WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
30 July 2002
(02-4216)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE – RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Submission by Guatemala
AddendumG/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
Page 2Technical assistance requirements:
Information Training Infrastructure:
(Hard and/or Soft)Specific concern Other
Rights,
obligations andpractical
operation of
the SPS
Agreement:• Dissemination of national
WTO commitments at thehighest political level
• Strengthening of the national
and international electronicintercommunication system• Implementation of
the WTO SPSAgreement
• Commitments under
the Agreement andremaining phases
• Information and
notification system
and Annexes B and
C of the SPSAgreement• Development of the
electronicintercommunication
system; hardware and
software• Implementation of a
national interconnectedsupport network
between the Ministries
of Agriculture,Livestock and Food, ofPublic Health andSocial Welfare and ofEconomy, enabling the
development of the
national sanitary andphytosanitary measuresinformation system• Human resources training
in trade negotiations onsanitary and phytosanitary
measures
• Attendance at and
mechanisms forparticipating in the WTOSPS Committee
• Implementation and
administration of sanitaryand phytosanitarymeasures in CustomsUnion territory.
Food safety • SPS Agreement and
international food safety
obligations
• Handling of international
WTO notifications
• Information and notification
system
• List of national food safety
notifications• Implementation of
the WTO SPS
Agreement
• Commitments under
the Agreement andremaining phases
• Information and
notification system
and Annexes B andC of the SPSAgreement• Development and
implementation of the
national food
protection programmeestablished in theHealth Code
• Development and
implementation of the
quarantine protectionsystem for processedfood safety
• National rapid alert
system
• Implementation of the
national network offood safetylaboratories• Assistance with and
training in technical
regulations and
standards, in particularAnnexes B and C of theWTO SPS Agreement
• Training in inspection,
control and certification
systems and proceduresfor food safety fromfarm to fork. (GoodManufacturingPractices, GMP -
Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Point,HACCP)
• Education and training
in risk analysis fortechnical and
professional staffG/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
Page 3Technical assistance requirements:
Information Training Infrastructure:
(Hard and/or Soft)Specific concern Other
Animal health • Establishment of specific
electronic informationsystems for risk analysis
(e.g., A Risk, Epi Info)
• Specialised documents on
animal health and zoonoses• Implementation of
the animal healthweekly information
system
• Regionalization of
diseases in line withthe concept of pest-free areas and areasof low pest
prevalence
• Control of domestic
movement
• Inspection and
sampling techniques
• Endemic diseases of
economicimportance
• Laboratory
techniques:immunoperoxidase,
immunofluorescence
and TSL for BovineSpongiformEncephalopathy(BSE)
• Epidemiological
surveillance systemsfor animal health inother countries
• Aquatic health
• Use and usefulness
of Global
Positioning Systems(GPS)• Implementation of
internal quarantineand the national
animal health
diagnosis laboratorysystem network
• Implementation of
regulations on themovement of animals
to different regions
• Livestock farm
register
• Development of
illustrated animal
disease recognition
guides
• Technical assistance
with theimplementation of thefield sampling and
laboratory analysis
system, the diagnosisof aquatic diseasesand the aquatic healthsurveillance system
• 12 Global Positioning
System (GPS) units• Establishment of a
national livestockregister
• Regulations governing
the implementation ofinternal quarantine
• Implementation of a risk
analysis system for
livestock imports
• Establishment of
programmes to controland/or eradicateendemic diseases
• Establishment of an
epidemiological
surveillance system for
animal healthG/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
Page 4Technical assistance requirements:
Information Training Infrastructure:
(Hard and/or Soft)Specific concern Other
Plant health • Data accessibility; databases
• Collection, analysis and
interpretation of
phytosanitary data
• Guidelines for preparing
management plans based onSPS requirements
• Development of documents
notifying the presence or
absence of endemic or exoticpest and diseases on the basisof international regulations.(Establishment of basicformats and requirements)• Adaptation of the
methodology forweekly
phytosanitary
reports andnotifications
• Incidence and
severity of endemicpests and the
tracking thereof
• Improvements to
internal and externalquarantine withsolutions based on
available resources
• Pre-inspection and
sampling techniquesfor a number ofvegetable products
• Basic methodology
for monitoring
exotic pests inGuatemala
• Training in
polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) and
ExperimentalLaboratory forInternet Systems andApplications(ELISA) laboratory
techniques• Establishment of
sufficient space tocarry out the various
activities
• Evaluation and
rehabilitation forintensive use ofregional laboratories
• Establishment and
control of regulationson the transportationof plants, plantproducts and by-products both within
and outside the
country
• Continued operation
of the phytosanitarysurveillance team
• Maintenance of the
inputs and reagents
required to conductthe various laboratorytests
• Implementation of
mobile phytosanitary
laboratories• Agricultural censuses in
different sectors
• Establishment of
specific regulations on
exotic pests
• Phytosanitary risk
analysis
• Monitoring and follow-
up of epidemiological
surveillance projects
• Training courses on
field sampling andlaboratory analysismethodology and
techniques
• Training for
professionals on theprocess of globalizationand nationalcommitments under
international trade
agreementsG/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
Page 5Technical assistance requirements:
Information Training Infrastructure:
(Hard and/or Soft)Specific concern Other
Contact details 1. Marco Tulio Cueva López.  Advisor/negotiator for sanitary and phytosanitary measures.  Coordinator of the National Sanitary and  Phytosanitary
Measures Committee.  E-mail: Mcueva@mail.mineco.gob.gt ;  Tel.: (502) 253-3895;  Fax: (502) 251-6708;  Address: 8ª Avenida 10-43,
Zone 1.
2. Fernando Arceyúz Madriz.  Head of the Department of Food Regulation and Control.  Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare.   E-mail:
Drca@intelnet.net.gt .  Fax: (502) 440-9500;  Address: 11 Avenida "A" 11-57, Zone 7, La Verbena.
3. Guillermo Calzia Solórzano. Head of the Standards and Procedures Office.  Standards and Regulations Unit.  Ministry of Agricult ure, Livestock
and Food.  E-mail: gcalzia@unr.gob.gt .  Tel. (PBX): (502) 475-3054 and 58;  Address: 7ª Avenida 12-90, Zone 13.G/SPS/GEN/295/Add.22
Page 6
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
(Such information could include, inter alia, a more detailed description of the technical assistance
required, any relevant background information on the reasons for the request, the possibility of using a
regional approach to the provision of the requested assistance and the scope for a coordinated approach
among relevant international organizations.)
Guatemala is the northernmost Central American  country, bounded in the north by the Republic of
Mexico with which it shares a border of approximately 1,000 kilometres.  A bilateral free-trade
agreement has been signed by the two countries, to gether with Honduras and El Salvador, which border
on Guatemala to the east and use Guatemalan national territory as a corridor between Mexico and their
own countries.  Guatemala therefore has greater res ponsibility with regard to the agricultural protection
and food safety system, for which reason it has adapted the organic structures of its Ministries of
Agriculture, Livestock and Food and of Public Hea lth and Social Welfare and is doing its utmost to
implement the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.  Theadministrative structure of these Ministries was reformed in 1996 with a view to facilitating trade, but
without neglecting human, animal and plant health protection.  Much remains to be done and any form of
technical assistance and cooperation with the implementation of the WTO SPS Agreement would be
welcomed. Such assistance and co-operation would preferably take the form of human resources training
and development of a sanitary and phytosanitary infrastructure, for example, modern agriculturalprotection and food safety systems and electronic epidemiological surveillance
 and laboratory diagnosis
systems.
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