WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/457 
5 December 2003  
 
(03-6455) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   French 
   
PROPOSAL ON THE OPERATION OF ENQUIRY POINTS FOR SANITARY 
AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Communication from Mauritania
 
  
 The following communication is circulated at the request of the delegation of Mauritania. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. The effective operation and coordination of info rmation on the application of sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures would be facilitated by th e establishment of a national committee on sanitary 
and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in all those countries where that is possible. 
2. Such a committee should be established and given official standing by the national 
authorities.  It should include all the institutions dir ectly or indirectly affected by SPS measures.  For 
example, in the case of Mauritania, such a committee would include:   
 - The Livestock and Agricultural Directorate; 
  - the Public Health Directorate;   - the Fisheries Directorate; 
 
 - the Directorate for the Promotion of Foreign Trade;   - the Food Security Unit;   - the Producers Association; 
 
 - the Importers Association;   - the Exporters Association;  
 - the Consumers Association; 
  - the three contact points (IPPC, OIE and CODEX);   - non-governmental organizations. 
 
3. The committee would be chaired by the author ity responsible for notifications and the 
secretariat would be provided by the enquiry point .  The committee would set the dates for ordinary 
meetings (twice a year).  In order to deal with matters of particular relevance, the committee would 
convene extraordinary meetings.  The committee woul d have its headquarters at the national authority 
responsible for notifications.  A data bank or a lib rary would be established at the headquarters in G/SPS/GEN/457 
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order to store all the national regulations relati ng to SPS measures, and the notifications of other 
counties would be classified. 
Advantages of the existence of such a committee
 
  - Such an operational committee would induce a feeling among the members that the 
work is being properly organized and struct ured;  as a result they will become better 
acquainted with one another and this will create a climate of confidence and better 
motivation for the work; 
  - the members will also become aware of SPS measures that do not come within their 
own field; 
  - the membership of producers, consumers,  exporters and importers in the committee 
will enable information to be transmitted ra pidly and efficiently at the national level 
so that the national authorities may make  the necessary arrangements to apply the 
measures in force; 
  - the establishment of such a committee w ill ensure that correspondence from the WTO 
will be dealt with more rapidly and con sequently replies could be sent reasonably 
promptly. 
 
Resources necessary for the estab lishment of such a committee
 
  - A PC connected to the Internet;   - a telephone line; 
 
 - a fax machine;   - a web site;   - support for the installation of an office for the notifications bank.  G/SPS/GEN/457 
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OPERATIONAL PLAN OF THE COMMITTEE 
 
   
    
   - Questions       - National notifications  
- Notifications       - Replies to questions posed  
of other members      by others    
 
    Transmission of files to the      - Replies to questions posed 
responsible authorities       - Comments 
        -  N o t i f i c a t i o n s     
 
          
 
   Information on the SPS measures in force
     
Requests for information on the regulations in force in  
countries from which they  
import or to which they export  their goods          
 
    
   Application of the measures in force so as not to  
   hinder their activities  
__________ 
  
WTO 
NATIONAL COMMITTEE 
FOR SPS MEASURES 
The institutions involved in SPS measures 
(agriculture, livestock, fisheries, trade, health
, etc.) 
Those directly concerned 
(importers, exporters, producers, consumers)