G/SPS/GEN/1318  
 
18 March 2014  
(14-1715)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
COMMUNICATION FROM CANADA1 
The following communication, received on 11 March 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Canada. 
 
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 1.  Canada would like to provide an update rega rding the provision of technical assistance from 
January to December 2012.
2 Technical assistance has been provided to developing and least 
developed countries in accordance with Article 9 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures. The assistance was primarily aimed at facilitating the development and implementation of sanitary and phytosanitary measures based on sound science. 
The attached table reflects Canadian technical assistance to developing and least developed 
countries in 2012. While every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the table presents all relevant technical assistance projects, it may not constitute a complete 
compilation of technical assistance delivered given the number of Canadian government 
departments and agencies and the variety of delivery programs involved. 
2.  The monetary value of the technical assistance committed amounted to approximately 
CDN $1.33 million between January and December 2012. It should be noted that, in many cases, 
the organizations providing the assistance also made additional in-kind contributions to projects. 
3.  Assistance was provided to more than 30 count ries: in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, 
and the Asia-Pacific regions. Assistance was dire cted to both individual countries, groups of 
countries, and to international organizations. 
4.  Canada's assistance addressed three of the four broad categories listed in G/SPS/GEN/206: 
information; training; and "soft" infrastructure development (but not "hard" infrastructure 
development). Assistance from Canada covered most of the "typical areas of competence" listed 
under the headings of food safety, animal health and plant protection, in the Annex of G/SPS/GEN/206. 
5.  Note that in 2012, the second contribution ($1 million) of a multi-year, multi-million dollar 
contribution was made by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on behalf of 
Canada to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF). A total of $5 million over the period 2011-2014 will be provided to the STDF as a financial contribution to the Facility's work in 
the coordination of international SPS activities and SPS capacity building in developing and least 
developed countries. 
6.  In all, 16 projects are listed for the period January to December 2012. 
                                               
1 This document replaces G/SPS/GEN/1196/Add.1. 
2 Canada has provided technical assistance updates for 2011 (G/SPS/GEN/1196), 2010 
(G/SPS/GEN/1149), 2009 (G/SPS/GEN/1099), 2008 (G/SPS/GEN/1027), 2007 (G/SPS/GEN/1008), 2005-2006 (G/SPS/GEN/765), 2000-2004 (G/SPS/GEN/728), and for ye ars prior to 2000 (G/SPS/GEN/143/Rev.1/Add.1). G/SPS/GEN/1318 
 
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  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY CANADA 
JANUARY 2012 - DECEMBER 2012 
Sector Description of 
Particular Programme Form of 
Assistance Provided to Contact 
Animal Health International Regional 
Organization on Agricultural Health (OIRSA) Workshop to develop a traceability program. (23–27 January 2012) Training Guatemala Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Animal Health Two workshops on 
animal health genetics 
for Peruvian government 
and private sector 
participants. 
(7–11 March 2012) Training Peru Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Animal Health Bovine Spongiform 
Encephalopathy (BSE) prevention, diagnostics and response training provided to four government technicians from Saudi Arabia. (5–23 March 2012) Training Saudi Arabia, 
Kingdom of Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Animal Health Six month attachment to 
Centre for Food-Borne 
and Animal Parasitology 
Laboratory for visiting 
scientist to train on 
Trichinella  sp. 
diagnostics. 
(3 May – 5 November 
2012) Training  India Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Animal Health One week technical visit 
to Canada on quinolone detection by a three member delegation from Chemical Residues and Contaminants group in the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA). (7-14 August 2012) Information Brazil Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Animal Health Two research staff from 
the Animal Health 
Research Institute 
(AHRI) trained in prion 
diseases at federal 
government laboratories 
for Chronic Wasting 
Disease (CWD) and for 
Bovine Spongiform 
Encephalopathy (BSE). 
(26 November – 
14 December 2012) Training Chinese 
Taipei Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Plant Health Seven day workshop on 
the Canadian program for the inspection of confined field trials of Plants with Novel Traits (PNTs) to representatives from eight organizations of the government.  (3-19 February 2012) Training Burkina Faso Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca G/SPS/GEN/1318 
 
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  Sector Description of 
Particular Programme Form of 
Assistance Provided to Contact 
Plant Health Western Hemispheric 
Workshop on Low Level 
Presence (LLP) to build a 
common understanding 
of LLP within the region, 
and build consensus on 
the need to address the 
issue internationally. 
(7-9 March 2012) Information Argentina, 
Brazil, 
CARICOM, 
Chile, 
Columbia, 
Costa Rica, 
Ecuador, 
Mexico, 
Paraguay, 
Uruguay Kirsten.Finstad@agr.gc.ca 
Plant Health In Canada training on 
the Canadian Regulatory Framework for the Products of 
Biotechnology. 
(8–9 March 2012) Training Chile Kirsten.Finstad@agr.gc.ca 
Plant Health Two day technical visit to 
Canada on phytosanitary 
certification, import 
controls and mycotoxins 
by four member 
delegation from Ministry 
of Agriculture (MAPA) 
and the University of 
Lavras. 
(24-25 April 2012) Information Brazil Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Plant Health International Regional 
Organization on Agricultural Health (OIRSA)/International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Workshop on plant protection. (18-19 September 2012) Training Guatemala Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
Food Safety Financial contribution to 
the Inter-American 
Institute for Cooperation 
on Agriculture (IICA) in 
support of the 
participation of the 
countries of Latin 
America and the 
Caribbean (LAC) in the 
meetings of the Codex 
Committee on Pesticide 
Residues (CCPR) and the 
Codex Committee on 
Food Labelling (CCFL) in 
2012. 
(March 2012) Funding IICA member 
Countries Daryl.Nearing@agr.gc.ca 
Food Safety Regional workshop on 
basic principles and organisation of Codex. (15-19 October 2012) Training Djibouti, 
Somalia Allan.McCarville@hc-sc.gc.ca 
Animal 
Health, Plant 
Health and 
Food Safety Regional workshop on 
biosafety and 
biotechnology methods 
and practices for 45 
technical officials from 
Central American 
countries. 
(28-29 March 2012) Training Belize, 
Costa Rica, 
El Salvador, 
Guatemala, 
Honduras, 
Nicaragua, 
Panama Kirsten.Finstad@agr.gc.ca G/SPS/GEN/1318 
 
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  Sector Description of 
Particular Programme Form of 
Assistance Provided to Contact 
Animal 
Health, Plant Health and Food Safety Regional workshop on 
risk assessment and management in animal health, plant health and food safety to members of the Andean Technical Committee on Agriculture and Livestock Health (COTASA) and government officials from four Latin American countries. (19-23 March 2012) Training Bolivia, 
Plurinational 
State of; 
Columbia; 
Ecuador; 
Peru dewitta@agr.gc.ca 
Animal 
Health, Plant 
Health and 
Food Safety To share information on 
the Canadian regulatory 
framework for products 
of biotechnology with 
visiting regulators of the 
West African Economic 
and Monetary Union 
(WAEMU) and promote 
science-based 
regulations for products 
of biotechnology. 
(3 December 2012) Information Benin, 
Burkina Faso, 
Côte d'Ivoire, 
Guinea-Bissa
u, Mali, 
Niger, 
Senegal, 
Togo Rolf.Schoenert@inspection.gc.ca 
 
 
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