G/SPS/GEN/1292  
 
17 October 2013  
(13-5705)  Page: 1/4  
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) 
(JUNE-OCTOBER 2013) 
The following communication, received on 16 October 2013, 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 addresse d. The activities conducted so far are: 
a. Training on ISO 17025 and quality documentation has been provided to 16 laboratory 
technicians; 
b. A training workshop on standard developmen t procedures based on the Code of Good 
Practice of the TBT Agreement was organised for the technical committee members of 
the Gambia Bureau of Standards. Following this workshop, the Bureau has been able to 
finalise and publish its first ten national standards; 
c. A one-day sensitisation workshop on the control of pre-packages according to OIML 
Recommendations was organised for staff of the Weights and Measures Department; 
d. A manual for quality control of groundnuts for quality control inspectors has been 
developed and 44 quality control inspectors of the sector have been trained; 
e. A Quality Assurance Framework has been finalised for cashew nuts and sesame after a 
validation workshop held in February 2013; 
f. The implementation of Farmer Field School s (FFS) has started by the preparation of 
training materials and a Master Trainers Training course held from 8 to 15 June 2013. 
For each of the three sectors, five Master Trainers and 40 core facilitators have been 
trained and 20 FFS have been established; and 
g. Assistance to enhancing food safety of groundnuts through implementation of Hazard 
Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and pre-requisites such as Good Agricultural 
Practice (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is initiated with the launch of the expression of interest for operators and Trainers-cum-Counsellors. Classroom and 
hands-on training is due to start in December/January. 
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 Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is the implementing agency of the STDF 172 
project with ITC as supervisory agency. The projec t is due to end by the end of 2013 and the final 
project workshop is scheduled in December 2013. G/SPS/GEN/1292 
 
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  1.3.  The activities conducted so far are: 
a. Seven processing sites (four for sheanuts/butter and four for sesame seeds) have been 
established with the installation of sets of equipment. ITC participated to the commissioning of two pilot sites to the cooperatives (Oyo and Kogi States) in August 
2013 with a high representation of government; 
b. Four sessions of two-day training workshops have been delivered by International 
Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in August/September for a total of 190 extension 
officers, farmers and traders on reduction in occurrence and levels of fungi and 
aflatoxins in sesame seeds and sheanuts/butter in Oyo, Kogi, Niger and Benue States; 
c. A training workshop was conducted by National  Agency for Food and Drug Administration 
and Control (NAFDAC) in Lagos on 26 and 27 August to expose traders, exporters and 
regulatory agencies officers to the newly introduced safety and quality systems in the 
production of sesame seeds and sheanuts/butter (HACCP, Traceability and Sampling Principles and application in the producti on of the commodities). One hundred people 
attended the opening ceremony and about 60 pe ople were in attendance at each of the 
technical sessions; 
d. Harmonization and finalisation of the ongoing studies/reports
1; 
e. Code of practices and standards for sesame seed and sheanuts published by Standards 
Organisation of Nigeria (SON); and 
f. A model for sustainability of management of the sites under finalisation. 
1.3  STDF/PG/354: "Improving Safety and Quality of Sri Lankan Fruits and Vegetables" 
1.4.  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 (CCC) (March 2013-February 2015). The 
activities conducted so far are: 
 Project management structure in place with  MoU signed between ITC and CCC, project 
launch and first project steering committee meetings held on 27 September; 
 Value chain analysis of selected crops conducted and under finalisation; 
 Six crops selected (tomatoes, green chili, protected agriculture, pineapples, papaya, 
mango); and 
 Website launched: http://www.spssrilanka.lk . 
1.4  Fiji "Improving key services to agriculture" 
1.5.  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. 
1.6.  The food safety component is currently focu sing on (i) building the capacity of enterprises 
and local Trainers Counsellors (TcCs) to comply with and advise on food safety requirements (Fiji Food Act, HACCP, GAP); and (ii) setting up a system of registration for trainers, advisory and 
training services in the area of food safety. In particular nine Trainer-cum-Counsellors (TcCs) and 
nine enterprises are participating in training an d coaching on food safety and receive advisory 
services: 
 The second mission of the international consultant took place in June-July 2013, where 
further classroom and hands-on training to the enterprises to implement HACCP and GAP 
and coaching of the TcCs and further sens itization on food safety was delivered; 
                                               
1 Simple predictive model for mould growth and af latoxin production in the Nigerian Sesame and 
Sheanut/butter production chains, establishment of HACC P Plan, Traceability System, Farmers’ guide to quality 
production of shea an d sesame in Nigeria. G/SPS/GEN/1292 
 
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   A second awareness building workshop on food safety in international trade was conducted 
in July 213 for more than 50 stakeholders from both public and private sectors; 
 One guest lecture at the Hospitality Institute of the Fiji National University was conducted 
in July 2013 on hygiene, highlighting its requ irements pertaining to food service and the 
catering industry; 
 The third mission of the international consultant on food safety is ongoing (14 October to 
29 October 2013). Further assistance (classroom training on Internal Verification Audit and 
Training Skills and field visit) to the en terprises to implement HACCP and GAP and 
coaching of the TcCs. Sensitization workshops on food hygiene and food safety for market vendors will also be delivered. 
1.5  Bosnia Herzegovina – Workshop on the Provisions of the WTO SPS Agreement 
1.7.  A three-day workshop on the Provisions of the WTO SPS Agreement was conducted 
(24-26 October) by experts from the ITC and WTO.  Thirty stakeholders from national agencies 
located in different districts, the government, and the chamber of commerce participated in the 
workshop. The institutions present included the Food Safety Agency, Veterinary Office, Plant 
Health Protection Administration, Inspection Services, and Ministries responsible for Health, Agriculture and Civil Service. 
1.8.  The sections covered included an overview of the SPS Agreement and its key features 
including risk assessment, harmonisation, equivale nce and regionalisation; the functioning of the 
SPS Committee; transparency provisions with regard to the notification authority and enquiry point; control, inspection, and approval procedures and the differences between SPS and TBT 
measures. 
1.9.  Participants grasped the central role of public authorities in order to ensure an effective 
functioning SPS infrastructure to promote nation al exports and the related requirements with 
regard to WTO accession. The need for a legislative basis to ensure a working infrastructure in line 
with WTO requirements was highlighted. The partic ipants expressed a desire for further workshops 
on SPS and TBT compliance in relation to the WTO accession. 
2  OTHER ITC PROJECTS OF INTEREST 
2.1  2013 Advanced course on the WTO Agreem ent on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures 
2.1.  On 10 October ITC delivered a presentation on the ITC technical assistance programmes 
within the session on "The SPS Agreement, the STDF and WTO Technical Assistance". The session 
was held at the ITC office. 
2.2  International Trade Forum, Issue 3/2010 
2.2.  The issue 3/2013 focuses on Aid for Trade; in pa rticular on the fourth global review of Aid for 
Trade. On line version is available at http://www.tradeforum.org . 
2.3  Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) project 
2.3.  This project 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-border trade. This project is implemented with the close 
collaboration of ministries, export promotion agencies, research institutes, business associations 
and local experts in each country. 
2.4.  ITC has already carried out large-scale company surveys on NTMs and obstacles to trade in 
23 developing countries worldwide. NTM country specific reports are currently available and 
accessible at http://www.intracen.org/publicationlist.aspx?taxid=2314 . 
2.5.  The next national stakeholder NTM workshop is scheduled to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 
27 November. This workshop aims to bring together more than 50 participants from the public and G/SPS/GEN/1292 
 
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  private sectors of Indonesia. The results of the ITC NTM survey in Indonesia will be discussed in 
this public-private dialogue. The main objectives of the stakeholder workshop is to validate the survey results and elaborate technical recommendations, policy options and practical solutions for problems reported by the private sector. The results of the workshop will be used to finalize a 
detailed country report for Indonesia. 
2.6.  The NTM team delivered a presentation on  the project at the STDF Working Group meeting 
on 16 October 2013. 
2.7.  For more information about the NTM project, please contact ntm@intracen.org . 
2.4  Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) project 
2.8.  ITC’s Standards Map allows users to compare private standards with regards to, for example, 
social, environmental and economic criteria, geographic and product-related scopes, compliance 
policies and requirements for implementation. Compliance to these standards is not legally 
required by governments or regulations, but it could lead to more sustainable social and environmental practices and improved  competitiveness for exporters. 
2.9.  As of October 2013, the Standards Map cove rs over 125 private standards, codes of conduct 
and audit protocols operating in over 200 countries and applicable to over 80 sectors/ subsectors. For example, the Standards Map now includes the IFC Performance Standards. The team is 
working on an additional five private standards th at will be loaded on the website by the end of 
2013, including Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa, GlobalGAP crops, and Codex Alimentarius Food Hygiene, among others. 
2.10.  The Standards Map team is also leading a consortium composed of four partner 
organizations (ITC, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperatio n, Fair & Sustainable Advisory Services and 
FAQ) to develop a new online platform called SustainabilityXchange. SustainabilityXchange will become a community-owned online platform for im proving producer and exporter organisational 
capacity, sustainability performance and ability to manage and control quality. This includes access 
to relevant documentation (document library), access to expertise (yellow pages), capacity development (calendar of events), exchange of ex periences (community of practice) and the latest 
news related to sustainable agriculture. The SustainabilityXchange launch is planned for March 
2014. 
2.11.  We aim to have approximately 130 standards fully loaded on the website by the end of 
2013. Should you be interested in a live demonstration of the website or in a webinar, please 
contact Joseph Wozniak, Program Manager ( wozniak@intracen.org ). 
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  
 
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