WORLD TRADE G/L/197
27October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4698)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONSANITARY AND
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
1. Thepresent report isbeing circulated bytheChairman oftheCommittee onSanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures onhisownresponsibility. Thisreport provides asummary oftheactivities
anddecisions oftheCommittee during 1997.
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2. TheCommittee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures (the"SPS Committee") heldthree
regular meetings in1997: on19-20 March, 1-2Julyand15-16 October. AttheMarch meeting,
Dr.AlexThiermann (United States) wasappointed Chairman for1997/98. Thereports ofthemeetings
arecontained indocuments G/SPS/R/7, G/SPS/R/8 andG/SPS/R/9.
3. InMarch 1997, theRules ofProcedure were adopted bytheSPSCommittee andwere
subsequently approved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods (G/L/170). TheSPSCommittee agreed
thatregularobserverstatusbegrantedtotheJointFAO/WHOCodexAlimentariusCommission(Codex),
theFAOInternational PlantProtection Convention (IPPC), theOffice international desépizooties (OIE),
theFood andAgriculture Organization oftheUnited Nations (FAO), theWorld Health Organization
(WHO), theInternational Organization forStandardization (ISO), theInternational Trade Centre (ITC)
andtheUnited Nations Conference onTrade andDevelopment (UNCTAD). Theobserver status
conferred upon theWorld Bank andtheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) bytheGeneral Council
inNovember 1996 wasnoted. Following theMarch meeting, theChairman hascontinued tohold
informal consultations withinterested Members regarding further requests forobserver status.
4. Inreviewing theimplementation oftheSPSAgreement during 1997, theSPSCommittee
considered information provided byMembers regarding: changes introduced innational sanitary or
phytosanitary regulatory frameworks andonthedisease status ofseveral countries, notably withrespect
tofoot-and-mouth disease, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) andfruitfly.Ateach
ofthemeetings, Members raised specific trade concerns, including several related toindividual
notifications. Such concerns included, interalia,measures related totheshelf lifeofUHT milk;
measures ongrains, oilseeds, rice,fruits, vegetables andpoultry; requirements forwines; plant
quarantineregulations;andmeasuresrelatedtocitruscanker.Inaddition,manyMembersraisedspecific
trade concerns related tomeasures imposed inresponse tobovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Inlightoftheinterest regarding thislatter issue, informal consultations were held.
5. Updated listsofNational Enquiry Points (G/SPS/ENQ/6) andNational Notification Authorities
(G/SPS/GEN/35) were circulated, withaddenda. Noting thatsome Members hadyettonotify the
Secretariat ofthese entities, theSPSCommittee urged Members tocomply withtheirobligations as
soonaspossible.
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6. TheSPSCommittee continued toconsider thestructure andsubstance ofguidelines tofurther
thepractical implementation ofArticle 5:5.TheSPSCommittee agreed topursue thismatter through
informal consultations withaviewtofurthering thedevelopment ofthese guidelines.
7. Onthebasis ofMembers 'proposals, theSPSCommittee adopted aprovisional procedure to
monitor theuseofinternational standards (G/SPS/11).
8. AtitsOctober meeting, theCommittee agreed onaprocedure forconducting itsreview of
theimplementation andoperation oftheAgreement inaccordance withArticle 12.7(G/SPS/10).
9. Ateach meeting oftheSPSCommittee, Members, theSecretariat andtheobserver
intergovernmentalorganizationsreportedontheirtechnicalassistanceactivities.Memberswereprovided
theopportunity toidentify specific needs fortechnical assistance. Inorder toaddress thegrowing
demand fortechnical assistance andtoavoid duplication, theneedforclose cooperation among those
providing assistance wasstressed. Itwasalsonoted thatparticular emphasis should beputonassisting
withtheimplementation ofthetransparency provisions oftheAgreement.
10. TheSPSCommittee maintained closecontact withtherelevant standard-setting organizations,
andwaskeptinformed about therevision oftheIPPC, aswellastheadoption ofinternational standards
bytheCodex atitssession inJune1997. Anupdated listofinternational standards developed byCodex,
IPPC andOIEwassubmitted totheSPSCommittee. TheCodex formally requested theSPSCommittee
toprovide some clarification regarding theapplicability ofregional Codex standards aswellasthe
status ofCodex guidelines andcodes ofpractice inrelation totheSPSAgreement. TheSPSCommittee
adopted aDraft Agreement between theWTO andtheOIE(G/SPS/W/61) which wasapproved by
theCouncil forTrade inGoods and,subsequently, bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting of22October.
11. Thefollowing tentative schedule ofmeetings in1998 wasagreed bytheSPSCommittee:
12-13 March, 10-11 June, 15-16 September and11-12 November.