. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/315
28 July 1999
(99-3166)
REPORT (1999) ON TH E ACTIVITIES OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
The present report is being circulated by the Chairman of the Committee on Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures on his own responsibility.  This report provides a summary of the activities
and decisions of the Committee during 1999.
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1. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Committee") held two
meetings in 1999:  on 10-11 March and 7-8 July, and will hold a third meeting on 10-11 November.1
At the July meeting, Mr. Attie Swart (South Africa) was appointed Chairman for 1999/2000.
2. At the March meeting, the SPS Committee adopted the Report on the Review of the SPS
Agreement.2  In general, the Report emphasizes that during the first three and a half years of
implementation, the SPS Agreement had contributed to improving international trading relationships
with respect to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and that a number of SPS-related trade matters
had been resolved following their discussion at formal meetings of the SPS Committee or bilaterally.
A number of implementation issues gave concern to some Members, including a number of
developing country Members.  The Report more specifically reflects the SPS Committee's discussions
on the implementation and operation of the SPS Agreement with respect to transparency, technicalassistance, special and differential treatment,  international harmonization, equivalence, adaptation to
regional conditions, risk assessment, and dispute resolution.
3. As part of the review, the Committee considered ways to improve the operation of the
transparency provisions of the Agreement, in particular those related to notifications and the operation
of Enquiry Points.  The Committee adopted revised Recommended Notification Procedures, annexedto the Report on the Review of the Agreement.
4. At its regular meetings, the SPS Committee considered a number of specific trade concerns,
including several related to individual notifications. The issues discussed included, inter alia ,
measures related to dioxin; measures related to maximum levels of aflatoxins in food; measures
related to antibiotics in feed;  and measures affecting raw milk cheeses, other dairy products, beef,poultry products, bovine semen, horses, gelatine, potatoes and milled rice.
5. Members informed the SPS Committee about the recognition of disease-free areas,
equivalence agreements and the use of international standards.  The Secretariat circulated updated
                                                     
1 The report of the March meeting is contained in G/SPS/R/14, and that of the July meeting will be
circulated as G/SPS/R/15.
2 G/SPS/12.G/L/315
Page 2
lists of National Enquiry Points and National Notification Authorities.3  The SPS Committee
continued its discussion on the SPS Agreement and developing countries, based on a paper prepared
by the Secretariat, as well as contributions from Egypt.4
6. On the basis of the provisional procedure to monitor the use of international standards,
adopted in October 19975, the Committee discussed examples of what Members considered to be
problems with significant trade impact which they believed to be related to the use or non-use of
relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations.  At its July meeting, the Committee
adopted the annual monitoring report.6  The Committee referred the report to the relevant international
standard-setting bodies for their consideration.  The Committee decided to continue the provisional
procedure to monitor the use of international standards for a further 24 months.7
7. The SPS Committee held further informal consultations in connection with each of the
Committee's formal meetings on the structure and substance of the guidelines to further the practicalimplementation of Article 5.5.  Considerable progress on the draft guidelines was made.
8. At each meeting of the SPS Committee, Members, the Secretariat and the observer inter-
governmental organizations reported on their technical assistance activities.  Members were provided
the opportunity to identify specific needs for technical assistance.
9. The SPS Committee continued informal consultations on requests for observer status from a
number of international intergovernmental organizations.
8  At the March meeting, the SPS Committee
agreed on a procedure for granting ad hoc observer status to qualified organizations while
consultations on permanent observer status continued.  For considering requests for ad hoc observer
status, the Committee decided to apply the criteria specified in G/SPS/W/98 paragraph 7, i.e.
mandate, scope and area of work; contribution to the functioning and implementation of the SPSAgreement;  and reciprocity.  The Secretariat circulated a summary of the information provided by the
various organizations seeking observer status.
9  At the July meeting, the Committee welcomed the
participation of regional plant protection organizations as part of the IPPC delegation.
10. The SPS Committee continued to maintain close working relationships with the IPPC, the
OIE and Codex.  On behalf of the North American Plant Protection Organization, the IPPC submitteda list of experts in pest risk analysis.
10
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3 G/SPS/ENQ/8,  G/SPS/GEN/125, and  G/SPS/GEN/27/Rev.5.
4 G/SPS//W/93 and G/SPS/GEN/128, respectively.
5 G/SPS/11.
6 G/SPS/13.
7 G/SPS/14.
8 The Committee is currently considering applications from:  the Office international de la vigne et du
vin (OIV), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) , the Latin American Economic System (SELA), the
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Regional International Agricultural HealthOrganization (OIRSA), the ACP Group and the OECD.  The EPPO withdrew its request for observer statusfollowing arrangements to participate as part of the IPPC delegation.
9 G/SPS/GEN/121.
10 G/SPS/GEN/118.