G/SPS/GEN/2166  
 
8 November  2023 
(23-7543) Page: 1/3 
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 8 November  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  the 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 consider s relevant 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 Lati n America 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 progr am 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 mee tings. These meetings motivate 
and support developing countries to enhance their active participation both individually and 
regionally. The most recent colloquiums were:  
− October 2023 - preparation for the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on General 
Principles (CCGP33);  
− October 2023 - preparation for the 46th Session Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC46).  
1.2.  These events provided an opportunity for delegates from these two regions and the 
United  States to analys e issues of common interest and develop regional participation strategies 
prior to those Codex Committee meetings.  
1.2  Codex Alimentarius Colloquia for the Private Sector  
1.3.  In partnership with the United States Dairy Export Council (USDEC), IICA hosted the follo wing 
colloquiums aimed at private sector stakeholders, from Latin America and the Caribbean Regions, 
involved in Codex Alimentarius activities:  
− October 2023 - preparation for the 46th Session Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC46) . 
1.4.  Those activities were hel d virtually, with simultaneous interpretation English/Spanish and 
counted with presentations from renowned experts from the Americas.  G/SPS/GEN/2166  
 
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  1.3  Regional Coordination Session on WTO SPS Matters  
1.5.  Adding to the regional efforts to strengthen capacities in the hemisphere  for the application of 
sanitary and phytosanitary measures and working in collaboration with several of its members , IICA 
conducted in June and November  2023 its S event h and Eighth  Coordination Session on 
WTO SPS Committee Matters. The  meeting s were hosted virtually with simultaneous interpretation 
for English, Spanish and French. Considering the current prominent subjects under discussion in the 
WTO SPS Committee, the coordination session s addressed matters related to the Draft Report on 
the Work Pr ogram of the SPS  Declaration for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference  (G/SPS/W/344 ) 
and related revisions ( G/SPS/W/344/Rev.1  and G/SPS/W/344/Rev.2 ). 
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 m ain emerging phytosanitary issues. The most relevant events and activities conducted during 
the period covered by this report were:  
− Tuta Absoluta  Working Group Meeting;  
− Coordinating Committee Meeting;  
− Locust Workshop;  
− Workshop - Analysis of Acrididae Pest Status in America;  
− Webinar - International and Regional Trade in Seeds;  
− ePhyto Working Group Meeting;  
− Phytosanitary Emergency Working Group Meeting;  
− FOC R4T Working Group Meeting;  
− HLB Working Group Meeting;  
− Fruit-fly Working Group Meeting.  
2  INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO SPS MEASURES  
2.1  Strategy Session on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Guidelines  
2.1.  Aiming at improving coordination and promoting the development of harmonized comments on 
the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code chapters , the fifteenth edition of its Strategy Session to 
be organized in partnership and sponsored by the USDA is scheduled for 28, 29 and 30 November. 
Matters related to g lossary /poultry definition ; foot-and-mouth disease; bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy; Scrapie; aquatic animal diseases and Trypanosoma evansi . 
3  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
3.1  African Swine Fever  
3.1.  Within the framework of the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary 
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 conjunction with the differen t international 
agencies, as well as regional agencies (WOAH, FAO, CVP, CAN, CAFHSA, CaribVET, OIRSA, USDA, 
COPEG).  
3.2.  Continuing with the work plan for 2023, IICA recently hosted the following webinars:  
− July 2023 - Webinar series – "Preparing for ASF - Notification and Surveillance of 
Transboundary Diseases";  
− September 2023 - Webinar series – "Preparing for ASF – Incident Command System";  
− October 2023 - Webinar Series – "Risk Communication for African Swine Fever";  
− October 2023 - Webinar series – "Preparing f or ASF – Epidemiologic Surveillance".  G/SPS/GEN/2166  
 
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  For further information, please contact José H. Urdaz ( jose.urdaz@iica.int ). 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)  
Agricultural Health and Food Safety  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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