. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/NZL/91
21 March 2001
(01-1366)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  NEW ZEALAND
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
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).  Untanned cattle, deer, goat and sheep hides and skins Regions or countries
likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  Northern Ireland
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Revocation of import health
standard (1 page)
5. Description of content:  The legal instrument used to revoke the  Import health standard for
the importation of commercial consignments of untanned cattle/deer/goat/sheep hides and
skins into New Zealand from Northern Ireland  (15 January 1998)
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 Nature of the urgent problem(s): The import health standard was revoked following
confirmation of an outbreak of  foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom.  The animal
health measures in the import health standard had originally been developed to enable trade
from a country recognized as free from foot-and -mouth disease.  Therefore, these measures
were inadequate to allow trade to continue from a foot-and-mouth disease infected
country/zone.
Import health standards allowing for the trade of cloven-hoofed live animals, viable genetic
material and animal products from the United Kingdom have been temporarily suspended.The suspension will be reviewed once the extent of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is
known and United Kingdom authorities have the disease under control.  New Zealand will
then consider reinstating the import standards if the United Kingdom has been able to
effectively regionalize the disease.
8. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [     ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give its appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:  Higher level of sanitary protection than would
be achieved by measures based on the OIE international animal health code: mammals, birds
and bees.
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  NoneG/SPS/N/NZL/91
Page 2
10. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  26 February 2001
11. Texts available from/and agency or authority designated to handle comments:
[ X ] National notification authority, [     ] National enquiry point or address, fax
number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
Text:  Keawe Woodmore, Coordinator, New Zealand SPS Notification Authority, PO Box
2526, Wellington, New Zealand, Tel: +64 4 474 4226, Fax: +64 4 470 2730, E-mail:
sps@maf.govt.nz
Comments: Barbara Christensen, National Ad viser, International Trade, Biosecurity
Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, PO Box 2526, Wellington, New Zealand.
Tel:  +64 4 498 9807; Fax:  +64 4 474 4133;  E-mail: christensenb@maf.govt.nz