G/SPS/W/290  
 
5 October 2016 
(16-5317) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 TRANSPARENCY UNDER T HE SPS AGREEMENT (AR TICLE 7 AND ANNEX B)  
FOLLOW -UP PROPOSALS FOR ACT ION 
Joint Submission by the European Union and Chile  
The follow ing communication, received on 4 October 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation s of the European Union  and Chile. 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  During 2013 and 2014, as part of the Fourth Review of the Operation and Implementation of 
the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement), 
the European  Union, Chile, Morocco and Norway, made several proposals1 for action to facilitate 
the fulfilment of the transparency obligations under Article 7 and Annex B of the SPS Agreement.  
1.2.  This communication pursues some of the above proposals in areas identified by several 
Members in the transparency questionnaire2 and at the workshop of October 20153 as requiring 
further improvement. The European Union and Chile consider that significant progress could easily 
be achieved in those areas.  
1.3.  During the SPS Committee m eeting in March 2016 the European Union suggested concrete 
actions in relation to the availability of translations of notified documents, the identification of 
trade facilitating measures and access to information about SPS import requirements. 
The SPS Secretariat explored possible options on how to address these proposals and requested 
feedback also from other Members.  
1.4.  At the SPS Committee meeting of July 2016 the European Union was invited to submit in 
writing its suggestions on transparency. This joint c ommunication from the European Union and 
Chile is the response to that invitation.  
2  TRANSLATIONS OF NOTI FIED DOCUMENTS  
2.1.  The number of notifications has significantly increased during the last years, which 
constitutes a real challenge for all Members, particu larly developing and least developed countries. 
Providing translations in all WTO official languages requires significant resources which are not 
available to most notifying countries. This, in turn, makes it difficult to for Members to send 
comments withi n the established deadlines.  
2.2.  As this is a matter of concern to several Members, the European Union had suggested 
sharing unofficial translations through an informal online platform. This suggestion was supported 
by Chile. The Secretariat explored technical  options to address this request and proposed to post 
unofficial translations on the WTO SPS website.  
                                               
1 G/SPS/GEN/1293, G/SPS/W/277 and G/SPS/W/278 . 
2 G/SPS/GEN/1402 . 
3 G/SPS/R/80 . G/SPS/W/290  
 
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  2.3.  The European Union and Chile welcome this proposal as a workable and easy solution that 
would have a significant impact for the correct implementation of the SPS Agreement. We suggest 
that translations should be considered unofficial – unless provided and agreed by the notifying 
Member itself – and that this should be clearly stated in a disclaimer. Because of their unofficial 
status, in our view, access to  these documents should be restricted to Members only. For the same 
reason, the country providing the translation should remain anonymous.  
2.4.  WTO Members also have the possibility to share translations of their notified documents via 
supplementary notificatio ns. Since 2004, the date of its creation, until July 2016, only 
19 supplementary SPS notifications were circulated. Despite its limited use, we believe that the 
publication of supplementary notifications provides a valuable opportunity for Members to make 
official translations of their notified documents publically available on the general WTO website. 
Therefore, the European Union and Chile would suggest that the two systems should work in 
parallel to ensure that all translations, including the ones submit ted in a supplementary 
notification, are available on the SPS website. Supplementary notifications could be made available 
through a specific link.  
3  TRADE FACILITATING M EASURES  
3.1.  Members ' answers to the transparency questionnaire clearly show that more guidan ce on the 
term "trade facilitating measure" and a common understanding to ensure uniformity of its use are 
needed.  
3.2.  Due to differing interpretations, practices with respect to classifying a measure as trade 
facilitating vary substantially among Members.  
3.3.  During the July 2016 SPS Committee meeting the European Union, supported by Chile and 
other Members, proposed a discussion of this concept in the framework of an informal meeting to 
provide an opportunity for Members to exchange information about their curren t practices. If 
appropriate, this could lead to the Committee developing some guidance. The European Union and 
Chile would like to suggest that this meeting, in whatever format, should take place in 2017.  
4  ACCESS TO INFORMATIO N ABOUT SPS MEASURES  IN FORCE  
4.1.  Availability at any given time of all SPS measures adopted by any Member is an area of high 
concern for the European Union and Chile. The difficulties created by insufficient access to such 
information pose a major obstacle to international trade.  
4.2.  The Europ ean Union had suggested that Members should make such requirements available 
via dedicated websites. Internet links to these websites could be shared through an informal 
platform, which would be maintained by the WTO SPS Secretariat.  
4.3.  Members ' replies to th e transparency questionnaire revealed that the majority of countries 
did not have such a dedicated website. Some Members noted that their import requirements could 
be found on several websites because different ministries, institutions and stakeholders wer e 
involved. Other Members indicated that they were in the process of creating an integrated 
dedicated website for such a purpose.  
4.4.  The Secretariat, based on feedback from Members, noted that the creation and constant 
updating of such website could be very d ifficult for some Members, particularly developing 
countries.  
4.5.  In the light of the above, the European Union and Chile would suggest creating an informal 
on-line platform to be used by Members on a voluntary basis. Members which already have a 
dedicated web site(s) on their import requirements could share their web links. Others could join at 
a later stage, depending on their readiness. The precise location of this online platform would be 
discussed with the Secretariat.  G/SPS/W/290  
 
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  5  CONCLUSION  
5.1.  Transparency is not only a major obligation of the SPS Agreement but also a fundamental 
tool for the effective functioning of the Agreement. The European Union and Chile firmly believe 
that continuous efforts should be made to facilitate Members' implementation of the transparency 
obligations and this is the objective of this communication.  
5.2.  The European Union and Chile suggest that at the SPS Committee meeting of October 2016 
Members should discuss, with a view to agreeing on next steps, the proposals contained in this 
communication,  namely:  
 the posting of unofficial translations of notifications in the WTO website;  
 the holding of an informal discussion on Trade Facilitating Measures in 2017; and  
 the setting of a platform to share, on a voluntar y basis, access to Members' 
SPS regulato ry measures.  
 
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