G/SPS/GEN/1645  
5 October  2018 
(18-6146) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
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 5 October  2018, is being circulated at the request of 
the 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) . The IICA would like to present some of the actions and 
activities th at it considers relevant to the work of this Committee . 
 
1  SUPPORT FOR MULTILATERAL FORUMS ASSOCIATED WITH SANITARY AND 
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
1.1  Virtual Codex c olloquia  
1.1.  A virtual Codex colloquium on issues covered by the  Codex Committee on Food Import and 
Export Inspection and Certification  Systems (CCFICS)  was held on 5 September . Delegates from 
24 countries participated in the event and discussed technical criteria with a view to improving 
understanding of the issues to be covered  at the next CCFICS  meeting  in Australia from 22 to 
26 October. Once again , the event  demonstrated how new information and communication 
technologies make it possible to hold events that while costing little, produce significant results . 
1.2  Face -to-face Codex  colloquia  
1.2.  A face -to-face c olloquium was held in Brazil from 2 to 4 October. Delegates from 14 countries 
discussed issues of strategic importance for the Latin American and Caribbean region and Northern 
region. Participants examined issues that were to be the focus of three upcoming  meetings : 
(i) Food hygiene ; (ii) Nutrition and  foods for special dietary uses ; and  (iii) Antimicrobial Resistance . 
1.3  Support for  participation in Codex Alimentarius meetings  
1.3.  In the second half of the year, support was provided , through a competitive fund , to facilitate  
participation in the meetings of the Codex Committees on Food Hygiene and Nutrition and Foods for 
Special Dietary Uses , and the meeting of the Ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on 
Antimicrobial Resistance . Latin American and Caribbean countries participated in this fund . 
1.4  Virtual coordination sessions  
1.4.  The support that the IICA provides to coun tries of the Codex Coordinating  Committee for Latin 
America and the Caribbean (CCLAC)  in the area of  communication and coordination includes, prior 
to each Codex meeting, the provision of a virtual communication platform to enable coordination 
between the countries . G/SPS/GEN/1645  
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  1.5  Workshops and courses  
1.5.  In Costa Rica, the  IICA gave its support to a national workshop on trade policy formulation  
entitled "Reflexiones en apoyo a la formulación de políticas comerciales ", which was organized by 
the World Trade Organization and various national bodies. The IICA also suppo rted the staging of 
the Spanish version of the Specializ ed Course on Sanitary and Phytosanitary M easure s, which began 
in October  2018.  
1.6  Electronic phytosanitary certification (ePhyto) project  
1.6.  A regional workshop to encourage the sharing of experiences in the area of electronic 
phytosanitary certification systems  was held from 11 to 13 September . The event was organized by 
the Argentine Foreign Ministry  and the Australian Embassy  in Argentina, and supported by the IICA 
and the Southern Cone Plant Health Committee (COSAVE) . The ePhyto project is an initiative drive n 
by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) that seeks to ensure harmonization,  provide 
a generic national system, and implement a global hub for exchanging certification, with a view to 
streamlining trade in plant products  and making such tr ade safer . 
1.7.  Delegates from 22 countries  (Beliz e, the Plurinational State of  Bolivia, Brazil, Canada , Chile, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, 
Panama, Paraguay, Peru , the Dominican Republic , Uruguay and  Viet Nam) took part in the workshop . 
The governments of Argentina and  Australia organized the regional seminar wi th a view to sharing 
the knowledge gained under their bilateral ePhyto cooperation programme . 
2  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
2.1  Institutional moder nization  
2.1.  In September  2018, the results obtained from the application of the Performance, Vision and 
Strategy (PVS) tool  were presented to the Minister for Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, 
Osmar  Benítez , and his staff . The results were compared with those achieved using the same tool 
in 2011. In this way, it was possible to identify the areas in which most progress had been  made 
and those in which there was still room  for improvement in the three services (animal health, plant 
health and food safety ). 
2.2.  The PVS tool was designed by the IICA to assess the performance and implementation of 
development strategies for institutions concerned with agricultural health and food safety . It 
addresses  the issue of sanitary and phytosanitary measures using  an instit utional, international and 
horizontal approach . 
2.2  International standards and regulations in regard to SPS measures  
2.2.1   United States  – FSMA  
2.3.  At a regional workshop held in Costa Rica from 17 to 22 September , more than 60 food -safety 
professionals with links to the public sector and academic circles, from 13 Latin American and 
Caribbean (LAC) countries, received training to become  trainers  on the safety standard for fresh 
agricultural p roduce  exported to the Un ited States. This training initiative was promoted by the IICA 
and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) under a cooperation agreement that seeks to raise 
LAC country representatives' awareness of issues relating to the implementation of the Food Safet y 
Modernization Act (FSMA ). The training was provided by the Joint Institute of Food Safety and 
Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) and the Produce Safety Alliance  (PSA).  
2.4.  As part of this event, participants were provided with tools and inputs  that would enable them  
to apply to the PSA  for leader -trainer status and subsequently  train exporters, producers, academics 
and other officials in their countries on the safety standard for fresh agricultural produce . 
2.5.  The professionals who received training at this event came  from Argentina, Braz il, Costa Rica, 
Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Trinidad 
and Tobago.  G/SPS/GEN/1645  
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  2.2.2   Risk-based sampling  
2.6.  In response to a request from Latin American countries, the IICA, in conjunction with the 
Andean  Community (CAN) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) via the Animal 
and Plant He alth Inspection Service (APHIS),  organized a workshop to support countries in the 
implementation of methodologies that promote the use of science -based proce dures to maximize 
performance  in the areas of phytosanitary protection and trade facilitation . The workshop on risk 
management and good practices in regard to decision -making and the implementation of risk -based 
sampling  helped enhance  the skills of 36 pro fessionals, including risk and regulatory assessors from 
the National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs)  of 11 Latin American countries . 
2.7.  The USDA, through APHIS , ensured that the workshop benefited from all its specialized 
technical capacity in the are a of risk-based inspection; it  also finan ced the event. It was the first  time 
an event of this nature had been  held in Spanish and was therefore highly beneficial to Latin America. 
Good phytosanitary risk management practices were also examined with support from the World 
Trade Organization and the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF ), while the IICA and 
USDA /APHIS helped participants id entify the best way to implement these practices in their 
countries . 
For further information, please contact Robert Ahern (robert.ahern@iica.int ) 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)  
Agricultural Health and Food Safety  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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