G/SPS/GEN/1369  
15 October 2014  
(14-5909)  Page: 1/6  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  INFORMATION ON SPS-RELATED RECENT AND FORTHCOMING ASSISTANCE AND 
OTHER ACTIVITIES FROM THE INTE RNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC) 
(APRIL – OCTOBER 2014) 
The following communication, received on 14 Octobe r 2014, is being circulated at the request of 
the ITC. 
 
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  The International Trade Centre is continuing its efforts to assist enterprises to meet technical 
requirements. An update of the projects of interest to the SPS Committee is provided herewith. 
 1  PROJECTS 
1.1  EIF - Sector Competitiveness and Export  Diversification in The Gambia (2012-2015) 
1.1.  In this project, technical barriers hinderin g market access of Gambian exports of groundnuts, 
cashew nuts, and sesame are being addressed. The latest activities conducted so far and ongoing 
are: 
a. Implementing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP): Assistance to 
enhancing food safety of groundnuts, cashewnuts and sesame through implementation of HACCP was launched in January 2014 and will continue till mid-2015 to coach five 
selected Trainers-cum-Counsellors (TcCs) and seven enterprises through classroom and 
hands-on training. In May 2014, the project conducted a one-day workshop on "Training and advisory skills and methodology" for the TcCs; and a two-day workshop on 
"Implementing HACCP: Understanding Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point 
Determination" for 25 participants (participating enterprises, TcCs and representatives of the Food Authority). 
b. Aflatoxin testing capacity: A mission of an international lab technician was conducted in 
April 2014 to ensure the functionality of a versatile modern High Performance Liquid 
Chromatograph (HPLC) machine for aflatoxin analysis. A second mission is planned before the end of 2014 to conduct the analytical tests and conduct training of lab 
technicians. 
c. Development and enforcement of technical regulations: A sensitisation programme on 
standards and technical regulations relating to quality and food safety for the three 
products has been prepared and will be im plemented by the Food Safety and Quality 
Authority. 
d. After the finalisation of the first ten national standards, ITC is assisting in the 
development of other national standards, in cluding those for cashew kernels, aflatoxin 
reduction in groundnuts, peanut butter and sesame seed oil. 
e. The second phase of implementation of Fa rmer Field Schools (FFS) for the second 
season has started with the training course of new core trainers and with the 
establishment of new FFS. G/SPS/GEN/1369 
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  1.2  STDF/PG/172: "Expanding Nigeria's ex port of sesame seeds and sheanut/butter 
through improved SPS capacity buildi ng for private and public sector" 
1.2.  The project, implemented by the Nigerian  Export Promotion Council (NEPC) with ITC as 
supervisory agency, reached its end by July 2014. A final project workshop was conducted 
(21-22 May 2014) with more than 70 stakeholders and participation of the NEPC Executive 
Director at the opening and ITC representatives. The stakeholders confirmed the important achievements made by the project in improving th e capacity of the sectors to comply with SPS 
measures, in particular in building private public partnership and establishment of the new 
processing sites. The workshop held the cere mony of signature of the MoU between NEPC, 
cooperatives and investors to operate two newly established processing sites for sheabutter and sesame. The communiqué indicating the workshop resolutions was published by NEPC. A final 
project report is due by end of October 2014. NE PC is leading follow up activity to ensure 
sustainability of the project and build on the positive results of the STDF project. 
1.3  STDF/PG/354: "Improving Safety and Quality of Sri Lankan Fruits and Vegetables" 
1.3.  The project has the objective to analyze SPS constraints along the value chains, enhance 
public and private sector stakeholders' capacity to meet international SPS requirements and improve public-private cooperation. The project is  implemented by ITC in close coordination at 
national level with the Ceylon Chambers of Commerce (March 2013-February 2015). The key 
activities conducted since its start: 
a. In total 240 officers have been trained in the SPS area, including 170 officers of the 
Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Office and Extension Division and 70 officers 
including 40 officers from the Ministry of Health (Food and Drug Inspectors), and 
exporters, processors and other relevant stakeholders. Four batches out of six of the roll out of the capacity building of Field Leve l Extension Officers are being delivered to 
60 officers in Sinhala language by the Trained Master Trainers (21-25 July 2014, 
15-19 September 2014, 29 September-3 October 2014, 13–17 October 2014). 
b. Training material translated into Simhala language. 
c. Ongoing updating of the regulated pest list ongoing. 
d. Four Project Steering Committee meetings were held. 
e. Establishing a platform for private and public partnership: a series of meetings 
conducted with exporters and the Department of Agriculture to share SPS issues 
hampering export (i.e. lack of hot water treatment facility) and find ways to address 
them. 
f. Ongoing update of the http://www.spssrilanka.lk  website. 
g. Ongoing mapping and selection of farmers an d exporters to enable backwards linkages. 
1.4.  ITC implements complementarity activity to  strengthen the impact of the STDF project: 
a. Assessment of the laboratory testing capaci ty of the agriculture sector as per the 
international requirements and development of business model (in particular chemical 
tests on residual levels, mycotoxins fresh fruits and vegetables, tea, cinnamon, and coconut products). 
b. Strengthening the SPS-related institutional networking mechanism for the fruit and 
vegetable sector in Sri Lanka: a two-three day workshop is planned on 12-13 November 
to develop a coordinated approach for the in stitutional network aimed at supporting the 
fruit and vegetables exporters. 
1.4  STDF PG 242: Development of an SPS Strategy, Comoros 
1.5.  ITC was contracted by UNDP, who is the implementing agency of this STDF project, to 
prepare and animate from 26 to 29 May 2014 a four -day thematic workshop and a roundtable on 
the main SPS issues that need to be addressed to reinforce trade support institutions for 
producers' associations, consumers associations, NGOs and other trade support institutions. The objective of the project is to put in place an SPS system in Comoros that is able to support the national agricultural export development strategy. The mission report is with UNDP. G/SPS/GEN/1369 
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  1.5  Fiji: "Improving key services to agriculture" 
1.6.  An EU programme, funded from the Mult i-Annual Indicative Programme on Accompanying 
Measures for Sugar (AAP2011), implemented by ITC and the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities (SPC), aims at improvement of key services to non-sugar agriculture in order to 
improve and consolidate farming systems in Fiji with the ultimate goal of income generation 
through alternative livelihoods for poverty alleviation. 
1.7.  The food safety component is currently focusi ng on i) building the capacity of enterprises and 
local TcCs to comply with and advise on food safety requirements (Fiji Food Act, HACCP, GAP); 
ii) setting up a system of registration for trainers, advisory and training services in the area of food 
safety under the national registration syst em; iii) improving hygiene at the markets; 
iv) strengthening the inspection capacity of the Food Unit. The fifth mission of the International 
Consultant on food safety took place from 15 June to 30 August 2014 and included: 
 Follow-up on preparation of certification of six participating enterprises (HACCP) internal 
audit and documentation clinic conducted (22-23 August). Further coaching of the nine 
Trainers-Counsellors on food safety delivered and follow-up on additional three enterprises 
to implement HACCP. 
 Three months mentoring programme for one Trainer-cum-Counsellor who assisted the 
International Consultant on food safety during her mission. 
 Training of Trainers on hygiene and HACCP conducted for 25 inspectors, Food Unit in Nadi 
(30 June-4 July). 
 Two roll-out training sessions on hygiene and HACCP conducted by trained inspectors for 
40 inspectors under guidance of the Internatio nal Consultant, 11-12 August in Lautoka and 
on 14-15 August in Suva. 
 Two Lead Auditor Courses on ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems certified by the 
International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) of the UK Chartered Quality Institute 
for 20 officers of the Ministry of Health (health office and food unit) and for 20 participants among enterprises, TcCs, biosecurity author ity (7-11 July and 14-18 July). In total 
32 received certificate of successful completion and eight of attendance. 
 Hygiene Awareness Workshop for Fresh Fruit an d Vegetable Markets well received in Nadi 
for more than 50 market vendors, Council Workers and Inspectors on 13 August 2014. 
 Water laboratories analysis conducted by Fiji Water Authority for ten enterprises. 
 Final exam of six food safety counsellors conducted on 24 August 2014. 
 Launch of the draft "Fiji Standards Map" tool ( http://www.standardsmap.org/fclc ) and 
workshop on "Making sense of mandatory, voluntary and private standards for SMEs" 
conducted on 8 August for 50 stakeholders. 
1.6  Fiji: "Improvement of key services  to livestock and livestock products" 
1.8.  This second EU programme, funded from the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme on 
Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol (AMSP), started in 2014 and ending in 
December 2016, is designed to alleviate poverty in Fiji's sugar cane belt by supporting income 
generating opportunities in non-sugar agriculture in the livestock sector. The project aims at strengthening farmers associations, development of private sector partnerships and market-led 
crop and livestock value chains through better agricultural research, support services and 
extension service delivery. 
1.9.  The project will enable sector and comm unity service providers to offer information and 
advice on food safety and quality technical requirem ents relevant to Fiji. An enterprise profiling of 
26 enterprises in Viti Levu and ten in Vanua Levu (dairy, honey, pork, beef, poultry/duck, lamb, goat) was conducted in July and August as inpu ts to the strategy development of the sector. 
Awareness on food safety and animal health re quirements has been built at the stakeholders 
platform meeting on 28 August in Viti Levu. 
1.7  EIF - Lesotho 1.10.  Under the project, officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry have 
benefitted from study tours in Kenya and South Africa to better understand the plant protection 
and quality assurance systems for fresh fruits and vegetables. Two national awareness seminars G/SPS/GEN/1369 
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  have been conducted in connection with quality and food safety of fresh fr uits and vegetables. Six 
kits of inspection equipment have been provided to the Quality Assurance Department to enable the quality control of fresh fruits and vegetables. The soil testing laboratory is also being upgraded by the provision of new modern testing equipment. 
1.8  Trade and Private Sector Development Programme, Zimbabwe 
1.11.  This project is funded by the EU and impl emented by ITC. It includes a component related 
to the capacity building of the conformity asse ssment services of the Standards Association of 
Zimbabwe (SAZ) for pesticide residue testing as we ll as other testing scope for food products. Two 
missions of an international expert have been co nducted to build the capacity of the management 
systems' certification services of SAZ and extend the accreditation scope. Further, ITC has conducted an assessment of the testing laboratory in connection with aflatoxin, pesticide residues 
and vitamins. Advice on the refurbishment of the testing laboratory has been provided. Additional 
equipment will be provided under the project after the completion of the refurbishment. 
2  OTHER ITC PROJECTS, PUBLICATIONS OR INTERVENTIONS OF INTEREST 
2.1  High-Level Regional Round Tabl e on NTMs - 28-29 April 2014, Tunis 
2.1.  A round table was held to review and discuss Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) hindering trade 
within the Arab region. The event was organised by ITC with support from the US Agency for 
International Development (USAID), and the Islami c Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) under the 
patronage of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Trade of Tunisia. The event 
gathered 70 delegates from 10 Arab countries
1, three regional organizations2 and representatives 
from donors and development partners.3 Three delegates were selected from each participating 
country to represent the Ministry of Trade, the Customs Administration, and the Standards and 
Quality Management Institution. The discussions focused on identifying key challenges and proposing concrete actions to be undertaken at national and regional levels to eliminate selected 
obstacles, particularly with regard to policy and regulatory framework, quality/SPS requirements, 
and customs procedures, with the objective to support development of intra-regional trade within the Arab region and foster regional integration. 
2.2  WTO Advanced course on the applicat ion of the SPS Agreement, 9 October 2014 
2.2.  ITC made a presentation on ITC technical assistance in the field of SPS. 2.3  Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) project 2.3.  Voluntary sustainability standards addressing  issues related to environmental quality, social 
equity and trade practices have grown expo nentially over the past decade. Small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face challenges in keeping track of standards and meeting buyers' sustainability requirements. To address this challenge, a new version of Standards Map 
was launched in February 2014. Standards Map 2.0 ( http://www.standardsmap.org ) allows users 
to compare voluntary standards side-by-side and to produce personalized reports that their 
companies can use to make better-informed decisions about certification and involvement in 
sustainable production and trade. 
2.4.  Trade support institutions, small and medi um-sized enterprises, exporters, policymakers, 
producers and researchers can use Standards Map 2.0 to extract up-to-date information on more than 150 standards covering 80 sectors in 180 countries, as well as their requirements and scope 
of operations. 
                                               
1 Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman , the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and 
Yemen. 
2 Agadir Technical Unit (ATU), Arab Maghreb Unio n (AMU) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). 
3 ITFC, USAID, DFID, the African Development Bank  (AfDB), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - 
STDF, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB ), the Centre for the Pr omotion of Imports from 
developing countries (CBI) Netherlands, the delegation of the EU in Tunisia, FAO offi ce in Tunisia, the Embassy 
of Canada in Tunisia, the Embassy of Switzerland in Tunisia. G/SPS/GEN/1369 
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  2.5.  The user can then find summary reviews for each of the standards, as well as information 
about costs, scope, assurance, steps required to join an initiative and other information. Also available are charts and graphs that show the connection between a standard and different "hotspots": environment, social, economic, qualit y and ethics. At the end of a user's analysis, 
there is the option to generate a customized sustainability diagnostic report, which serves as a 
company's roadmap towards sustainable production and trade. 
2.6.  On 1-2 October 2014, ITC held its first Trade for Sustainable Development Forum in 
conjunction with the WTO's public forum. More information on the Trade for Sustainable 
Development Forum discussions can be found here: http://www.intracen.org/itc/events/t4sd-
forum/ . 
2.7.  In addition, ITC, with the support of HIVO S, IDH, SECO, 4C Association and UTZ Certified, 
recently launched the SustainabilityXchange ( http://www.sustainab ilityexchange.info ), the first 
community-owned, interactive platform on sustainable supply chain development. 
SustainabilityXchange offers five se rvices combined in one website: 
 Yellow Pages: Access to expertise; 
 Library: Relevant training material on sustainable supply chains; 
 Community of Practice: Sharing of experience s, asking questions and participation in 
discussions; 
 Events Calendar: Promotion of training events and workshops; and 
 Newsroom: Latest news on sustainable supply chains. 
2.8.  Should you be interested in more information please contact Joseph Wozniak, Program 
Manager ( wozniak@intracen.org ). 
2.4  Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) programme 
2.9.  The programme aims to increase transparency and understanding of NTMs – in order to 
facilitate trade in the long-run. It helps countries to understand the non-tariff obstacles to trade 
faced by their business sector, and assists in defining strategies and solutions that meet their exporters' needs to speed up and ease cross-bord er trade. This project is implemented with the 
close collaboration of ministries, export promotion agencies, research institutes, business 
associations and local experts in each country. 
2.10.  ITC launched new NTM surveys in Bangladesh and Philippines in 2014. More NTM country 
specific reports have also been published, the latest ones being the reports for Senegal and 
Cambodia. For detailed information on countries surveyed and results, see: 
http://www.intracen.org/ntm/ . The country reports are available in the ITC publications catalogue 
online. They are listed by the country name along with the title: Company Perspectives – An ITC 
Series on Non-Tariff Measures. See: http://www.intracen.org/publications/ntm . 
2.11.  The next national stakeholder NTM workshop is scheduled to be held in Thailand, 
October 2014 which aims to bring together more than 60 participants from the public and private 
sectors of the country. The results of ITC NTM su rvey will be discussed in this public-private 
dialogue. The main objectives of the stakeholder workshop is elaborate technical recommendations, policy options and practical solutions for problems reported by the private sector. 
2.12.  By raising awareness based on specific data , and following up with the survey, ITC is raising 
awareness and helping governments to implement more effective trade and industrial policy, remove trade barriers and improve the international competitiveness of their SMEs. For example in 
Côte d'Ivoire, ITC has created an online trade obstacles alert mechanism in collaboration with the 
local authorities. A similar activity is being undertaken for Mauritius. 
2.13.  For more information about NTM project, please contact ntm@intracen.org . 
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  G/SPS/GEN/1369 
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  For more information: 
Ludovica Ghizzoni, ITC Adviser on Export Quality Management 
Tel: +41 22 730 06 38 - Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 - E-mail: ghizzoni@intracen.org  
Khemraj Ramful, ITC Senior Advise r on Export Quality Management 
Tel: +41 22 730 04 87 - Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 - E-mail: ramful@intracen.org  
Web address: http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  
E-mail address: quality@intracen.org  
Twitter: @QualityatITC 
  
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