RESTRICTED  
  
WT/ACC/TLS/13  
 
31 May  2021 
(21-4531) Page: 1/4 
Working Party on the Accession of Timor -Leste  Original: English  
 
 
ACCES SION OF TIMOR -LESTE  
CHECKLIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY (SPS)  ISSUES FOR  
CONSIDERATION IN ACCESSIONS  
The following submission, dated 21 May  2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Democratic Republic of Timor -Leste . 
 
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 WT/ACC/TLS/13  
 
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  Commitments (by the 
time of accession)  WTO Reference  Current status and legislative plans  
1. Standstill: the 
introduction of new 
standards, animal 
health regulations 
and food safety 
regulations shall 
conform to SPS 
Agreement 
principles . 1. Generally 
agreed 
principle in 
WTO 
accession 
negotiations . The Government of Timor -Leste is committed to  the 
introduction of new standards, animal health regulations and 
food safety regulations in conformity with the SPS Agreement 
principles, as well as to  the adopt ion of  SPS-related  laws in 
conformity with the  Agreement and  based on the international 
standards, guidelines and recommendations developed by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Office of 
Epizootics, and the relevant international and regional 
organizations operating within the framework of the 
Internati onal Plant Protection Convention  (IPPC) .  
In this context, t he Government of Timor -Leste has developed 
new SPS-related  legislation : draft Decree Laws on "Animal 
Health and Quarantine " and " Plant Health and Quarantine " 
(provided to the Working Party1) that are based on the 
standards  referred above. The Government is committed to 
enact  these  Decree  Laws towards by 2022. 
In terms of implementation, the Government of Timor -Leste 
would like to request for a 5-year implementation period . 
Please refer to document WT/ACC/TLS/12  for the 5-Year 
Action Plan for  the Implementation of the  SPS Agreement . 
2. Establishment and 
operation of a single 
Contact Point for 
Information 
("enquiry point") . 2. Article 7, 
Annex  B.3. The Government of Timor -Leste has established a single 
Contact Point for Information ("enquiry point") that is 
currently in based in the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Fisheries, under the Plant Protection Officer , with the 
following contact point : 
a) Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) : 
Name: Joanita Bendita da Costa Jong, DVM (Ms)  
E-mail address: 
katitadog_2001@yahoo.com/lihirika@gmail.com  
Contact information: +670 -77546394  
Position: National Director of Veterinary/ OIE Permanent 
Delegate  
Address: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of  Timor Leste, 
Presidente. Nicolao Lobato, No 5 Comoro – Dili., 
Timor -Leste.  
b) Plants:  
Name: Americo Alves Brito (Mr)  
E-mail address: bamerico@hotmail.com or 
americoalvesbrito@yahoo.com  
Position: Chief of Department for Plant Protection, 
Department of Pl ant Protection for Agriculture and 
Horticulture, the National Directorate of Agriculture 
and Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture and 
Fisheries of Timor Leste.  
Address: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Timor Leste, 
Presidente. Nicolao Lobato, No 5  Comoro – Dili., Timor -
Leste.  
 
1 See Notice of Legislation in document WT/ACC/TLS/5.  WT/ACC/TLS/13  
 
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  Commitments (by the 
time of accession)  WTO Reference  Current status and legislative plans  
3. Transparency: 
notifica tion and 
access to 
documentation : 3. Article 7, 
Annex B , 
and 
G/SPS/7 . All the Government legislations, including SPS-related legal 
acts, can be found at the Government official Journal of the 
Republic  gazette through the following link: 
http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/?q=node/13  
(a) identification 
of authority 
responsible 
for making 
notifications 
to the WTO 
and ensuring 
transparency 
obligations 
are met on an 
ongoing basis;  (a) Annex 
В. 5(b) 
and 
Annex 
В.10. The authority responsible for making notifications to the WTO 
and ensuring that transparency obligations are met is based 
in the Ministry of Agriculture under the Directorate for 
Veterinary and Department of Plant Protection.  
 
 
(b) establish 
guidance or 
law requiring 
publication of 
proposed 
measures at 
an early stage 
for comment;  (b) Annex  
В.5(а) . The Government of Timor -Leste will be fully committed to 
develop a  guidance or law requiring publication of proposed 
measures at an early stage for comment. The authority in 
charge in establishing the guidance is based in the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Fisheries, under the Judicial Department.  
(c) provision in 
law or 
admin istrative 
procedure to 
provide copies 
of proposed 
measures to 
WTO 
Members; 
and, (c) Annex  
В.5(с) . The Government of Timor -Leste will be fully committed to 
provide copies of any proposed SPS -related measures to 
Members through developing a provision in law or an 
administrative procedure.  
(d) require in law 
or 
administrative 
procedure, a 
reasonable 
period of time 
for comment 
from Members 
and the 
public, and 
establishment 
of a process 
to take 
comments 
into account 
without 
discrimination.  (d) Annex  
В.5(d) . The Government of Timor -Leste will be fully committed to 
adopt a law or an administrative procedure which will provide 
a reasonable period of time for comment from Members and 
the public, and establishment of a process to take comments 
into account without dis crimination.  
4. Necessity: 
measures are 
applied only to the 
extent necessary to 
protect human, 
animal or plant 
health.  4. Article 2.2 . The Government of Timor -Leste will be fully committed to 
apply SPS -related measures to the extent necessary to 
protect human, animal or plant health.  
 
Article 18(c)(d) of the draft Decree Law on "Animal Health and 
Quarantine" provides that animal health measures approved 
by the Veterinary Authority shall be  necessary to achieve 
Timor -Leste appropriate level of animal healt h protection and 
be the least -trade restrictive option that achieves this.  
5. Regulations based 
on science: 
regulations 
governing animal 
and plant health 
and food safety 
shall be based on 
scientific evidence.  5. Articles  2.2, 
3.3 and 5.2.  The Government of Timor -Leste will be fully committed to 
base regulations  governing animal and plant health and food 
safety  on scientific evidence.  WT/ACC/TLS/13  
 
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  Commitments (by the 
time of accession)  WTO Reference  Current status and legislative plans  
6. Harmonization: to 
the extent possible, 
members shall 
follow international 
standards, 
guidelines, and 
recommendations in 
establishing SPS 
measures.  6. Article 3.1, 
3.3 and 3.4.  The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed  to follow 
international standards, guidelines, and recommendations in 
establishing SPS measures , to the extent possible . 
 
Article 18(a) of the draft Decree Law on "Animal Health and 
Quarantine" provides that animal health measures approved 
by the Veterinary Authority shall be harmonized with the 
international standards.  
7. Equivalence: 
members shall 
recognize different 
measure s that 
achieve the same 
level of protection.  7. Article  4. 
 The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed to 
recognize different measures that achieve the same level of 
protection.  
 
Article 25(a) of the draft Decree -Law on "Animal Health and 
Quarantine" authorizes the Veterinary Authority to negotiate 
bilateral and multilateral agreements, for the evaluation, and 
where feasible, the acceptance of alternative animal health 
measures proposed by an exporting country 's Veterinary 
Authority as bein g equivalent to the animal health measures 
required by the Timor -Leste Veterinary Authority.  
8. Risk Assessment: 
developing scientific 
evidence and 
conducting risk 
assessments to 
ensure that 
measures are based 
on science and 
applied only to the 
extent necess ary to 
protect health.  8. Article  5.1, 
5.2 and 5.3.  The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed to  
developing scientific evidence and conducting risk 
assessments to ensure that measures are based on science 
and applied only to the extent necessary to prot ect health.  
 
Article 18(b) (e) of the draft Decree -Law on "Animal Health 
and Quarantine" provides that animal health measures 
approved by the Veterinary Authority shall be based on risk 
analysis or risk assessment and science -based actions  and be 
proportional to the risk to animal health.  
9. Regional conditions: 
measures take into 
account the regional 
characteristics both 
of the areas from 
which products 
originate and the 
areas for which they 
are destined.  9. Article 6 and 
Annexes А.6 
and А.7. The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed to ensure 
that SPS -related measures take into account the regional 
characteristics both of the areas from which products 
originate and the areas for which they are destined in the 
application of these measures.  
10. Non-discrimination: 
measures do not 
arbitrarily or 
unjustifiably 
discriminate 
between different 
members or 
between domestic 
and foreign 
suppliers.  10. Article 2.3 
and Annex 
С.1(а) and 
(d). 
 The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed to not 
arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between different 
Members and between domestic and foreign suppliers in the 
application of these measures.  
11. Control, inspection 
and approval 
procedures: ensure  
that procedures, 
including systems 
for approval of the 
use of additives or 
for establishing 
tolerances for 
contaminants in 
foods, beverages or 
feedstuffs comply 
with the SPS 
Agreement.  11. Article 8 and 
Annex С.  The Government of Timor -Leste will be committed to ensure 
that procedures, including systems for approval of the use of 
additives or for establishing tolerances for contaminants in 
foods, beverages or feedstuffs comply with the SPS 
Agreement.  
 
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