G/SPS/GEN/1888  
 
5 March 2021 
(21-1845) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 
INFORMATION ON SPS -RELATED ACTIVITIES OF  
THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC)  
(1 OCTOBER 2020  – 10 FEBRUARY  2021 ) 
COMMUNICATION FROM ITC 
The following communication, received on 1 March 2021, is being c irculated at the request of 
the ITC. 
 
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The International Trade Centre is continuing its efforts to assist enterprises to meet technical 
requirements. An update of selected SPS -related activities of interest to the WTO Members is 
provided below.  
1  PROJECTS  
1.1  EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme - MARKUP (July 2018 - July 2022 / Donor 
European Union ) 
1.1.  This project aims to contribute to the economic development of the East African Community 
(EAC)  region (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), with the specific objective to improve 
market access of agro -industrial crop and horticultural sectors to the E uropean Union, and among 
the five EAC partners. The selected products are avocado, cocoa, coffee, spices and tea.  
1.2.  All nine Tanzanian producer groups (comprising a total of 446 farmers) assisted under 
the project to implement GlobalG.A.P. (Good Agricultural Practice)  were certified having been audited 
by a third party.  
1.3.  Implementation of GlobalG.A .P. among avocado producers in Kenya is ongoing.  
1.4.  Implementation of quality improvement projects in enterprises in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda 
and Uganda by trained Quality Champions  is also ongoing . 
1.2  Uzbekistan - Facilitating the Process of Accession to the WTO (21  February 2020 - 
20 February 2025 / Donor European Union ) 
1.5.  The project supports Uzbekistan 's development plans to modernize i ts economy through 
leveraging the process of WTO accession. The overall objective of the action is to contribute to the 
econo mic development of Uzbekistan by assisting the country to create a trade environment that is 
in conformity with international standards, including predictable and enforceable laws and 
regulations. The specific objective of the action is to create a trade e nvironment that is in conformity 
with the World Trade Organization (WTO).  
1.6.  To reinforce SPS institutions and in particular to support the State Plant Quarantine Inspection, 
the plant health legislation has been reviewed and recommendations provided to impro ve control. 
A series of consultative and training workshop s on pest risk analysis, risk categorization in plant 
health, and phytosanitary treatments w ere held between November 2020 and February 2021. 
All activities were conducted through a series of virtua l meetings and webinar trainings.  G/SPS/GEN/1888  
 
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  1.3  Pakistan: Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (June 2019 – 
December 2024 / Donor European Union ) 
1.7.  ITC is implementing the EU -funded "Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress" 
(GRASP) project w hich aims to contribute to the reduction of poverty through development of rural 
micro, small and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs) in selected districts within two provinces of 
Pakistan: Balochistan and Sindh. GRASP will focus on selected product lines wit hin livestock and 
horticulture.  
1.8.  In the context of this project, ITC is providing support to strengthen the SPS authorities in 
the two provinces which include the food safety authorities and the departments dealing with plant 
health and animal health. The p roject will also provide support to MSMEs to improve  the quality and 
food safety of their products.  
1.9.  During the period under report, the food authorities in Sindh and Balochistan were assessed 
and a five-year action plan for their strengthening was develope d. Officers of the Sindh Food 
Authority were trained on Meat Safety and Quality Standards based on a manual developed under 
the project.  
1.4  Myanmar Trade -Related Assistance (Arise Plus – Myanmar)  (July 2019 - June 2023 / 
Donor European Union ) 
1.10.   The ARISE Plus p roject aims at building inclusive and sustainable trade growth in Myanmar 
through support to MSMEs in selected value chains (component 1), enhancing food safety and 
SPS compliance (component 2 – targeting tea, coffee, honey, horticulture products) and trad e policy 
formulation and implementation (component 3). Under component 2 , a number of activities 
have been completed.  
1.11.   In the honey sector, eight Trainer cum Counsellor s (TcCs) are trained and engaged to support 
honey processing factories to implement HACCP. More than 35 participants from  the Apiculture 
Development Division (ADD) , factories and all TcCs were trained through the workshop on HACCP  
(Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point)  implementation at a honey processing factory. As  of 
December 2020, all TcCs delivered Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) , Good Manufacturing Practices 
(GMP) and Pre-requisite Programme ( PRP) training to the quality control team of eight honey 
processing factories.  
1.12.   Capacity building was provided on several key topic s for improved official control and 
certification, including on pathology, surveillance and OIE listed disease management of honey bees 
to the ADD, Myanmar honey association and the private sector, as well as on the EU Trade Control 
in Expert System (TRACE S) for PPD  (public private dialogue ) and ADD.  
1.13.   Follow-up technical training  was delivered  to more than 20 attendees of the Food and Drug 
Authority ( FDA) microbiological laboratories and the commodity testing and quality management 
(CTQM) laboratory of  the Department of Consumer Affairs (D OCA) in January 2021. As part of the 
preparation, a gap assessment was conducted on the beneficiaries.  
1.14.   An Expression of Interest (EoI) for the tea and coffee sectors was launched by DOCA and 
a number of companies interested to work with the project were identified. A gap assessment to 
structure a proper official control system is under preparation.  
1.15.   The project has been working with Department of Consumer Affairs and MyanTRADE to 
establish an online quality platform for Myanma r with four modules, namely quality compass, quality 
insights, quality connect and quality success.  
1.16.   In collaboration with the ARISE Plus Regional programme, the project initiated work on 
structuring the Myanmar national system for Rapid Alert System for Fo od and Feed (RASFF). 
19 International Standards, Guidelines (Codex,  International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures  
ISPM, GMP for honey sector and ISO) and codes of practices were translated for the FDA, the Plant 
Quarantine Section of the Department of Agriculture (DOA)  and the Apiculture Development Division 
as well as for public food testing laboratories and private sector associations.  G/SPS/GEN/1888  
 
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  1.17.   In total, 36 participants from ADD/LBVD  (Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department) , 
DOA, FDA and TcCs attended t he online workshop on official control system to be in line with 
ISO 17020:2012 and EU regulation 625/2017 from 25 to 28 Jan uary. Inspection checklists for tea  
and coffee were drafted , and honey inspection checklists were revised and simplified. On 29 Jan uary, 
a gap assessment with ADD was conducted and initial findings were recorded.  
1.18.   Synergies have been built with  ongoing  ITC projects through the development of e -learning 
courses on hygiene and food safety. These ongoing projects are: Inclusive tourism de velopment 
with focus on Kayah state - NTF IV – funded by the Netherlands Trust Fund ; and Myanmar: 
Upgrading horticulture supply and sustainable tourism to develop business linkages, UN Cluster on 
trade and productive capacity - funded by Swiss State Secret ariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) 
trust fund. 
1.19.   The project Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/ArisePlusMyanmar . 
1.5  Tajikistan: Enabling market access for agricultural products through improved f ood 
safety system (March 2018 - February 2021 / STDF - PG-447 implemented by ITC in 
collaboration with FAO in particular for output 1 on the regulatory control system)  
1.20.   The goal of the project is to improve export competitiveness of Tajik SMEs and food safe ty 
through better use of agri -chemicals and veterinary medicines with focus on  the honey and apricot 
sectors. It enhances high value market access for Tajik agri -food producers and processors , and 
increases the level of safety of Tajik domestic food by red ucing the risk of contamination and 
improving the systems of control and monitoring of agri -chemicals and veterinary medicines.  
1.21.   A group of 17 previously trained Tajik honey and apricot experts started in March/April 2020 
to impart training on Good Agricult ural Practices (GAP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), 
Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), EU market access requirements as well as harvesting and 
post-harvest technology to farmers and producers.  The f irst set of training was stopped due to 
COVID -19 restrictio ns and resumed in September/October 2020 covering a total of 15 workshops 
in several districts of Tajikistan for 304 participants (28 women) with strict application of the 
precautionary measures (wearing masks, providing hand sanitizers and following socia l distanc ing 
rules). 
1.22.   FAO and ITC conducted a series of virtual meetings on sampling and monitoring in relation to 
the resubmission of the National Residue Monitoring Plan (NRMP) for honey to the E uropean Union 
by March 2021 , as well as on supporting the ge neral monitoring system of the country with regard 
to agri -chemicals and veterinary medicines.  
1.23.   The project further developed the information, education  and communication (IEC) strategy 
and implementation plan. The plan includes the creation of awareness and sensitization material on 
good practices for the application of agri -chemicals and veterinary medicines.  
1.24.   In addition, the project is focusing on crea ting market linkages between suppliers of honey 
and apricots in Tajikistan , and national as well as international buyers. Several interviews with 
Tajik companies have been conducted to understand the companies ' product and trade potential and 
how this woul d link to buyers ' demands.  
1.6  SYMST: Systematic Mechanism for Safer Trade ( Lao People's Democratic Republic  and 
Viet Nam) (December 2018 – October 2022 / Donor European Union ) 
1.25.   The overall objective of the project is to improve food safety through better governance in  
Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam . The project aims to strengthen the regulatory 
framework for control of plant health and pesticides in the fruits and vegetable sector , and other 
plant products through the application of norms an d standards and improve market access.  
1.26.   In Lao People's Democratic Republic the focus is to support export s of watermelon from the 
north to China; native rice from Vientiane to the E uropean Union, and chili and basil to the 
European  Union from Pakxe.  G/SPS/GEN/1888  
 
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  1.27.   A training on EU regulations and on TRACES (T rade Control and Expert System) 
(7-10 December) for DOA officials and private operators was conducted in hybrid mode for 
70 participants at plenary sessions and few one -to-one coaching sessions. Two companies 
(coffee  and vegetables) are now registered in the system along with three DOA competent 
authorities and follow -up was done on interceptions and adoption of regulation to issue online phyto 
certificates. An assessment of the Plant Protection Centre pesticides labor atory was completed with 
a road map for capacity building and preparation for accreditation ISO 17025; and a 15-day training 
on maximum residue levels ( MRLs) conducted for five technicians in the use of LC -MS/MS  
(Liquid  Chromatography with tandem mass spec trometry ) for analyzing pesticides. A Technical 
Working Group (27 -28 January) and Project Review Committee Meeting (29 January) was also 
conducted in Champasak Synergies.  
1.28.   In Viet Nam , the identification phase i s under completion; a 2 -day webinar on EU regu lations 
was conducted that led to the selection of target products such as dragon fruit, pomelo, and black 
pepper for export to the European Union. Plant health laboratories assessments w ere done for 
Plant Quarantine Diagnostics Center, Post -entry Plant Qu arantine Center 1 and Northern 
Plant Protection Center . A training was also conducted on  ISO/IEC 17025:2017, from 20 to 
23 January by a national consultant for 15 participants (10 women ) from three pest detection 
laboratories.  
1.7  Thailand  ARISE Plus Project ( November 2020 – October 2023 / Donor 
European  Union)  
1.29.   The new ITC implemented ARISE Plus Thailand project, aims to support inclusive and 
sustainable economic growth through international trade in Thailand. It supports greater connectivi ty 
and economic integration between Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
region in line with the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025.  
1.30.   Under this overall objective, ITC supports the enhancement and dissemination of organ ic 
agricultural practices in line with EU standards. In this context, the project aims at assisting the 
relevant departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) and private 
certification bodies on organic agriculture. One of the initial activities is an awareness and 
sensitization  event on the new EU regulation for organic production.  
1.8  Lao ARISE Plus Project (2012 -2023 / Donor European Union ) 
1.31.   A team of future Quality Champions (QCs) has been identified and selected. These QCs will 
support Lao SME as trainers and coaches in the area of quality management and food safety. 
They will be trained and qualified over the next 15 months. Three out of  10 technical workshops 
were implemented online during the period. An initial version of the Lao Qual ity for Trade Platform 
was developed featuring quality requirement for selected product -market combinations.  
1.32.   The recommendations for strengthening the conformity assessment services have been 
validated by stakeholders through more than 10 online meetings; and implementation of the 
recommendations is planned in the areas of SPS such as assistance to strengthen the pesticides 
laboratories, training of inspectors of the food and drug department on HACCP.  
For more information, please contact:  
Ludovica Ghizzoni , ITC Adviser on Export Quality Management  
Tel: +41 22 730 06 38  
Fax: +41 22 730 05 76  
E-mail: ghizzoni@intracen.org  
 
Khemraj Ramful , ITC Senior Adviser on Export Quality Management  
Tel: +41 22 730 04 87  
Fax: +41 22 730 05 76  
E-mail: ramful@intracen.org  
 
ITC EXPORT QUALITY MANAGEMENT  
Website : http://www.intracen.org/eqm  
Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/ITCstandards  
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