G/SPS/W/325  
 
13 May 2020  
(20-3578) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures    
 
FIFTH REVIEW OF THE OPERAT ION AND IMPLEMENTATI ON OF THE AGREEMENT  
ON THE APPLICATION O F SANITARY AND PHYTO SANITARY MEASURES  
REVISED DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FIFTH REVIEW REP ORT  
Note by the Secretariat1 
The following draft recommendations2 were revised on the basis of Members' submitted comments 
as contained in G/SPS/W/ 324. 
Members are invited to review these revised recommendations ahead of discussions in the virtual 
informal consultations which will be held on Monday, 25 M ay 2020 starting at  3:00 p.m. (further 
technical information on these consultations will be provided to Members). Members will also have 
the opportunity to provide comments in writing to the Secretariat ( SPSCommittee@wto.org ) by the 
deadline of Tuesda y, 2 June  2020 . 
1  APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF  PROTECTION, RISK AS SESSMENT AND SCIENCE  
1.1.  Revised r ecommendations :3 
▪ Given the importance of ensuring that SPS measures are based on scientific principles, 
the Committee encourages Members to review periodically the SPS measures 
implemented in their national and/or regional systems, and their risk assessment 
techniques, as new circumstances and scientific evidence emerge  and internation al 
standards, guidelines, and recommendations, are developed and updated  by Codex, the 
OIE, or the IPPC.  
▪ The Committee should continue to discuss the topic of risk, including management of 
situations involving insufficient scientific information, and consi der next steps for 
discussion.  
▪ The Committee invites Members to share experiences and examples of national efforts to 
consider scientific uncertainty and/or insufficiency of scientific evidence in risk analysis 
and the development and implementation of SP S measures.  
▪ The Committee invites ISSBs to share guidance documents, international standards, 
guidelines and recommendations pertaining to the consideration of  examples of efforts to 
consider  scientific uncertainty and/or insufficiency of scientific evidence in risk analysis 
and the development of international standards, guidelines and recommendations . 
 
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  
2 Members' previous comments on the draft Report of the Fifth Review are available in documents 
G/SPS/W/315 (and revisions) , and G/SPS/W/318 (and revisions) . 
3 See p aragraph 2.15 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the  previous version of these recommendations.  G/SPS/W/325  
 
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  2  CONTROL, INSPECTION AND APPRO VAL PROCEDURES (ANNE X C) 
2.1.  Recommendations :4 
▪ The Committee should continue discussions and information exchange on the topic of 
control, inspection and approval procedures. To that end, the Committee should establish 
a formal SPS Committee agenda item on Annex C under the Operation and 
Implementation  of the SPS Agreement agenda item to enable Members to share 
information on this topic.  
▪ Following the fruitful exchange of experiences and ideas at the November 2019 
SPS Committee Thematic Session on Approval Procedures, the Committee should create 
an ele ctronic working group open to the participation of all Members and Observers to 
continue to examine the topic of approval procedures. The electronic working group, 
outlined in G/SPS/W/321 , could explore the:  
i. Key challenges of approval procedures that impact international trade that 
Members should seek to address;  
ii. Principles of approval procedures that facilitate international trade while meeting 
the importing Member's appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection;  
iii. Available tools and best practices to enhance the implementation of the obligations 
of the  SPS Agreement as they apply to approval procedures; and  
iv. Possible future work of the Committee on this topic.  
3  EQUIVALENCE  
3.1.  Revised r ecommendations :5 
▪ Members are encouraged to notify any agreement reached on the recognition of 
equivalence.  
▪ Given the importan ce of Article 4 on equivalence and of the Committee's Decision on the 
Implementation of Article 4 of the SPS Agreement (Equivalence), 32 t The Committee 
should continue discussions and information exchange on the topic of equivalence, 
including systems approaches, through the existing agenda item and in -depth discussion 
during future thematic sessions, informal meetings, and working groups as appropriate.  
▪ Members SPS Committee representatives  are encouraged to coordinate with their Codex, 
OIE, and IPPC representatives and experts to highlight the importance of understanding 
trade impacts during the development and discussion of international st andards, 
guidelines, and recommendations ISSB discussions that bear  on the issue of equivalence.  
Footnote 32 : G/SPS/19/Rev.2 . 
4  FALL ARMYWORM  
4.1.  Revised r ecommendations :6 
▪ Members should continue to exchange experiences on efficient, predictable and science -
based regulatory approaches that help to mitigate the effect of fall armyworm on trade 
while safeguarding  and that also safeguard  human, animal and plant health and life , and 
taking into  account for the  specific needs of smallholdings smallholder farm s. 
▪ As appropriate, Members are encouraged to request technical assistance to support efforts 
to improve their integrated pest management strategies and, where needed, their 
 
4 These are the recommendations reflected in paragraph 3.11 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2 . 
5 See p aragraph 4.12 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previ ous version  of these recommendations.  
6 See paragraph 5.16 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previous version of these recommendations.  G/SPS/W/325  
 
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  regulatory approach to pre -market approval and inspection systems, with the goal of, 
inter alia, enabling greater access to products that strengthen host plant resistance.  
▪ Members are encouraged to continue discussion of the concepts identified in G/SPS/W/317  
that aim to assist Members, part icularly those with capacity constraints, to address SPS 
challenges, in the SPS Committee , including and, where appropriate , in the electronic 
working group on approval procedures established pursuan t referred  to in paragraph 
[insert relevant 5th Revision paragraph with  the proposal by Canada in G/SPS/W/321 . eWG 
recommendation] above.  
5  NATIONAL SPS COORDIN ATION MECHANISMS  
5.1.  Revised r ecommendations :7 
▪ Members are encouraged to implement appropriate national coordination mechanisms to 
enable consultation and communication between releva nt technical and trade policy 
experts to enable the development of coordinated, SPS positions that are  consistent with 
the obligations of the SPS Agreement. Members are further encouraged to consider ways 
to strengthen internal coordination on SPS matters.  
▪ Members should continue to share experiences on their national coordination mechanisms 
and discuss strategies and approaches to improve SPS coordination and engagement at 
the national level with the aim of strengthening implementation of the SPS Agreement , 
including resolving specific trade concerns.  
▪ The Committee requests the Secretariat to prepare a collection of resources that can be 
useful for Members in implementing their national coordination mechanisms, starting with 
those mentioned at the 2019 Work shop on Transparency and Coordination with particular 
attention to the concepts and questions outlined in G/SPS/W/297 , and including additional 
resources as suggested by Members.  
6  NOTIFICATION PROCEDU RES AND TRANSPARENCY  
6.1.  Revised r ecommendations :8 
▪ Members are encouraged to clearly indicate in their SPS Committee notifications when a 
measure has been notified to another Committee.51 Members should include this 
information under the point of the notification format titled "Other relevant documents 
and language(s) in which these are available".52 
Footnote 51:  Please refer to section 2.7 of the Recommended Procedures for Implementing the 
Transparency Obligations of the SPS Agreement (Article 7) in document G/SPS/7/Rev.4, which also makes 
reference to not ifying a regulation containing SPS and TBT measures under both the SPS and TBT 
Agreements.  
Footnote 52 : In the Committee's Recommended Transparency Procedures (G/SPS/7/Rev.4), the 
explanatory sections of the notification formats in Annex A -1 and Annex B -1 indicate that this type of 
information should be included in the notification format under the point titled "Description of content". 
This section would have to be updated if the Committee agreed that this information should be included 
under the point tit led "Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available".  
7  MRLS FOR PLANT PROTE CTION PRODUCTS  
7.1.  Recommendations :9 
▪ The Committee encourages Members to engage in national discussions of options that 
could enable a more productive Codex MRL system; and in particular, to discuss ways to 
achieve sustainable funding for the joint FAO/WHO scientific bodies. Such national 
discussions of options with respect to the MRL system would take place in the context of 
national resource availability, and could involve consideration of, inter alia, options for 
 
7 See paragraph 6.7 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previous version of these recommendations.  
8 See p aragraph 7.13 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previous version of these recommendations.  
9 These are the recommendat ions reflected in paragraph 8.6 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2 . G/SPS/W/325  
 
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  increasing support to JMPR, including increasing representative expert partici pation and 
other forms of support for the scientific bodies, and options for encouraging programmes 
to support submission of data from developing countries, especially on minor crops. The 
Committee invites regular updates from Codex on its progress in the evaluation of new 
compounds and of new uses for existing compounds, and on its progress in its periodic 
review of existing compounds.  
▪ The Committee encourages Members to provide greater transparency and predictability 
worldwide on MRLs, by inter alia: (1) notifying all proposed changes to their MRLs, 
including changes to MRLs that are based on international standards; and (2) reviewing 
and improving their ability to take the comments of their trading partners meaningfully 
into account when considering proposed changes on MRLs.  
▪ The Committee welcomes efforts by Members and the relevant observer organizations to 
provide regular updates to t he Committee on their activities on MRLs, including updates 
on regional initiatives on MRLs. The Committee notes that such information could provide 
the basis for other Members to implement similar activities at the national and regional 
levels to improve harmonization to Codex MRLs, as well as to regional MRLs where 
relevant, in order to facilitate trade.  
▪ The Committee invites Members, on a voluntary basis, to explore ways in which their 
domestic regulatory approaches to pesticide registration and use can impact – both 
negatively and positively – the incentives of the private sector to invest in registration and 
stewardship of lower -risk alternative pesticides in their countries. The Committee also 
invites Members to evaluate their own minor use needs and t o collaborate in global data -
generation activities.  
8  REGIONALIZATION  
8.1.  Revised r ecommendations :10 
▪ The Committee recognizes the importance of regionalizationX to safe trade in agricultural 
products  and processed products . The Committee encourages Members to res pond to 
requests from other Members concerning regionalization in a timely manner and to avoid 
unnecessary requests for information.  
▪ Members are encouraged to use actively and systematically the Guidelines to Further the 
Practical Implementation of Article  6 (G/SPS/48), including the section on Expedited 
Process (Section IV).  
▪ With a view to increasing transparency, Members are encouraged to share: their 
experiences in developing and strengthening their frameworks for regionalization; and 
information on thei r procedures and processes related to regionalization, including on how 
another Member may request recognition of pest - or disease -free areas.  
▪ Under the Committee 's agenda item for regionalization, Members are encouraged to share 
experiences on: securing a nother Member 's recognition of regional conditions with respect 
to specific plant pests or animal diseases; and recognizing regional conditions of another 
Member with respect to specific plant pests or animal diseases.  
▪ Members appreciate the information shared by OIE and IPPC on their activities in support 
of regionalization. Members welcome additional information on case studies, the 
Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) Pathways, and Observatory projects, and on 
other activities aimed at improving understanding and implementation of OIE and IPPC 
standards.  
▪ The Committee should further discuss issues related to Article 6, including the Committee 
Guidelines, through future thematic sessions, informal meetings or workin g groups, as 
appropriate.  
 
10 See paragraph 9.15 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previ ous version of these recommendations.  G/SPS/W/325  
 
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  New f ootnote x: In the OIE context, regionalization is referred to as zoning and compartmentalization.  
9  ROLE OF CODEX, IPPC AND OIE IN ADDRESSIN G SPECIFIC TRADE CON CERNS  
9.1.  Revised r ecommendations :11 
▪ The International Standard Setting  Bodies  (ISSBs)  are invited to provide information on 
relevant their standards , guidelines and recommendations in the SPS Committee 
meetings.  
▪ The International Standard Setting Bodies are invited  Committee encourages SPS 
Committee representatives  to provide information on  consult with their relevant ISSB 
experts for advice when a specific trade concern arises regarding one of the ISSB's  relevant  
standards, guidelines and or recommendations in the SPS Committee meetings . 
▪ The Committe e may continue to consider the role of Codex, IPPC and OIE in addressing  
with respect to  specific trade concerns.  
 
__________  
 
11 See paragraph 10.12 of G/SPS/W/313/Rev.2  for the previous version of these recommendations.