G/SPS/W /293  
 
7 April 2017 
(17-1886) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
INFORMAL MEETING ON REGIONALIZ ATION IN THE MARGINS  
OF THE SPS COMMITTEE  OF JULY 2017  
PROPOSAL BY THE EUROPEAN UNIO N 
The follow ing communication, received on 6  April 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Union . 
 
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1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  Following an oral proposal of the European Union, the SPS Committee of 22 -23 March 2017 
decided to organise an informal meeting on regionalization  in the margins of the SPS  Committee of 
July 2017. The Committee also requested the Europ ean Union to put in writing its proposal for 
distribution to Members.  
2  SCOPE OF THE MEETING  
2.1.  Article 6 of the SPS Agreement lays down the rules on the application of regionalization  when 
setting SPS measures. Obligations are given both to importing and expor ting countries. In 2008 
the S PS Committee adopted guidelines1 on the practical implementation of these rules. Several 
Members, including the European Union2, have submitted documents to the Committee explaining 
the application of Article 6 in their territo ries. 
2.2.  The concept of regionalization  is fundamental to ensure the safety of international trade in 
animal and plant products. All WTO Members are regularly or occasionally confronted with 
outbreaks of animal diseases and pests. Managing the consequences fo r trade of these outbreaks 
is therefore a matter of general interest. Recent WTO dispute cases have underlined the obligation 
of WTO members to apply the concept of regionalization  and to seek to minimise the trade impact 
of a disease or pest outbreak in a n exporting country - but there must also be assurances that 
regionalization  measures are effective and reliable.  
2.3.  Although the concept of regionalization  applies in both the animal and plant health sectors, it 
would probably be more useful and efficient to  limit the scope of this session to just one of them, 
given the different expertise required in the veterinary and phytosanitary fields. For that reason, 
the informal meeting could usefully focus on contagious animal diseases.  
2.4.  Highly Pathogenic Avian Influ enza (HPAI), wi th current or recent outbreaks o n three 
continents, is a topical example which provides a good illustration of the challenges faced by WTO 
Members when implementing regionalization . Some Members may want to present their recent 
experienc e with HPAI during the meeting.  
                                                
1 Guidelin es to further the practical implementation of Article 6 of the Agreement on the application of 
sanitary and phytosanitary measures (G/SPS/48) . 
2 G/SPS/GEN/1159 . G/SPS/W/293  
 
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  3  OBJECTIVE OF THE MEE TING  
3.1.  The informal meeting would provide an opportunity for WTO Members to increase their 
awareness of regionalization  principles and learn from each other by sharing experiences about the 
challenges, as well as the benefits, of implementing regionalization  in practice. This, in turn, 
should contribute to building confidence among trading partners when recognising or seeking 
recognition of their regionalization  measures.  
3.2.  It is proposed that the meeting focus on  animal diseases to discuss the implementation of the 
regionalization  concept from the perspective of an importing  as well as an exporting party.  
3.3.  In order for the meeting to be helpful the active participation from a broad range of Members 
would be importa nt. 
4  OUTLINE OF THE PROGR AMME  
4.1.  The meeting would consist of presentations by officials or experts from WTO, OIE and 
Member countries, followed by questions from Delegates. The meeting would conclude with a 
general discussion. It could be organised in three s essions as follows:  
4.1  International rules and guidelines  
 Provisions of the SPS Agreement on regionalization  and relevant guidelines  
 OIE standards on regionalization  
4.2  Sharing of national experiences  
 Experiences of Members as exporting countries in seeking rec ognition of their 
regionalization  by importing countries  
 Experiences of Members as importing countries in recognising regionalization  of exporting 
countries  
4.3  General discussion  
5  NEXT STEPS  
5.1.  The European Union suggests that this proposal be circulated to all M embers for their 
comments. At the same time, Members should be invited to signal their willingness to present their 
experiences in the informal meeting so that a draft programme can be prepared sufficiently in 
advance of the meeting.  
 
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