WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/MEX/155
14 March 2000
(00-1040)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original: Spanish
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  MEXICO
If applicable, name of local government involved:
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable). Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or
practicable:  Crustaceans
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Notice of Amendment and
Extension of Emergency Mexican Of ficial Standard NOM-EM-001-PESC-1999,
Establishing Requirements and Measures for the Prevention and Control of the Introduction
and Spread of Strains of the Disease Carrying Causal Agents of the Disease White Spot
Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Yellow Head Virus (YHV), published on 19 March 1999
(11 pages)
5. Description of content:  The purpose of this Emergency Mexican Official Standard is to
establish the requirements and measures to prevent and control the introduction and spread
of strains of the disease-carrying causal agents of the diseases White Spot Syndrome Virus(WSSV) and Yellow Head Virus (YHV), whic h could endanger wild and cultivated
populations through importation into and movement within the national territory.
6. Objective and rationale:  [     ] food safety,  [  X ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [     ] protect territory from
other damage from pests
7. Nature of the urgent problem(s):  The Emergency Mexican Official Standard NOM-EM-
001-PESC-1999, establishing requirements and measures for the prevention and control of
the introduction and spread of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Yellow Head Virus
(YHV), was published in the Diario Official de la Federación (Official Journal) on19 March 1999, becoming valid on 20 March for a period of six months.  The circumstances
which led to the introduction of Emergency Mexican Official Standard NOM-EM-001-
PESC-1999 remain unchanged, which is why on the basis of Article 48 of the Federal
Metrology and Standardization Law and Arti cle 35, paragraph 2, of the Regulations under
the Law it is considered necessary to give public notice of the extension of the above
Emergency Mexican Official Standard.  This enables us to retain a policy instrument which
extends the period of validity of the measures to prevent and control the introduction andspread of the diseases White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Yellow Head Virus
(YHV).G/SPS/N/MEX/155
Page 2
7. Nature of the urgent problem(s):  (cont'd) Scientific evidence emerging after the
publication of NOM-EM-001-PESC-1999 has revealed that White Spot Syndrome Virus is
caused by a number of different, though closely related, strains of the disease-carrying
causal agents, giving rise to a range of marks and symptoms in the affected organisms,
which has led us to conclude that this is  a case of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV)
which could endanger wild and cultivated crustacean populations through importation into
and movement within the national territory, and that standards therefore need to be adopted
accordingly.
WSSV was detected in shrimp farms and in natural penaeid shrimp populations
along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in United States territorial waters and in Central and
South America.  Consequently the movement of live or dead shellfish and their products or
by-products, whether for the purposes of farming, marketing, processing, research orconsumption, represents a high risk of spreading the disease, which could cause losses to
aquaculture or natural crustacean populations, thus representing a potential environmental
danger.
A strain of the virus causing WSSV was recently identified in Mexico, which is
different from that found in the United States, Central America and Asia, and apparentlyless virulent, given that mortality has not exceeded 10 per cent in areas where the strain has
been detected.  Further action is therefore required to avoid the introduction of new strains
and the spread of those already identified within the national territory.
Mexican Official Standard NOM-010-PESC-1993, establishing sanitary
requirements for the importation of live aquatic organisms into the national territory,whatever their stage of development, whether for ornamental or for aquacultural purposes,
was published in the Official Journal on 16 August 1994, and while it includes Yellow Head
Virus (YHV) as a registered disease, it does not establish sanitary control regulations for the
disease applicable to dead aquatic specimens, their products or by-products, or to
crustaceans other than penaeid shrimps.
It has been scientifically proven that cooking crustaceans at a temperature of at least
70
0 centigrade for a minimum of five minutes is sufficient to ensure that strains of the virus
causing White Spot Syndrome are denatured.  Equally there is no scientific evidence that at
least 10 types and 20 species of cold water crustaceans are carriers of the strains of the virus
causing White Spot Syndrome.
In order to prevent and control the introduction and spread of the strains causing
White Spot Syndrome and Yellow Head Virus we n eed to identify specific points at which
crustaceans and their products and by-products enter the national territory, corresponding to
the commercial activities of the products covered by this Standard.
In order to clarify the necessary sampling techniques for frozen crustaceans and
artemia designed to detect the viruses causing the diseases covered by this Standard, more
detailed specifications have been laid down on the size of samples taken when making adiagnosis.
In accordance with Article 48, paragraph 2, of the Federal Metrology and
Standardization Law, on 1 October 1999 the Regulatory Impact Statement was forwarded to
the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development in formal letter FSP/335/99 of
16 September 1999.G/SPS/N/MEX/155
Page 3
7. Nature of the urgent problem(s):  (cont'd)
In view of the above considerations, Emergency Mexican Official Standard NOM-
EM-001-PESC-1999, published in the Official Journal on 19 March 1999, needs to be
amended and extended.
8. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give its appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available :  Diario Oficial de la
Federación  (Official Journal) of 22 February 2000 (available in Spanish)
10. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  The day following its
publication in the Official Journal (23 February 2000), valid for six months frompublication.
11. Texts available from/and agency or authority designated to handle comments:
[    ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry point or address, fax
number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:           
Website:  http://www.secofi.gov.mx/dgn1.html