WT/COMTD/AFT/W/76  
 
5 July 2018 
(18-4238) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Aid for Trade    
 
UPDATE ON THE STANDA RDS AND TRADE DEVELOPMENT FA CILITY  
NOTE BY THE SECRETAR IAT1 
This document is being issued by the Standards and Tr ade Development Facility  for the  
Committee on Trade and Development 's 43rd Session on Aid for Trade . 
 
 
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1  OVERVIEW  
1.1.  Food and agricultural exports often trigger sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) compliance 
challenges. Adequate capacity to control SPS risks is crucial for many developing countries to gain 
and maintain access to foreign markets. Repeated rejections  of shipments for non -compliance with 
SPS requirements result in stricter scrutiny by importing countries, increased transaction costs, 
damaged reputation and a loss of confidence in the exporting country’s competent authority. A 
strong SPS control system is also an essential asset to protect a country's consumers from unsafe 
food as well as its productive capacity and ecosystem from the entry, spread and establishment of 
invasive species. Increased incidences of pests and diseases negatively impact agricul tural 
production, the effects of which can sometimes be long -lasting on the country’s ability to export.  
1.2.  The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) 2 supports developing countries to 
comply with international food safety, animal and plant health st andards, ensure safety at each 
process along the agricultural value chain, and gain and maintain market access. The STDF acts as 
a global coordination and knowledge platform, convening a wide range of international and 
regional organizations, donors and SP S experts from developing countries. Together they identify 
good practice on cross -cutting topics, leverage resources and work on coordinated, coherent 
solutions to enhance SPS capacity building. The STDF also provides support and seed funding for 
the deve lopment and implementation of collaborati ve and innovative SPS projects.  
1.3.  This document provides information on STDF's ongoing and planned work, and includes 
information on how to benefit from the programme. Delegates wishing to have more information 
on the  STDF, its activities and projects are encouraged to visit STDF's website, or contact the 
STDF Secretariat. Delegates are encouraged to subscribe to the STDF mailing list to receive 
regular updates on the STDF, see www.standardsfacility.org . 
2  TRADE  FACILITATION  
2.1.  The WTO SPS Agreement allows Members to provide the level of health protection they deem  
appropriate, while it seeks to ensure that SPS measures are not misused for protectionist purposes 
and do not result  in unnecessary barriers to trade. In practice, a variety of SPS procedural 
obstacles to trade appear to persist.  The increasing attention on trade facilitation  as a means to 
                                                
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  
2 Established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank 
Group, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the WTO, 
the STDF is financed by v oluntary contributions. The WTO provides the Secretariat and manages the STDF 
Fund.  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/76  
 
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  stimulate economic growth and competitiveness has generated a renewed focu s on SPS  measur es 
and the extent to which, if any, these measures unne cessarily increase the cost of doing business . 
2.2.  STDF's work in this area has focused on identifying and disseminating experiences and good 
practices in developing countries to improve the implementation  of SPS controls in a way that 
facilitates safe trade, while minimizing transaction costs . This has resulted in several workshops, 
briefing notes, reports, as well as a short video showing what Chile, Peru and Colombia have done 
to make goods  flow faster a cross their borders, while preventing the spread of pests or d iseases , 
and ensuring that food is safe for consumers.  More information on this work is available on the 
STDF website.3 
2.3.  The STDF has also drawn attention to the increasing use of e lectronic SPS certificates (SPS 
e-cert), in the broader context of paperless trade, as a means to complement the modernising 
reforms encouraged by the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Paperless SPS systems can 
improve traceability throughout SPS sup ply chains, reduce food waste, reduce trade times and 
costs, reduce fraudulent certificates, and build trust among trading partners. However, certain 
conditions must be in place to enable full digitisation across all agencies in developing countries. 
Public and private sectors must leverage existing solutions to improve data transfer and 
information exchange. Financing models need to be made available to developing countries to 
support the effective transition to automated SPS systems.  
2.4.  More information on S PS e-cert, including a short STDF briefing note, is available on the 
STDF website.4 The STDF also supports projects focused on "e -phyto" and "e -vet", implemented 
by FAO/IPPC and the OIE respectively, with support from the World Bank Group, and range of 
other international organizations and industry groups.  On 9 -10 July 2018, the WTO SPS 
Committee will organize a thematic workshop on Control, Inspection and Approval Procedures 
(Annex C of the SPS Agreement).5 
3  GOOD REGULATORY PRAC TICE  
3.1.  The STDF is undertaking work on the use of Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) to improve the 
quality and effectiveness of SPS measures in developing countries, in order to ensure health 
protection and facilitate safe trade. GRPs are defined as internationally recognized processes, 
systems, tools and methods to improve the quality of regulations and ensure that regulatory 
outcome s are effective, transparent, in clusive and sustained (World Bank, 2015). The aim of this 
work, to be further discussed in the next STDF Working Group meeting  on 29 -30 October 2018, is 
to provide guidance to ensure that SPS measures are "fit for purpose" and that they avoid the 
creation of non -tariff barriers. More information, including a background note, is available on the 
STDF website.6 
4  PUBLIC PRIVATE P ARTNERSHIPS  
4.1.  As the leading actor in food and agricultural production and trade, the private sector has a 
vital role to play in meeting SPS requirements. A strong private sector helps to drive 
improvements in SPS capacity and raise awareness about the impor tance of investing in food 
safety, veterinary and plant health services as public goods. It helps to support job creation and 
livelihoods, and to promote economic growth. Where SPS capacity gaps persist, the private sector 
complements and multiplies public  sector efforts so that exports of food and agriculture products 
meet trading partners’ SPS requirements . 
4.2.  For many years, the STDF has analysed the emergence, operation and performance of 
partnerships between government agencies responsible for food safety , animal and plant health 
and/or trade and the private sector. A landmark STDF publication, issued in 2012, provides 
numerous examples of public private partnership (PPPs) and highlights lessons learned. Some PPPs 
focus primarily on capacity building where by the public and private sector work together – at the 
international, regional, national and/or sub -national level – to address specific SPS capacity 
                                                
3 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/facilitating -safe-trade. 
4 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/SPS -eCert . 
5 See document G/SPS/GEN/1613/Rev.  
6 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/good -regulatory -practice . WT/COMTD/AFT/W/76  
 
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  constraints and/or take advantage of market opportunitie s. Other PPPs are centred on 
co-regulatory approa ches to SPS management.  
4.3.  In March 2018, the STDF Working Group recognized that PPPs remain very topical and that 
more needs to be done to move from talk to action. Members agreed that the STDF should 
continue promoting and raising awareness about the potent ial value and role of PPPs in enhancing 
SPS capacity and fostering additional dialogue on how to strengthen collaboration between 
regulatory authorities and the private sector. More information on STDF's work in this area, 
including the STDF publication an d a background note, is available on the STDF website.7 A 
separate briefing note illustrates how STDF -funded projects contribute to private sector 
development.8 
5  ASSESSING A ND PRIORITIZING SPS INVESTMENTS  
5.1.  Evaluating SPS capacity is a first step to identify and address priorities, including the 
development of needs -based SPS projects. In this context, countries are encouraged to review and 
assess their capacity on food safety, animal and plant health by using tools developed by 
FAO/WHO, OIE and IPPC, respecti vely. These tools provide the evidence and knowledge for 
making informed decisions about SPS investments. More information about these tools, including 
examples of how  their use has helped leverage  additional resources, is available in a recent STDF 
briefing note.9 
5.2.  The STDF has also developed a complementary framework to inform and improve SPS 
decision -making processes entitled Prioritizing SPS Invest ments for Market Access (P -IMA).  This 
framework has been used to prioritize SPS investment options in severa l developing countries that 
differ considerably in the scale and diversity of their food and agricultural exports, and the range 
and magnitude o f SPS capacity building needs. To date, e xperiences highlight several benefits, for 
instance to facilitate publi c-private dialogue on SPS matters, increase political awareness about the 
benefits of strengthening SPS capacity, inform and improve nati onal SPS planning and 
decision -making processes, support project design and leverage additional funding resources.  
5.3.  The STDF is currently funding application of the P -IMA framework in Madagascar10 and 
Tajikistan11 to prioritize SPS investment needs in key value chains with export potential. A project 
with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (C OMESA) will soon st art (with 
co-funding from the EIF) to utilize the P -IMA framework help selected COMESA member states to 
prioritize and mainstream SPS investments into investment  plans for agriculture, trade, climate 
change and the environment, including the Comprehensive Africa Agricu lture Development Plan 
(CAADP).  
5.4.  The P -IMA user guide, as well as a short briefing note, is available on the STDF website .12 
Delegates who would like to have more information on how to use and benefit from the P -IMA 
framework are encouraged to contact the STDF Secretariat.  
6  ADVOCACY AND OUTREAC H 
6.1.  As highlighted above, and as part of its role to share available know -how and SPS -related 
good practice, the S TDF regularly issues briefing notes on issues of interest. For example, in 2017 
the STDF issued a note illustrating how STDF projects are helping women working in agricultural 
value chains to overcome obstacles by plugging the knowledge gap on SPS issues a nd accessing 
domestic and export markets.13 Examples of STDF's work on gender have been presented on a 
number of occasions, including during International Women's Day at the WTO in 2017 and 2018.  
6.2.  In 2018, the STDF issued a results book which highlights the results and impacts of a wide 
range of STDF projects that have been implemented over the last decade in the areas of food 
                                                
7 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/public -private -partnerships . 
8 See: http://w ww.standardsfacility.org/partnering -private -sector . 
9 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/STDF_Briefing_14.pdf . 
10 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/PPG -575. 
11 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/PPG -561. 
12 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/prioritizing -sps-investments -market -access -p-ima. 
13 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/sites/def ault/files/STDF_Briefing_note_13.pdf . WT/COMTD/AFT/W/76  
 
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  safety, animal and plant health and trade in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The results book is 
available on the STDF website.14 More recently, the STDF issued its 2017 Annual Report, which 
shows that building SPS capacity enables more people to benefit from trade. This not only gives a 
boost to the economy, it also contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 
by dri ving up incomes in poor areas, promoting domestic food security, protecting the 
environment, improving public health and empowering women.15 
6.3.  STDF's YouTube channel includes links to all STDF films such as "Safe Trade Solutions" and 
"Cocoa: a sweet value cha in".16  It also includes links to other relevant SPS film material, including 
material produced within STDF projects. A recent example is a film on how the STDF supported 
four African countries in identifying solutions to improve compliance with the interna tional wood 
packaging standard in international trade (ISPM 15).17 
6.4.  The STDF Virtual Library is an online information repository providing quick and easy online 
access to a variety of information resources focused on SPS technical cooperation and capacity 
building.18 This includes project documents and final reports, training material s, project 
evaluations/reviews, SPS capacity needs assessments, cost -benefit analyses, case studies, 
relevant research papers and other articles on SPS capacity building.  
7  PROJECT DEVELOPMENT  AND FUNDING  
7.1.  The STDF provides advice and support to beneficiari es on SPS project development and 
finances  project preparation grants (PPGs) . PPGs, normally up to US$50,000, are available to help 
applicants articulate their SPS needs and develop  technically sound and sustainable project 
proposals . PPGs  can be requested to: (i) apply SPS capacity evaluation  and prioritization tools; 
(ii) prepare feasibility studies before project development to assess the potential impact and 
economic viability of  proposals in terms of costs and benefits; and (iii)  develop project proposals 
for funding  by donors or the STDF.  
7.2.  A total of 90 PPGs have been approved and funded by the STDF since its inception.  
7.3.  Project g rant (PG) financing is also available from the STDF. Favourable consideration is 
given to projects that: (i)  identify , develop  and disseminate  good practice in SPS -related technical 
cooperation, including the development and application of innovative and replicable approaches; 
(ii) apply regional appro aches to add ress SPS constraints; and/or (iii ) implement collaborative  
approaches across food safety , animal and plant health and trade . 
7.4.  Beneficiaries must contribute to the project from their own resources, either in the form of 
financial or in -kind contr ibutions such as staff time, use of premises, vehicles or other existing 
assets.  
7.5.  A total of 87 project grants have been  approved for STDF funding since its inception.  
7.6.  Since its inception, the STDF has devoted 66% of its project and PPG resources to LDCs an d 
other low income countries (OLICs). The STDF continues to meet its target to devote at least 
40% of its project and PPG resources to LDCs and OLICs. In particular, the allocation of PPG 
resources to LDCs and OLICs remains high (i.e. 75% of the overall bu dget for PPGs).  
7.7.  49% of the number of STDF projects and PPGs has gone to Africa, 24% to Asia -Pacific, 15% 
to Latin America and the Caribbean, and 2% to other regions (the Middle East and Europe). In 
addition, 10% of the STDF projects and PPGs are classified  as global.  
7.8.  Applications for PPGs and project grants can be submitted at any point in the year but should 
be received at least 60 working days in advance of each Working Group meeting in order to be 
considered at that meeting. The next deadline for the sub mission of applications is  
10 August  2018 . 
                                                
14 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/driving -safe-trade -solutions -worldwide . 
15 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/STDF_Annual_Report_2017.pdf . 
16 See: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZaHQUne0GAELWjcXwFwkg . 
17 See: http://www.standardsfacility.org/PG -460. 
18 See: http://www.standardsfacility. org/library . WT/COMTD/AFT/W/76  
 
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RECOMMENDED STEPS TO FOLLOW WHEN SEEKING PG OR PPG FUNDING 
OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE STDF:  
 
1. Browse the webpages for information (aims, eligibility criteria, etc.) on:  
 PPGs: http://www.standardsfacility.org/project -preparation -grants  
 PGs: http://www.standardsfacility.org/project -grants  
2. View examples of previous projects:  
a. PPGs: http://www.standardsfacility.org/projectpreparationgrants  
b. PGs: http://www.stand ardsfacility.org/projectgrants   
3. Carefully read the guidance note for applicants:  
http://standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/STDFGuidanceNote_Engl ish_FINAL_2015.pdf  
4. Consult relevant stakeholders in the country/region.  
5. Send a brief concept note of your potential project for feedback on eligibility and likelihood of 
funding  (STDFSecretariat@wto.org ). 
6. Fill out an application form and submit it electronically before the deadline:  
a. PPGs: http://standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/PPGApplication Form_English_FINAL_2015.doc  
b. PGs: http://standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/PGApplicationForm_English_FINAL_2015.doc  
 
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