G/SPS/GEN/1446  
 
1 October 2015  
(15-5088)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures    
 
WORKSHOP ON TRANSPARENCY 
MONDAY, 12 OCTOBER – TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2015 
PROGRAMME1 
Note by the Secretariat2 
1.  The Secretariat of the World Trade Organiza t i o n  i s  o r g a n i z i n g  a  s p e c i a l  w o r k s h o p  o n  t h e  
transparency provisions of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS Agreement), to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12-13 October 2015. The 
workshop will be followed by informal and form al meetings of the SPS Committee, lasting until 
Friday, 16 October 2015. Representatives of Memb ers, Observers and Observer Organizations are 
all invited to participate in the transparency work shop as well as the subsequent meetings of the 
Committee. 
2.  The workshop is intended to be a highly inte ractive, "hands-on" event including training on the 
use of the SPS Information Management System (S PS IMS) and the improved on-line submission 
system of SPS notifications (SPS NSS), while also  providing a forum for discussion and experience 
sharing on developments, challenges and practice s in the area of SPS transparency. Delegates 
who would like to participate in the hands-on exercises are kindly invited to bring their own 
laptops to the sessions. 
3.  The workshop will also be an occasion to co ntinue the discussions on transparency started with 
the joint proposal by Chile, the European Union, Morocco and Norway for actions related to the fulfilment of transparency obligations
3, which was developed as part of the Fourth Review of the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement. The Anal ysis of the Replies to the Questionnaire on 
Transparency under the SPS Agreement (G/SPS/GEN/1402) provides background information on Members' implementation practices and challenges encountered. 
4.  The WTO, with the financial assistance of the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund 
(DDAGTF), will sponsor the participation of approximately 50 government officials from developing country Members and Observers. The Secretariat w ill select participants to be sponsored among 
applications from government officials in charge of the implementation of the transparency 
provisions of the SPS Agreement. 
 
                                               
1 A draft version of this programme was circulated as G/SPS/GEN/1419 on 26 June 2015, for discussion 
at the July 2015 meeting of the SPS Committee. Members'  comments were taken into account in preparing the 
final version. 
2 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to thei r rights and obligations under the WTO. 
3 G/SPS/W/278, which built on two former prop osals regarding transparency (G/SPS/W/274 and 
G/SPS/W/277). G/SPS/GEN/1446 
 
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  MONDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2015 
10:00–10:15 
Opening remarks by Mr Felipe Hees, Chair of the SPS Committee 
Overview of the workshop and its objectives 
10:15–10:45 Session 1: Introduction 
Speaker:  Rolando Alcala , WTO Secretariat 
Overview of the transparency provisions  in the SPS Agreement and of relevant 
Committee/Ministerial Decisions 
10:45–11:45 
Session 2: WTO sources of information 
Speakers: 
 Steve Cooper , WTO Secretariat 
Presentation of the new WTO Members' website  
 John Dickson , WTO Secretariat 
Presentation of WTO Documents Online 
 Jürgen Richtering , WTO Secretariat 
I-TIP and SPS-related Information 
 Roland Mollerus , Senior Economic Affairs Officer at UN DESA 
ePing Toolkit: Accessing SPS & TBT Notifications and Alerts 
 Rolando Alcala , WTO Secretariat 
Presentation of the SPS gateway and the new version of the SPS IMS  
12:00-13:30  
Session 3: Practical session on the use of the SPS IMS* 
Participants will break into three groups (i) English speakers, (ii) French speakers and (iii) Spanish 
speakers. Participants are kindly encouraged to bring their own laptops to this session when possible. 
 SPS IMS hands-on exercise 
*Although a new SPS IMS is under development, this practical session will focus on the current system in place. 
13:30–15:00  Lunch break 
15:00–18:00 
Session 4: Sharing of national experiences 
Speakers:  
 Kimberly Redden , Analyst at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency 
The Canadian Experience: Tracking, Sorting and Distributing SPS Notifications 
 Mariam Somé Damoué , Responsible for phytosanitary controls and SPS National Enquiry 
Point of Burkina Faso 
Examples of Phytosanitary Notifications in Burkina Faso  G/SPS/GEN/1446 
 
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   Virginie Spits , Member of the EU SPS Team 
EU Coordination Practices in Handling th e Life Cycle of WTO SPS Notifications 
 Roxana Inés Vera Muñoz , Coordinator Agreements Unit, Subdepartment of Negotiations, 
International Affairs Division 
Functioning of the National Notification Authority in Chile, Application of Article 7 and 
Annex B of the SPS Agreement 
 Julia Doherty , Senior Director of SPS & Agricultural Affairs at the Office of the US Trade 
Representative 
US Experience in Taking Comments into Account 
 Sally Jennings, Senior Policy Analyst at the Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand 
Transparency – It's All About Communication!  
 
  
TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2015 
10:00–10:15 Opening Remarks 
10:15–10:45  
Session 5: 20 Years of Transparency Speaker:  Rolando Alcala , WTO Secretariat  
Presentation of Members' level of implementati on of transparency provisions and decisions 
(G/SPS/GEN/804/Rev.8) 
10:45–11:30  
Session 6: Overview of the SPS NSS 
Speaker:  Rolando Alcala , WTO Secretariat  
Presentation of the new SPS NSS platform: what has changed? 
11:30–13:00  
Session 7: Practical session on how to prepare notifications (SPS NSS) 
Participants will break into three groups (i) English speakers, (ii) French speakers and (iii) Spanish 
speakers. Participants are kindly encouraged to bring their own laptops to this session when 
possible.  
 Introduction: How to use the new SPS NSS and how to fill in a notification form  
 SPS NSS hands-on exercise  
13:00–14:30 Lunch break G/SPS/GEN/1446 
 
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  14:30–16:15 
Session 8: Improving the implementation and benefits of SPS transparency provisions 
Participants will break into four groups (i) English speakers Group A, (ii) English speakers Group B, 
(iii) French speakers and (iv) Spanish speakers.  
In groups, the participants will discuss the issues that emerged from the replies to the 
transparency questionnaire  and how they could be addresse d. The following topics will be 
covered: 
 Difficulties in filling in notifications 
 Identifying trade facilitating measures 
 Identifying and targeting interested stakeholders 
 Handling comments 
 Dealing with, and obtaining translations for, notified documents not in one of the WTO 
languages 
Each language group will be assigned two topics for discussion, and will be supported by a 
rapporteur as well as two members of the Secretariat. Group discussions will run in parallel and 
should focus on possible ways to address these issues. 
Approximately 1 hour will be allocated for group discussions. 
16:30–17:30 - Reporting to the plenary 
 Rapporteurs of each group will report back to the plenary ( 5 minutes each ). The floor will then 
be opened for questions and comments. 
17:30–18:00 
Session 9: Conclusions  
 
 
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