G/SPS/GEN/2136  
 
23 June 2023 
(23-4326) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
ACTIONS AIMED AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO AGREEMENT  
ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY THE INTER -AMERICAN INSTITUTE  
FOR COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURE (IICA)  
The following communication, received on 22 June  2023, is being circulated at the request of  IICA. 
 
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The observer organizations of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(SPS Committee) are invited to submit reports on th e activities they have carried out to promote 
the understanding and implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). IICA would like to present some of the actions and 
activities that it considers r elevant to the work of this Committee.  
1  SUPPORT FOR MULTILATERAL FORA ASSOCIATED WITH SANITARY AND 
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
1.1  Codex Alimentarius Colloquia  
1.1.  IICA, in collaboration with the United States Codex Office, the FAO/WHO Coordinating 
Committee for Latin A merica and the Caribbean (CCLAC) and the African Union 's Interafrican Bureau 
for Animal Resources (AU -IBAR), continues to support its member countries in their active 
participation in the Codex Alimentarius, through the implementation of an annual program of 
colloquiums aimed at the CCLAC and the CCAFRICA countries and the United States. In these 
colloquiums, both regions (43% of the Codex membership) discuss and exchange opinions on the 
various agenda items of each of the official Codex Alimentarius meetin gs. These meetings motivate 
and support developing countries to enhance their active participation both individually and 
regionally. The most recent colloquiums were:  
− March 2023 – preparation for the 16th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on 
Contaminants in Foods (CCCF16);  
− April 2023 – preparation for the 26th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and 
Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS26);  
− April 2023 – preparation for the  47th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling 
(CCFL47);  
− May 2023 - preparation for the 42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis 
and Sampling (CCMAS42);  
− June 2023 - preparation for the 54th Session Codex Committee on Pesticide Res idues 
(CCPR54).  
1.2.  These events provided an opportunity for delegates from these two regions and the 
United  States to analyse issues of common interest and develop regional participation strategies 
prior to those Codex Committee meetings.  G/SPS/GEN/2136  
 
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  1.2  Codex Alimentarius C olloquia for the Private Sector  
1.3.  In partnership with the United States Dairy Export Council (USDEC), IICA hosted the following 
colloquiums aimed at private sector stakeholders, from Latin America and the Caribbean Regions, 
involved in Codex Alimentarius act ivities:  
− March 2023 - preparation for the 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and 
Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU43);  
− May 2023 - preparation for the 47th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling 
(CCFL47).  
1.4.  Those activities were held virtually, with simultaneous interpretation English/Spanish and 
counted with presentations from renowned experts from the Americas.  
1.3  Regional Coordination Session on WTO SPS Matters  
1.5.  Adding to the regional efforts to strengthen capacities in the Hemisph ere for the application of 
sanitary and phytosanitary measures and working in collaboration with several of its members IICA 
conducted in March 2023 its Sixth Coordination Session on WTO SPS Committee Matters. 
The meeting was hosted virtually with simultan eous interpretation for English, Spanish and French 
and was attended by approximately 150 participants from thirty -two countries. Considering the 
current prominent subjects under discussion in the WTO SPS Committee, the sixth coordination 
session addressed  matters related to the Working Groups of the SPS Declaration for the 12th WTO 
Ministerial Conference ( WT/MIN(22)/27 ), regulatory approach to veterinary products and MRLs 
determination to achieve environmental outcomes. The next coordination session on WTO 
SPS Committee matters will occur in July 2023 in preparation for the forthcoming 86th Session of 
the WTO SPS Committee.  
1.4  Inter -American Coordinating Group in Plant Health (GICSV) recent activities  
1.6.  Since the constitution of the GICSV, IICA has exercised the Technical Secretariat on a 
permanent basis and currently hosts its website . In recent years it has maintained an intense agenda 
and a work plan focused on institutional strengthening, coordination of activities and attention to  
the main emerging phytosanitary issues. The most relevant events and activities conducted during 
the period covered by this report were:  
− April 2023 – ePhyto Regional Workshop ; 
− May 2023 – Working Groups dynamics and work plan meeting ; 
− June 2023 – GICSV Coo rdinating Committee meeting ; 
− June 2023 – "GICSV Declaration for lack of authorized phytosanitary products for locust 
control" . 
2  INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO SPS MEASURES  
2.1  Strategy Session on the World Organization for Animal Health (W OAH) Guidelines  
2.1.  Aiming at improving coordination and promoting the development of harmonized comments on 
the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code chapters, IICA hosted virtually, in May and June 2023, 
the thirteenth and fourteenth editions of its Strategy S ession organized in partnership and sponsored 
by the USDA. Matters related to glossary/poultry definition; foot -and-mouth disease; bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy; access to WOAH delegate website; animal health economics 
collaboration centre; avian influe nza (vaccination and trade); aquatic code issues; slaughter of 
animals (Chapter 7.5); scrapie and avian influenza.  
3  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
3.1  Latin American Trade Bloc Project (LAC)  
3.1.  In a partnership between IICA and the USDA, the LAC Project provides technical advice on 
agricultural health, food safety and food quality matters. With the support of certified lead 
instructors, it focuses primarily on companies, organizations, and produc ers in need for training on G/SPS/GEN/2136  
 
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  the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules. Besides the face -to-face training, the technical 
assistance modality of the LAC Project consists of visits to production plants where the trainees can 
accompany audits.  
3.2.  From Apr il to June 2023 a total of 20 initiatives were conducted. Of these 20 initiatives, 
13 involved continuous technical assistance to government institutions in Ecuador, 
the Dominican  Republic, Guatemala, and Peru for the development of pilot risk -based food s afety 
inspection models. In addition, six official workshops with more than 200 agricultural producers 
trained in traceability regulations, HACCP, good documentation practices, and strengthening 
capacities on FSMA rules. Finally, the first Regional Meeting  for the Strengthening of Technical 
Capacities was held this first semester of 2023, with the participation of more than 20 strategic 
actors in the region, including agricultural specialists and food safety directors. The event established 
a forum for the harmonization of food safety technical regulations, the promotion of intra and 
interregional trade and the facilitation of food exports to the United States.  
3.2  African Swine Fever  
3.3.  Within the framework of the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Tr ansboundary 
Animal Diseases (GF -TADs), IICA has been leading training actions for the prevention of 
African  Swine Fever (ASF) in the countries of the Americas and the Caribbean, which are still free of 
the disease. This coordination is being developed in c onjunction with the different international 
agencies, as well as regional agencies (WOAH, FAO, CVP, CAN, CAFHSA, CaribVET, OIRSA, USDA, 
COPEG).  
3.4.  Continuing with the work plan for 2023, IICA recently hosted the following webinars:  
− March 2023 - the fourth par t of the ASF Risk Communication Webinar series – "Crisis 
Communication for ASF";  
− April 2023 - Animal Health Education for Transboundary Diseases;  
− June 2023 - Standardized Operational Manuals on Transboundary Diseases.  
3.3  11th EDF Sanitary and Phytosanitary (S PS) Measures Project - 9th Meeting of the 
Technical Advisory Committee  
3.5.  On 29 and 30 March, the 9th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee of the 11th EDF 
SPS Measures Project was held. Day 1 covered progress and plans for year IV. On Day 2, participan ts 
discussed the way forward - gaps and key considerations for further strengthening SPS systems in 
the Caribbean. Technical presentations were provided by IICA, Caribbean Agricultural Health and 
Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), Caribbean Regional Fisheries Me chanism (CRFM), the Ministry of 
Agriculture - Dominican Republic, Caribbean Agri -business Association (CABA), and Caribbean 
Network of Fisherfolk Organizations (CNFO).  
3.4  Cooperative Agreement between IICA and the US Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA) – "Impl ementation of FSMA - Identifying, Researching, and Implementing 
Alternative Methods to Expand the Reach across the Global Supply Chain"  
3.6.  During the period covered by this report, five out of 12 webinars from an ongoing series were 
held. The webinars covered  the Food Traceability Rule, the Agricultural Water Rule and Adjacent and 
the Nearby Land Use rule with the participation of subject matter experts. A total of 
3,496  connections, from approximately 30 countries of the Americas and Europe, attended those 
first five webinars. The webinar recordings are available online in English  and Spanish . 
3.5  STDF Project: Piloting the use of Third -Party Assurance (TPA) Programme in Central 
America (Belize and Honduras) to improve food safety outcomes for public health and 
trade  
3.7.  This p ilot project seeks to drive up compliance with national food safety standards and 
regulations through better targeting of official resources to facilitate improved public health 
outcomes and trade opportunities. Recently, virtual sessions and face -to-face workshops have been 
held in to evaluate and review existing government inspection procedures in the poultry, bean and 
coconut chains in the case of Belize, and aquaculture shrimp and fresh produce in the case of G/SPS/GEN/2136  
 
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  Honduras. During these activities, the frequ ency of inspections, the risk profile and other relevant 
aspects have been analyzed to improve food safety results for public health and trade.  
3.8.  In addition, two evaluators from Belize participated in a workshop developed by UNIDO, where 
a joint session was  held with Honduras to share experiences and knowledge acquired at the 
workshop. The main objective of this session was to provide an overview of the factors that 
Competent Authority regulators should consider when evaluating and using data from Third Part y 
Accreditation (vTPA) programs. It also sought to encourage discussion on the use of vTPA programs 
in Belize and Honduras, in order to move towards their effective implementation.  
3.9.  We are currently in the final planning stage for a learning visit to the Un ited Kingdom. The  main 
objective of this visit is to learn how public and private sector organizations cooperate in the use of 
vTPA programs on food security in that country. This experience will provide lessons learned and 
good practices that will be of g reat value for the implementation and improvement of vTPA programs 
in Belize and Honduras.  
For further information, please contact José H. Urdaz ( jose.urdaz@iica.int ). 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on A griculture (IICA)  
Agricultural Health and Food Safety  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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