G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.5  
 
29 August  2016 
(16-4580) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
TECHNICAL ASS ISTANCE TO DEVELOPIN G COUNTRIES  
PROVIDED BY AUSTRALI A 
JULY 201 3 – JUNE 2015  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA  
Addendum  
The follow ing communication, received on 29 August  2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Australia . 
 
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1.  In response to the Secretariat's request in G/SPS/W/101, Australia submits the attached list of 
technical assistance provided to developing countries between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2015, in 
accordance with Article 9 of the Agreement on the A pplication of Sanitary and Phytosani tary 
Measures (SPS Agreement). The list is not an exhaustive compilation of all technical assistance 
provided.  
2.  The aggregate value of the official development technical a ssistance provided between 
July 2013 and June 2015 , as listed in the appended table, exceeded A$35 million . In many cases 
Australia also provides substantial additional in -kind contributions.  
3.  Technical assistance is primarily aimed at helping developing countries to adjust to, and comply 
with, SPS measure s in their export markets and to improve their capacity in developing and 
implementing their own SPS measures based on science and international standards. For the 
reporting period assistance was provided through 45 projects and given to a total of 56 indi vidual 
Members, Observers or non -Member countries, mainly in the Asia -Pacific region, but also in Africa 
and the Middle East. Assistance was directed to individual countries as well as to groups of 
countries or regional organisations such as Pacific Island  Forum countries, Asia Pacific Economic 
Cooperation (APEC) forum and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  
  
  G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.5  
 
- 2 - TABLE 1: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  PROVIDED BY AUSTRALIA TO MEMBERS,  
OBSERVERS AND OTHER COUNTRIES:  1 JULY 2013 - JUNE 2015  
Sector  Descript ion of program  Form of assistance  Provided to  
Animal health  Regional proficiency testing program for aquatic animal disease 
laboratories in Asia to improve aquatic animal disease diagnostic 
capacity.  Technical expertise  Bangladesh;  Cambodia;  China;  
Hong Kong, China;  India; Indonesia; 
Iran; Korea, Republic of; Lao People's 
Democratic Republic;  Malaysia;  Myanmar;  
Nepal;  Pakistan;  Philippines;  Sri Lanka; 
Thailand;  Viet Nam 
Animal health  Australia -Indonesia Partnership for Emerging Infectious Diseases 
Animal Health Program aims to strengthen veterinary skills in 
Indonesia through capacity building.  Advice, technical expertise, training  Indonesia  
Animal health  Improved Animal Welfare Program to support improved animal 
welfare outcomes in countries that import live animals for 
feeder/slaughter purposes from Australia.  Advice, technical expertise, training  Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, 
Mauritius, Philippines, Turkey, Viet  Nam 
Animal health  The Village Poultry Health and Biosecurity Program aims to 
improve  poultry production in three pilot villages and strengthen 
biosecurity arrangements in Timor -Leste.  Advice, technical expertise, training and 
equipment  Timor -Leste  
Animal health  Regional Animal Biosecurity aims to monitor and mitigate 
important regional e xotic animal health risks at source.  Advice, technical expertise, training and 
equipment  Papua New Guinea, Timor -Leste  
Animal health  Project to reduce disease risks and improve food safety in 
smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam.  Research, technical as sistance   Viet Nam 
Animal health  IndoBeef collaborative program to strengthen Indonesia 's 
community -based beef sector and improve the livelihoods of 
Indonesia 's rural poor.  Research, technical assistance   Indonesia  
Animal health  Project to develop profit able and nutritionally secure integrated 
dairy-crop enterprises in the middle altitude Himalayan valleys of 
Tibet.  Technical expertise  China  
Animal health and 
plant protection  Hosting of delegations from India and Ghana by the Office of the 
Gene Technolog y Regulator in response to a request.  Technical expertise  Ghana, India  
Animal health and 
plant protection  The Biosecurity Development Program provides technical support 
and capacity development to Biosecurity Solomon Islands and the 
Solomon Islands Mini stry of Agriculture over a four year period to 
assist in the implementation of new Biosecurity legislation, and 
improve capacity around border operations, departmental 
governance , and surveillance functions.  Advice, technical expertise, training, 
equipment  Solomon Islands  
Animal health and 
food safety  Project to increase hatchery -based bivalve production in Vietnam 
and New South Wales to expand opportunities for coastal 
communities to rear bivalve molluscs.  Technical expertise   Viet Nam 
Animal health, pla nt 
protection and food 
safety  Programme to develop fresh leadership for national and regional 
strategies to manage SPS risks that can impede international 
trade by educating senior and middle managers on the principles, 
frameworks and technical capacities that enable management of 
SPS risks on a national or regional basis.  Technical expertise, training  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, 
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri  Lanka   
  G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.5  
 
- 3 - Sector  Descript ion of program  Form of assistance  Provided to  
Plant protection  Project to enhance the capacity of ASEAN countries to identify  
plant pests and diseases, promote regional networking of this 
capacity and stimulate the adoption of new, diagnostic 
techniques.  Technical expertise, training, equipment  ASEAN members  
Plant protection  Project to develop technical understanding of in -transit, cool chain 
treatments, protocols and technologies and build regulatory 
confidence in this treatment to meet phytosanitary requirements 
of high -value, SPS -sensitive, export markets.  Technical expertise, training  Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's 
Democr atic Republic,  Malaysia, Myanmar, 
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, 
Viet Nam 
Plant protection  Surveillance Information Management Systems workshop to 
provide surveillance specialists from Asia and Pacific Plant 
Protection Commission (APPPC) members with t echnical training 
in plant health surveillance data collection, management and 
reporting systems.  technical expertise, training  APPPC  members  
Plant protection  Project to develop cleaner export pathways for Pacific agriculture 
commodities.  Research, techn ical assistance   Fiji, Samoa  
Plant protection  Development of strategies for using floriculture to improve 
livelihoods in Indigenous Australian and Pacific island 
communities.  Research, technical assistance   Fiji, Papua New Guinea , Solomon Islands  
Plant p rotection  Area-wide management of pest fruit flies in an Indonesian mango 
production system.  Research, technical assistance   Indonesia  
Plant protection  Project to improve mango value chains.  Research, technical assistance   Pakistan  
Plant protection  Evalu ation of prospects for biocontrol of invasive weeds in the 
Pacific.  Research, technical assistance   Fiji, Papua New Guinea , Solomon Islands, 
Vanuatu  
Plant protection  Project to enable improved plant biosecurity practices in 
Cambodia, Lao People's Democrat ic Republic  and Thailand.  Research, technical assistance   Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic 
Republic , Thailand  
Plant protection  Project to strengthen integrated crop management research in the 
Pacific islands in support of sustainable intensification of h igh-
value crop production.  Research, technical assistance   Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga  
Plant protection  Project to identify appropriate strategies for reducing virus and 
weevil losses in sweet potato production systems in Papua New 
Guinea and Aust ralia. Research, technical assistance   Papua New Guinea  
Plant protection  Integrated disease management of sugarcane streak mosaic in 
Indonesia.  Research, technical assistance   Indonesia  
Plant protection  Biological control of galling insect pests of eucal ypt plantations in 
the Mekong region.  Research, technical assistance   Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic 
Republic , Thailand  
Plant protection  Project to build a resilient mango industry in Cambodia and 
Australia through improved production and supply chain practices.  Research, technical assistance   Cambodia  
Plant protection  Project to improve income and nutrition in eastern and southern 
Africa by enhancing vegetable -based farming and food systems in 
peri-urban corridors.  Research, technical assistance   Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania  
Plant protection  Integrated disease management strategies for the productive, 
profitable and sustainable production of high quality papaya fruit 
in the southern Philippines and Australia.  Research, technical assistance   Philippines   
  G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.5  
 
- 4 - Sector  Descript ion of program  Form of assistance  Provided to  
Plant protection  Evaluation of fruit fly populations surrounding an area -wide 
management zone.  Research, technical assistance   Indonesia  
Plant protection  Integrated management of Fusarium wilt of bananas in the 
Philippines and Australia.  Research, technical assistance   Philippines  
Plant protection  Optimisation of the single drop genomics assay to detect food 
pathogens.  Research, technical assistance   Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic 
Republic  
Plant protection  Project to provide assistance in  managing weeds in Vanuatu, 
through the development of weed management strategies, 
prioritisation, and the importation of safe and effective biocontrol 
control agents.  Advice, technical expertise, training, 
equipment, grants  Vanuatu  
Plant protection  Project to provide assistance in managing weeds in Papua New 
Guinea , through the development of weed management 
strategies, prioritization, and the importation of safe and effective 
biocontrol control agents.  Advice, technical expertise, training, 
equipment, gr ants Papua New Guinea  
Plant protection  Project to prioritise weed biocontrol in four Melanesian countries 
and provide support for the development of weed biocontrol 
projects in each country.   Advice, technical expertise, training  Fiji, Papua New Guinea , Solomon Islands, 
Vanuatu  
Plant protection  Pacific Regional Agricultural Market Access Program (PRAMA). The 
program provides a mechanism to assist with facilitating export 
market opportunities for horticultural and other agricultural 
commodities. It assist s Pacific Island countries to meet import 
quarantine requirements of key trading partners to facilitate 
improved rural livelihoods through functioning markets.  Grants, training  Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall 
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia , 
Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea , 
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, 
Vanuatu  
Plant protection  Agricultural productivity initiative to support the strengthening of 
the Solomon Islands Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock's cocoa 
extensions syste ms. Research, technical assistance  Solomon Islands  
Plant protection  Project to improve mandarin and orange productivity value -chains 
in Pakistan by widening the range of varieties, enhancing the 
supply of elite, disease -free planting material and improvin g 
orchard management techniques and capacity building of research 
and extension.  Research, technical assistance  Pakistan  
Plant protection  Project to improve field and laboratory diagnostic capability and 
knowledge and incursion management capacity for exo tic citrus 
pests and diseases.  Research, technical expertise  Bhutan  
Plant protection   Project to provide training in irrigation management in a range of 
fruit crops.  Training  Pakistan  
Plant protection  Project to further develop the Papua New Guinea sweet potato 
value chain.  Technical expertise, training  Papua New Guinea  
Food safety and 
plant protection  Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme.  Advice, technical expertise, training  Chile, Costa  Rica, El  Salvador, Fiji, 
Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indon esia, 
Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua , Panama, 
Papua New Guinea , Peru, Philippines, 
Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, Thailand   
  G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.5  
 
- 5 - Sector  Descript ion of program  Form of assistance  Provided to  
Food safety and 
plant protection  Project to identify governance deficiencies in the management of 
biosecurity treatment systems and implement sus tainable 
remedial strategies through the development of appropriate 
biosecurity methodologies, systems and training programs.  Advice, technical expertise, training  Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, 
Lao People's Democratic Republic , 
Papua  New Guinea , Philip pines, Viet  Nam, 
Sri Lanka  
Food safety and 
plant protection  Project to improve vegetable industry profitability by improving 
adoption of integrated crop management practices and finding 
science -based solutions to crop management problems.  Research, techni cal expertise  Philippines  
Food safety and 
plant protection  Program to manage all aspects of the introduction, 
documentation, quarantine and distribution of designated bread 
wheat, durum wheat, faba bean, lentil, chickpea, barley and field 
pea germplasm.  Technical expertise   India, Mexico, Syria  
Food safety  Progression of the APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum 's work 
on harmonising import maximum residue levels (MRLs) across 
APEC economies. To facilitate this work, Food Standards Australia 
and New Zealand (FSANZ) hosted the 1st Expert Workshop on the 
Harmonisation of Pesticide MRLs for Imported Foods in APEC.  Technical expertise  APEC members  
 
 
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