G/SPS/GEN/1275  
 
7 October 2013  
(13-5418)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
REPORT ON THE FOLLOW-UP NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE SPS AGREEMENT 
FOR THE PHILIPPINE DEPA RTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REGULATORY AGENCIES 
AND THE SPS WORKSHOP FOR REGI ONAL REGULATORY AGENCIES 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE PHILIPPINES 
The following communication, received on 7 October 2013, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines. 
 
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1.  Two national SPS Workshops were held in the Philippines from 29 July to 2 August 2013 
sponsored by WTO. The two workshops were attend ed by about 100 participants from the different 
regulatory agencies of the relevant departments involved in SPS and trade. 
2.  The first workshop was the "Follow-Up Nati onal Workshop on the WTO SPS Agreement for the 
Philippine Department of Agriculture Regulatory Agencies" which was held 29 July 2013 in Manila, Philippines and attended by the previous 41 part icipants of the "WTO National Seminar on the 
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures" held last 18 to 20 July 
2012. The follow-up national workshop was cond ucted to (1) refresh knowledge of previous 
participants on WTO and SPS, (2) discuss and elaborate key issues raised from the 2012 SPS national workshop, and (3) present actual SPS case studies that relate to harmonization, 
equivalence and risk assessment and collectively address the issues and concerns. The national 
follow-up workshop was found most useful when practical case studies were presented and the specific provisions of the SPS Agreement were used to argue the case. This exemplified how 
theories learned previously were put into actual practice. 
3.  The second workshop was the "WTO-SPS Work shop for Regional Regulatory Agencies" which 
was held outside of Manila in Cebu, Philippines from  31 July to 2 August 2013. It was attended by 
73 participants both from domestic and international posts from the Department of Agriculture and 
the Department of Trade and Industry, officers fr om the Bureau of Product Standards, Department 
of Health, the Philippine Economic Zone Author ity, and the Bureau of Customs. The regional 
workshop was conducted to (1) refresh and harmonize knowledge on the WTO and SPS 
Agreements vis-a-vis  roles and responsibilities of the respective regional border and foreign 
service corps in formulating and implementing SP S regulations, and (2) analyze and recognize the 
implications of their SPS decisions and actions on  the Philippines' commitments and obligations in 
domestic and global trade. Participants greatly be nefited from this capacity building activity as 
they gained significant knowledge on the key SPS principles and how these support their functions. 
4.  Both workshops were used as a launching  pad for the STDF project on "Implementing 
SPS Measures to Facilitate Safe Trade", which in cluded regional research on SPS controls and 
trade facilitation in selected countries in Africa and Asia including the Philippines. WTO Members are currently engaged in negotiations on trade facilitation for possible inclusion in the early harvest package for the 9
th Ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia in early December. 
5.  Members' proposals indicate that some areas covered by the negotiations (such as import 
alert/rapid alert mechanisms, transparency of proced ures, fees, etc.) relate, directly or indirectly, 
to provisions of the SPS Agreement, notably Ar ticle 8 and Annex C on Control, Inspection and 
Approval Procedures. We find this STDF project very relevant to the current negotiations and 
hopefully its outcome could provide some guidance to Members. G/SPS/GEN/1275 
 
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  6.  Finally, the Philippines would like to again thank Ms Marième FALL from the WTO Secretariat for 
providing her valuable expertise during the two workshops and to STDF for the valuable project. The Philippines signals its continued interest to avail of similar technical assistance and capacity building activities under the WTO. Most importantl y, we would be more than happy to share our 
experience and assist any Member in establishing and strengthening capacity in this area. 
 
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