards.
                                                     
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO.
2 WT/MIN(01)/ST/97G/SPS/GEN/371
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(c) Capacity enhancement of developing countries (public and private sectors) to better
enable them to benefit from internationa l trade by meeting international standards,
such as those referenced in the SPS Agreement.
(d) Capacity enhancement of developing country officials  and scientists in the specific
areas of expertise with regard to implementing the obligations and taking advantageof the rights arising from the SPS Agreement.
5. Specifically, the STDF will facilitate or support:  (i) information exchange, development of
databases, tool kits and learning materials on trade-related SPS issues and consultations to better
coordinate FAO, OIE, WHO, Worl d Bank and WTO capacity-building projects, as well as those of
other relevant organizations;  and (ii) funding of projects in capacity building in individual countries
or through regional initiatives, including activities involving both public and private sectors.
6. The STDF will support other activities of the FAO, OIE, World Bank, WHO and WTO in
specific areas of their expertise and mandates.  The STDF may also support projects to facilitate
developing country participation in standard setting.  The specific projects supported with funding by
the Facility will be identified by partner institutions in consultation with the developing countries
concerned.
Membership
7. The  FAO (including participation of Code x and IPPC), OIE, World Bank, WHO and WTO
are the partner institutions in the STDF.  Other partner institutions may be admitted, as decided by the
Policy Committee of the STDF.
Funding
8. The World Bank has supported the creation of the STDF with a grant of US$300,000 for
FY03 (July 2002-June 2003), with possible extension in FY04 and FY05. The WTO Secretariat
contributed CHF100,000 to the STDF to complement the World Bank contribution.  The STDF will
seek to raise funds from other donors to further its objectives.
Governance structure
9. A Policy Committee comprised of high level representatives of the FAO, OIE, World Bank,
WHO, and WTO will (i) set policy guidelines and provide policy oversight;  (ii) provide guidance on
programmes and the Facility’s work agenda;  and (iii) evaluate reports on progress of the Facility.
The Policy Committee may also seek to develop a broader financial basis for the Facility through
outreach to other donors.
10. A technical-level Working Group of representatives of the partner institutions, including
Codex and IPPC, will be responsible for the practical implementation of the Facility.   The WorkingGroup will report to the Policy Committee.  The WTO Secretariat will provide administrative
assistance to the Policy Committee and the Working Group.  In particular, it will establish a
consultative mechanism including, inter alia , developing country representatives, other relevant
international organizations, regional organizations, bilateral donors, and private sector donors.
11. Partner institutions of the STDF may implement projects approved by the Working Group.
These may also be managed directly by other international, regional, national or private donors, or as
preferred, through joint projects.G/SPS/GEN/371
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Current status
12. For the first year of the STDF, partner institutions agreed (i) to exchange among themselves
regular information on the type, objective, and funding available for current and planned capacity-
building projects by each institution; (ii) to establish an information mechanism to enhance
coordination and exchange of information;  and (iii) to identify, select and plan pilot projects to befunded from first-year grants from the STDF for initiatives to be implemented by both public and
private sectors.
13. Exploratory work in these three areas has been initiated and an adviser is currently being
hired to assist the WTO Secretariat in fully establishing the STDF.  Working closely with a project
manager in the Agriculture and Commodities Division, the consultant will (i) collect information on
partner institutions’ capacity-building programmes;  (ii) coordinate capacity-building activities and
training materials;  (iii) establish a web site for the STDF;  and (iv) identify pilot projects forconsideration by the partner institutions.
14. Members will be kept informed of STDF-related activities through the Facility web site, as
well as Secretariat reports to the SPS Committee.
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