G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.18  
 
4 October  2019 
(19-6436) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures    
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSER VER STATUS  
NOTE BY THE SECRETAR IAT1 
Addendum  
An application for observer status in the SPS Committee was received on 25 September 2019  from 
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) . Information provided by UNIDO  
is summarized below.  
 
1  MEMBERSHIP  
1.1.  Membership in the UNIDO is open to all States. Article 3 of Chapter 2 of the UNIDO Constitution 
states:  
"Membership in the Organization is open to all States which associate themselves with th e 
objectives and principles of the Organization:  
a. States members of the United Nations or of a specialized agency or of the 
International Atomic Energy Agency may become Members of the Organization by 
becoming parties to this Constitution in accordance wit h Article 24 and paragraph 2 
of Article 25;  
b. States other than those referred in subparagraph (a) may become Members of the 
Organization by becoming parties to this Constitution in accordance with paragraphs 
of Article 24 and subparagraph 2 (c) of Article 2 5, after their membership has been 
approved by the Conference, by a two -third majority of the Members present and 
voting, upon the recommendation of the Board."  
UNIDO member States  
1. Afghanistan*  
2. Albania*  
3. Algeria**  
4. Angola*  
5. Antigua and Barbuda*  
6. Argentina*  
7. Armenia*  
8. Austria*  
9. Azerbaijan**  
10. Bahamas**  
11. Bahrain  (Kingdom of) * 
12. Bangladesh*  
13. Barbados*  
14. Belarus**  
15. Belize*  
16. Benin*  
17. Bhutan**  
                                                
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the position of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  18. Bolivia (Plurinational 
State of)*  
19. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina**  
20. Botswana*  
21. Brazil*  
22. Bulgaria*  
23. Burkina Faso*  
24. Burundi*  
25. Cabo Verde*  
26. Cambodia*  
27. Cameroon  
28. Central African 
Republic*  
29. Chad*  
30. Chile*  
31. China*  
32. Colombia*  33. Comoros**  
34. Congo*  
35. Costa Rica*  
36. Côte d'Ivoire*  
37. Croatia*  
38. Cuba*  
39. Cyprus*  
40. Czechia*  
41. Democratic People's 
Republic of Korea***  
42. Democratic Republic of 
the Congo*  
43. Djibouti*  
44. Dominica*  
45. Dominican Republic*  
46. Ecuador*  
47. Egypt*  
48. El Salvador*  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.18  
 
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  49. Equatorial Guinea**  
50. Eritrea***  
51. Eswatini*  
52. Ethiopia**  
53. Fiji* 
54. Finland*  
55. Gabon*  
56. Gambia (The)*  
57. Georgia*  
58. Germany*  
59. Ghana*  
60. Grenada*  
61. Guatemala*  
62. Guinea*  
63. Guinea -Bissau*  
64. Guyana*  
65. Haiti*  
66. Honduras*  
67. Hungary*  
68. India*  
69. Indonesia*  
70. Iran (Islamic Republic 
of)**  
71. Iraq**  
72. Ireland*  
73. Israel*  
74. Italy*  
75. Jamaica*  
76. Japan*  
77. Jordan*  
78. Kazakhstan*  
79. Kenya*  
80. Kiribati***  
81. Kuwait  (the State of) * 
82. Kyrgyzs tan* 
83. Lao People's 
Democratic Republic*  
84. Lebanon**  
85. Lesotho*  
86. Liberia*  
87. Libya**  
88. Luxembourg*  
89. Madagascar*  
90. Malawi*  91. Malaysia*  
92. Maldives*  
93. Mali* 
94. Malta*  
95. Marshall Islands***  
96. Mauritania*  
97. Mauritius*  
98. Mexico*  
99. Micronesia (Federated 
States of)***  
100.  Monaco***  
101.  Mongolia*  
102.  Montenegro*  
103.  Morocco*  
104.  Mozambique*  
105.  Myanmar*  
106.  Namibia*  
107.  Nepal*  
108.  Netherlands*  
109.  Nicaragua*  
110.  Niger*  
111.  Nigeria*  
112.  North Macedonia*  
113.  Norway*  
114.  Oman*  
115.  Pakistan*  
116.  Panama  
117.  Papua New Guinea*  
118.  Paraguay*  
119.  Peru*  
120.  Philippines*  
121.  Poland*  
122.  Qatar*  
123.  Republic of Korea*  
124.  Republic of Moldova*  
125.  Romania*  
126.  Russian Federation*  
127.  Rwanda*  
128.  Saint Kitts and Nevis*  
129.  Saint Lucia*  
130.  Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines*  
131.  Samoa*  132.  Sao Tome and 
Principe**  
133.  Saudi Arabia  (Kingdom 
of)* 
134.  Senegal*  
135.  Serbia**  
136.  Seychelles*  
137.  Sierra Leone*  
138.  Slovenia*  
139.  Somalia**  
140.  South Africa*  
141.  Spain*  
142.  Sri Lanka*  
143.  State of Palestine***  
144.  Sudan**  
145.  Suriname*  
146.  Sweden*  
147.  Switzerland*  
148.  Syrian Arab Republic**  
149.  Tajikistan*  
150.  Thailand*  
151.  Timor -Leste*  
152.  Togo*  
153.  Tonga*  
154.  Trinidad and Tobago*  
155.  Tunisia*  
156.  Turkey*  
157.  Turkmenistan***  
158.  Tuvalu***  
159.  Uganda*  
160.  Ukraine*  
161.  United Arab Emirates*  
162.  United Republic of 
Tanzania*  
163.  Uruguay*  
164.  Uzbekistan**  
165.  Vanuatu*  
166.  Venezuela (Bolivarian 
Republic of)*  
167.  Viet Nam*  
168.  Yemen*  
169.  Zambia*  
170.  Zimbabwe*  
* WTO Member . 
** WTO Observer . 
*** Not a WTO Member or Observer . 
2  MANDATE, SCOPE AND A REA OF WORK  
2.1.  Established in 1966, UNIDO is the specialized United Nations agency that promotes industrial 
development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. 142 of 
the UNIDO member States are Members of the WTO; 19 member State s have observer status; and 
9 have neither membership nor observer status in WTO.  
2.2.  UNIDO is mandated to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development 
(ISID) in member States. UNIDO's programmatic focus is structured, as detailed in  the 
Organization's Medium -Term Programme Framework 2018 -2021, in four strategic priorities: 
(i) creating shared prosperity; (ii) advancing economic competitiveness; (iii) safeguarding the 
environment; and (iv) strengthening knowledge and institutions. The  strategic priorities include 
individual programmes in areas of (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.18  
 
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  and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality -related activities; 
and (iv) convening and p artnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation.  
2.3.  Overall, UNIDO's ISID approach is credited with promoting value addition, realizing productivity 
gains and returns to scale, creating jobs and income, enhancing international compet itiveness and 
trade, building efficient and effective productive capacity, supporting economic diversification, and 
building green industries. This structural transformation unleashes an enormous development 
potential as it features close linkages to infra structure development, innovation and the efficient and 
sustainable use of resources, as well as to a wider range of other sustainable development priorities.  
3  CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORK OF THE SPS COMM ITTEE  
3.1.  Aiming at assisting countries in addressing persist ent and emerging SPS challenges, and at 
facilitating respective capacity -building, UNIDO's interventions in this field are based on UNIDO's 
food safety approach.  
3.2.  UNIDO's food safety approach is designed to help execute the Organization's mandate and 
struct ure its interventions such that it can leverage its capacity building initiatives as well as its 
advisory and convening power to support sustainable and resilient food and agrifood businesses. 
Therefore, it is a lever which ensures that the organization's SPS-related capacity development 
initiatives are effective and contribute fully, in a cohesive and holistic manner, to achieving inclusive 
and sustainable industrial development.  
3.3.  The approach is centered around three key pillars:  
1) Enabling sustainable busin esses through effective food safety capacity building;  
2) Enabling a favourable  food safety environment through integrating food safety into the wider 
context of regulatory frameworks, national quality and food safety policies as well as 
infrastructure development;  
3) Fostering food safety advocacy and partnerships through enabling the engagement of the 
private sector in local, regional and global partnerships and advancing multi -stakeholder 
food safety dialogue and interventions.  
 
 
3.4.  Overall, UNIDO's interventions in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary measures focus on the 
following : 
a) Promotion of the development, use and application of international sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures.  
b) Promotion of policies and regulatory frameworks aimed at increasing the productivity of 
agro-industries, boosting trade and at enhancing consumer prot ection  
G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.18  
 
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  c) SPS-related technical assistance programmes to enterprises, especially to small and 
medium -sized enterprises, to enhance competitiveness and productive capacities in the 
agro-business value chains.  
d) Strengthening capacities of countries to perform t esting and inspection activities within an 
internationally recognized framework, so that they can respond effectively to international 
market requirements in the areas of standardization, metrology, testing and quality 
infrastructure in general, and to dev elop capacities to prove compliance with those market 
requirements and international standards.  
e) Promotion and development of internationally recognized food control systems and of 
regional harmonization mechanisms in regard to food safety, as well as align ment of applied 
practices with the SPS and TBT agreement.  
f) Establishment of partnerships and creating synergies in projects with international and 
regional organizations in matters of agricultural development, food safety and quality 
infrastructure.  
4  RECIPR OCITY  
4.1.  All documents related to SPS programmes and activities are made available on the UNIDO 
website, and UNIDO is committed to share all information concerning its technical and SPS -related 
trade capacity building activities with the WTO SPS Committee Sec retariat.  
 
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