. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/388
1 May 2003
(03-2317)
Committee on Sanitary
and Phytosanitary MeasuresOriginal:  Spanish
COMMENTS ON ARTICLE 6 OF THE SPS AGREEMENT -
REGIONALIZATION
Communication by Mexico
"Article 6. Adaptation to Regional Conditions, Including Pest- or Disease-Free Areas and Areas
of Low Pest or Disease Prevalence
1. Members shall ensure that their sanitary or phytosanitary measures are adapted to the
sanitary or phytosanitary characteristics of the area - whether all of a country, part of a
country, or all or parts of several countries - from which the product originated and to which
the product is destined. In assessing the sanitary or phytosanitary characteristics of a region,Members shall take into account, inter alia , the level of prevalence of specific diseases or
pests, the existence of eradication or control programmes, and appropriate criteria or
guidelines which may be developed by the relevant international organizations.
2. Members shall, in particular, recognize the concepts of pest- or disease-free areas and
areas of low pest or disease prevalence. Determination of such areas shall be based on factorssuch as geography, ecosystems, epidemiological surveillance, and the effectiveness of
sanitary or phytosanitary controls.
3. Exporting Members claiming that areas within their territories are pest- or disease-
free areas or areas of low pest or disease prevalence shall provide the necessary evidence
thereof in order to objectively demonstrate to the importing Member that such areas are, and
are likely to remain, pest- or disease-free areas or areas of low pest or disease prevalence,
respectively. For this purpose, reasonable access shall be given, upon request, to theimporting Member for inspection, testing and other relevant procedures."
COMMENTS:
1. Mexico shares Chile's view that the provisions of Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) are extremely important, inparticular for exporting Members, and that they have been developed with reference to a number of
guidelines issued by the Office international des épizooties (OIE) and the International Plant
Protection Convention (IPPC).
2. We also agree that when many Members do achieve disease- or pest-free sanitary and
phytosanitary status, with all the cost and effort which this entails, they find that the process ofrecognition under Article 6 is delayed, chiefly because importing Members do not, in most cases,
give effect to the recognition granted by the international reference organizations and because the
administrative procedures of importing Members are usually very complex and slow.
3. In addition to the points made by Chile, and in the light of its own experience, Mexico
proposes, by way of an example and as a topic for discussion, the following procedures related tothe recognition of disease-free areas (exclusively as regards animal health):G/SPS/GEN/388
Page 2
(a) Members shall recognize disease-free areas or regions, in accordance with the
provisions of Article 6 of the SPS Agreement;
(b) With a view to allowing products to be imported from areas or regions free from or
with a low prevalence of a particular disease, Members shall base their measures on
the standards, guidelines or recommendations of the relevant internationalorganizations, and
(c) With regard to animal health, Members may agree upon the following procedures for
expediting the process for recognizing disease-free areas or regions, which, in turn
will, help to facilitate bilateral trade in agricultural products:
(i) The exporting Member shall submit to the importing Member a written
request for the recognition of a disease-free area or region and forward a
technical file substantiating its compliance with the requirements establishedin the relevant international standards in force at that time and including an
official declaration of the area or region as disease-free;
(ii) The importing Member shall, within a maximum of two months, examine the
technical file and either submit whatever comments it considers relevant or
suggest a date for a visit to inspect the area or region in question. In theformer case, the exporting Member shall reply to the comments of the
importing Member and forward, where appropriate, an updated technical file
to the latter, which will then suggest, within a period not exceeding one
month, a date for the inspection visit;
(iii) The official expert(s) of the importing Member shall conduct the technical
inspection visit in conjunction with the animal health authorities of the
exporting Member. The importing Member shall then submit the
corresponding report and a statement of the outcome of the assessment within
a maximum of three months. Any further information required by the
importing Member shall be analysed and processed within this same period;
(iv) The interested parties from the exporting Member shall be responsible for
financing the inspection visit;
(v) The importing Member undertakes to amend its animal health regulations and
to establish the conditions which must feature on the corresponding animal
health certificates within a maximum of three months of a favourable report
being issued in order to lift the restrictions relating to the disease from which
the area or region is recognized as free, and
(vi) These procedures may be amended by mutual agreement between Members.
A written record, stating the entry into force of the amended procedures,
should be kept.
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