G/SPS/W/303  
26 June 2018  
(18-4038) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 
REGIONALIZATION: CON SIDER ATIONS RELATED TO AN IMAL HEALTH  
IN THE FIFTH REVIEW  
SUBMISSION FROM  THE UNITED STATES OF  AMERICA  
The following communication, received on 25 June 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States of America . 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The United States appreciate the Committee's work on regionalization related to animal 
health, including its thematic session on this topic held in July 2017. The thematic session 
provided practical information to M embers about the relevant OIE standards for regionalization and 
greater clarity on the implications of recent WTO dispute settlement on how Members implement 
these standards. In addition, the experiences regarding regionalization shared at the thematic 
session by Members, including developed and developing countries , highlighted both challenges 
and opportunities in the implementation and operation of Article 6 of the SPS Agreement.  
1.2.  Further, the Secretariat's recent Note on Specific Trade Concerns  (STCs), 
G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.18, states that STCs related to animal health and zoonoses continue to 
feature predominately in the Committee's discussions. Indeed, 37% of the STCs raised in the 
Committee since 1995 relate to animal health measures, more than any other t ype of 
SPS measure. The Secretariat's Note also cites the active role of developing countries and 
least-developed countries in both raising STCs and in maintaining measures of concern related to 
animal health. The statistics contained in the Secretariat's Note lay credence to the recognition by 
Members in the 7th recital of the preamble to the SPS Agreement that developing countries may 
encounter special difficulties in complying with the SPS measures of importing Members, as well as 
in the formulation and application of SPS measures in their own territories. It is our sense that 
Members of the Committee would want to continue to assist developing countries in their 
endeavours in this regard. Therefore, we believe this topic should be discussed under the Fif th 
Review.  
1.3.  To this end, we invite the Committee to consider concrete activities and focused areas of 
discussion that could contribute to Members' ability and preparedness to strengthen 
implementation and operation of Article 6 of the SPS Agreement. In thi s paper, we outline 
suggestions for Members and the Committee to address several challenges related to 
regionalization for animal health that may realize increased opportunities to facilitate safe trade in 
animals and animal products. We are hopeful that t hese suggested activities and discussions could 
generate consensus recommendations for strengthening the implementation and operation of 
Article 6 for adoption in the Fifth Review.  
2  ACTIVITIES TO PROMOT E GREATER UNDERSTAND ING OF REGIONALIZATI ON 
2.1  Strengthen e ngagement in regional venues  
2.1.  Annex  A of the SPS Agreement provides that standards, guidelines and recommendations 
developed under the auspices of the World Organization for Animal Health  (OIE) are international 
standards, guidelines, and recommendations fo r purposes of the Agreement. Key concepts covered G/SPS/W/303  
 
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  in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (or Code) include zoning and compartmentalization. We 
believe efforts to promote a greater shared understanding among Members of the specific meaning 
and practical application of these concepts would be beneficial. Members should encourage greater 
discussion of the meaning and practical application of these concepts at venues where the 
appropriate animal health officials (including the Chief Veterinary Officers or CV Os) are present. 
Regional venues are particularly appropriate for such discussions, since neighbouring countries 
often face similar animal health challenges and neighbouring countries often trade with one 
another. Further, the use of regional venues can al so make the most of limited resources. Such 
venues include regional OIE meetings and other meetings where regional animal health issues are 
discussed in detail, including Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) events on animal 
health. We would wel come reports of such discussions to the Committee by Members, as well as 
by the OIE, the STDF and observers representing regional economic groups, under the relevant 
agenda items of the Committee's meetings.  
2.2  Increase information exchange on national regula tory frameworks, procedures and 
processes  
2.2.  As noted at the thematic session, the practical application of the concept of regionalization 
occurs within a general regulatory framework or a set of processes and procedures at the national 
level, which in some c ases are also linked to frameworks, processes and procedures at the regional 
level. Efforts to enable greater understanding of how Members have applied zoning and 
compartmentalization through their national regulatory frameworks and processes can have many  
benefits. As Members continue to share experiences in these areas in the Committee, they are 
providing concrete examples of frameworks and procedures that address common problems. Such 
examples can help advance Members' understanding of how the applicatio n of regionalization can 
bring benefits to both exporting and importing countries, while providing practical solutions to 
common issues that may arise. Therefore, we invite Members of the Committee to consider ways 
to increase information exchange on these  concepts.  
2.3  Develop case studies that document successes  
2.3.  Concrete examples of successes can advance Members' understanding of how the application 
of regionalization can bring benefits to both exporting and importing countries. In this regard, 
therefore, we invite the Committee to consider holding another thematic session devoted to a 
detailed case study on how a Member or Members successfully applied regionalization for a specific 
animal disease from the perspective of both the exporting and importing countr ies. In our view, 
there are various examples of regionalization  that could be good candidates for such a case study. 
A case study documenting the processes and procedures employed in a successful application of 
regionalization, as well as a description of the challenges and benefits experienced, could be useful 
for Members seeking to access other markets for their exports through regionalization.  
3  ACTIVITIES TO ASSIST  MEMBERS OVERCOME CHA LLENGES IN IMPLEMENT ING 
REGIONALIZATION  
3.1.  Members have expressed concern s regarding the challenges they have encountered related 
to implementation of Article 6 of the SPS Agreement. Such challenges include insufficiently 
developed national institutional and procedural frameworks for conducting regionalization 
activities; lack of sufficient information, staff or other resources to assess the SPS characteristics 
of a region, either domestically or abroad; high staff turnover that makes it hard to retain qualified 
staff; and, political or other influences that impede science -based  decision making. In addition, 
some Members may also lack the animal health infrastructure and resources required to generate 
data and other information necessary to ensure their measures are adapted to the specific 
SPS characteristics of a region at home or abroad.  
3.2.  We would like to offer several ideas for consideration that could help Members overcome 
these challenges, while helping ensure that other Members are not unfairly penalized by another 
Member's unjustified reluctance to meet their obligations un der Article 6.  G/SPS/W/303  
 
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  3.1  Develop training materials  
3.3.  OIE and interested Members could work together to develop training materials in either print 
form or online aimed at helping staff of Member governments inform high -level decision makers 
about the importance of ful filling their obligations under Article 6, along with the benefits of doing 
so. The materials could be used to help justify requests by technical level staff for sufficient staff 
and other resources to successfully carry out regionalization.  
3.2  Expand peer-to-peer engagement among experts  
3.4.  Members with well -established animal health infrastructure and significant regionalization 
arrangements with their trading partners could consider making their experts available to train 
experts in other countries on t he principles of regionalization, risk assessment as well as more 
practical "hands on " exercises to help countries build their own capacity to carry out 
regionalization.  
3.3  Reiterate the call for Members to provide information on their experiences  
3.5.  As in the F ourth Review, the Committee could again encourage Members to share their 
experiences in the Committee under relevant agenda items on regionalizing and being regionalized 
themselves, including what worked, what did not, and why.  
 
 
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