G/SPS/W/327  
 
8 June 2020 
(20-4050) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
FIFTH REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEM ENTATION OF THE AGRE EMENT ON THE 
APPLICATION OF SANIT ARY AND PHYTOSANITAR Y MEASURES  
COMMUNICATION FROM B ELIZE  
The following communication, received on  5 June 2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of  Belize . 
 
 
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Belize takes this opportunity to thank the Secretariat for compiling and circulating the comments 
received from Members on the draft Report of the Review of the Operation and Implementation of 
the SPS Agreement.  
Our intervention covers 3 issues:  
1. The format of the report;  
2. Decisions that were taken but which did not materialize as a result of the pandemic;  and 
3. The next steps – how to implement the decisions that are still pending.  
1  THE FORMAT OF THE RE PORT  
1. Document G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2 , under the  section "Voluntary Third -Party Assurance 
Schemes ", contains an accurate summary of the discussions that transpired in the Committee under 
this agenda item and includes the decision of the Committee to hold a thematic session in March 
2020.  
2. We also recogni ze that document G/SPS/W/325  only reflects recommendations  and in so 
doing, unfortunately does not capture the decisions of the Committee.  
3. It is our view that if the decision of the Committee is captured in a similar fashion as the 
recommendations, the reporting will be balanced.  As a res ult, we propose that the Committee 's 
decision to hold a thematic session on Voluntary Third -Party Assurance be captured in a similar 
manner.  
4. This recommendation would be subject to the acceptable approved WTO format for writing 
the report.  
Recommendatio n: 
▪ The Committee had agreed to hold a Thematic Session on Voluntary Third -Party 
Assurance in March 2020, which had to be postponed due to the COVID -19 
pandemic. The Committee agrees to reschedule this Thematic Session as soon as 
the COVID -19 situation allows.  
5. We also agree with the inclusion of the footnotes with reference to the documents 
G/SPS/W/32 0 and G/SPS/GEN/1754/Rev .1. G/SPS/W/327  
 
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  6. Belize considers that if this is done, and the Committee desires to have a document which 
solely reflects recommendations, then it will also need to capture this decision . 
2  DECISIONS THAT DID N OT MATERIALIZE DUE T O THE COVID -19 PANDE MIC 
7. Considering that  the Committee was unable to hold that session due to the COVID -19 
pandemic , we feel that if the decision is not reflected under the revised draft recommendations for 
the Fifth Review of the Report, this decision could easily be lost.  
8. We do not know how th at can be done but would simply like to signal that it should be reflected 
in the Report.  
3  THE NEXT STEPS – IMPL EMENTATION OF PENDIN G DECISIONS  
9. We note that some Members have suggested the possibility of holding webinars to advance 
the work of the Committee , including exploring the possibility of using that avenue for covering some 
of the thematic sessions.  
10. Belize would like to share that we are still reviewing this consideration and will need more 
time to explore this possibility due to several challenges:  a webinar has a shorter time frame and 
less areas would be covered.  The time difference (different countries have different time zones) is 
also another challenge , and last but not least, limitations in technology.  
 
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