./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/LDC/SWG/IF/10
1 May 2001
(01-2196)
Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries
ENHANCING LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES' PARTICIPATION IN
INTERNATIONAL TRADE:  FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY, STANDARDS AND
TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
Compliance with WTO rules in the areas of food safety and quality, standards and technical
regulations are of critical importance for LDCs' effective participation in international trade.  The SPS
and TBT Agreements limit the scope for importing countries to impose arbitrary and unjustifiedrequirements on exports from LDCs and encourage the use of internationally developed standards as
the safety/quality reference for products moving in world trade irrespective of the supplier.  In
addition, the WTO has provided a forum for LDCs to raise particular problems to challenge measures
imposed on their exports, and to identify their specific technical assistance needs.
• The WTO provides training and technical assistance to LDCs, who request it, to enhance their
understanding and use of the SPS and TBT Agreements.  These workshops and seminars areconducted at the regional or national level, frequently with the involvement of appropriate
national experts.  Besides providing assistance for the better implementation of the two
Agreements, focus is also placed on how LDCs could benefit from the Agreements and
participate more effectively in international trade, including through the use of the transparencyprovisions and international standards.  Sessions are often arranged to cover specific areas e.g. the
application of risk analysis in food safety, animal or plant health, as well as standards information
and conformity assessment procedures.
• The WTO Secretariat is producing a CD-rom training module on the SPS Agreement and its
application which should assist LDCs regulatory officials (target date for distribution September2001).  A Handbook on the Transparency Provisions of the SPS Agreement was distributed in
early 2001, which provides practical guidance and models to LDC officials regardingnotifications and the operation of national enquiry points.
• The Secretariat also produces monthly summaries of SPS and TBT notifications, to facilitate their
examination by LDCs, and has established an e-mail subscription list for unrestricted SPSdocuments.  A system has also been established to draw attention of LDCs to any TBT
notifications relating to products of particular interest to them.
• WTO has a close working relationship with the relevant standard-setting organizations,
particularly those involved in health protection (FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission,
FAO International Plant Protection Convention, Office international des epizooties).  It has
worked with these organizations to enhance LDC participation and benefits, for example in
organizing back-to-back meetings of the relevant committees;  joint regional/national workshopsand seminars – often in the margins of each other's meetings;  referrals from the SPS Committee
of issues for consideration by the standard-setting bodies.  In the case of the TBT Agreement, the
WTO has close working relationship with relevant organizations (such as FAO, IEC, ISO, ITC,
OIML, UNIDO, WHO, FAO/WHO Codex Alimenta rius Commission).  These organizations are
invited on a regular basis to update the TBT Committee on their technical assistance activities andthe ways in which they are seeking to ensure effective participation of LDCs in their activities.WT/LDC/SWG/IF/10
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• At the request of the General Council, the Director-General has sought to enhance further these
common efforts to increase the effective participation of LDCs in the standard-setting process,and to coordinate technical assistance activities to improve the capacity of LDCs to make full use
of the international standards.  This further cooperation has been discussed and agreed at high
level meetings between the secretariats of the relevant organizations.
• In addition to the intense collaboration with the standard-setting bodies above, the WTO is also
cooperating with the World Bank, WHO and other international and regional organizations ontraining and technical assistance activities which address the needs for LDCs with regard to food
safety and quality, standards and technical regulations.  Efforts to expand this cooperation will be
continued.
• As a result of the Second Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement (concluded in 2000), the TBT
Committee has started to develop a demand-driven TBT-related Technical CooperationProgramme.  The Programme will cover different TBT-related technical assistance needs such as
in the areas of the implementation of the TBT Agreement, technical regulations, standards,
conformity assessment procedures and capacity building.  As a first step information gathering
from Members and relevant international, regional and national bodies is underway on developing
countries' needs as well as the existing technical assistance activities. The identification of
priorities and technical assistance partners as well as elaborating specific actions will follow.This exercise goes hand in hand with the Secretariat's response to the request made to the Director
General by the General Council mentioned above.
• In this context, the WTO welcomes the FAO proposal for the establishment of a Food Safety and
Quality Facility for LDCs.  This fund, to be managed by FAO, responds to a request from several
WTO Members in the context of implementation concerns and targets both the need forenhancing participation of LDCs in standard setting as well as the underlying need for improved
infrastructure and capacity to produce safe and high quality food products in LDCs.  With careful
coordination, the proposed programmes of UNIDO could be complementary to this effort.
• One element of the proposed FAO Food Safety and Quality Facility, as well as of the UNIDO
programmes, requires information and training sessions for appropriate LDCs' regulatory
authorities to understand fully the rights, obligations and procedures of the SPS and TBT
Agreements. The WTO could increase, to the extent resources permit and in response to demand,
its training and technical assistance activities with respect to the SPS and TBT Agreements in
LDCs, to permit them to use the opportunities pr ovided by these agreements to their maximum
advantage.
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