WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1195 
5 October 2012 
 (12-5413) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original: Spanish 
  
 
ACTIONS AIMED AT IMPLEMENTING THE WTO AGREEMENT 
ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Information submitted by the Inter-American Institute for 
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
   The following communication, received on 4 Octobe r 2012, is being circulated at the request 
of the IICA. 
 
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 1. The observer organizations of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS Committee) are invited to submit repor ts on the activities they have carried out to 
promote the understanding and implementation of the SPS Agreement.  The IICA wishes to present 
some of the actions and activities that it consid ers relevant to the work of this Committee. 
Promoting participation in multilateral fo rums associated with the SPS Committee 
 
2. Review of phytosanitary standards:  In Septem ber, two regional meetings  were held (one for 
the Caribbean and the other for Latin America) to review the phytosanitary standards that will be 
examined at the next meeting of the IPPC Commi ssion on Phytosanitary Measures in 2013.  A total 
of 27 countries participated in these meetings, toge ther with two regional in ternational phytosanitary 
protection bodies (the International Regional Organi zation for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA) and 
the Southern Cone Plant Health Committee (COS AVE)), the IPPC, the IICA and FAO.  The purpose 
of these events was to ensure that observations and comments on the draft standards currently under 
review were transmitted to the IPPC.  It is the third consecutive year that the IICA has sponsored 
these IPPC meetings.  For further inform ation, please contact: Ricardo.Molins@iica.int 
or Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int. 
 
3. Support for Codex Alimentarius procedures:   Coordination events related to the 
Codex Alimentarius have continued to be held and support h as been given to the Codex Committee 
for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) thr ough virtual media.  These sessions have been of 
great benefit to CCLAC, enabling it to identify topics  of common interest and move forward in the 
formulation of regional positions.  Recently, coordination sessions have been held for the Committee 
on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and the Committee on Fish and Fishery Products.  For each Codex meeting, the IICA organizes virtual regional coordination sessions.  For further information, 
please contact:  Eric.Bolanos@iica.int. 
4. In Uruguay, the IICA has completed the first stage of the domestic food legislation 
digitalization and consolidation project, as request ed by the National Codex Committee through the 
Uruguayan Technological Laboratory (LATU), the Code x Alimentarius contact point in Uruguay.  
As a result, the National Bromatological Regulations (RBN) have been transcribed into digital format G/SPS/GEN/1195 
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  and their amending and supplementary decrees adde d to obtain a first complete text.  Other 
food-related regulatory provisions that do not form pa rt of the RBN, such as Ministerial Resolutions 
submitted to the working group responsible for the co mpendium or available on institution websites, 
were also incorporated.  For further informati on, please contact:  Alejandra.Bentancur@iica.int. 
5. In Peru, the IICA has begun assisting the National Codex Committee with a view to 
developing and implementing a work plan.  Two work sessions have been held and the process is 
expected to be completed in 2013.  For further information, please contact:  Erika.Soto@iica.int. 
6. As a result of the cooperation agreement betw een the IICA and the Ministry of the Economy 
of Costa Rica, the following materials and instruments now exist to support this country in its role as 
CCLAC coordinator:  (i) Profile and responsibiliti es of delegates and (ii) a regional notification 
system designed to facilitate the management of Codex documents and promote the identification of 
common regional positions.  For more information, please contact:  Eric.Bolanos@iica.int. 
Technical and institutional capacity building 
7. The final versions of the tool to characterize diagnostic laboratories in the fields of 
agricultural health and food safety and the tool to  characterize national food inspection systems have 
been completed.  These tools can also be u sed to supplement the Performance, Vision and 
Strategy (PVS) tools already available.  A third edition of the instrument "Performance, Vision and 
Strategy (PVS) for National Food Safety Services"  has also been developed in conjunction with 
the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).  For more information, please contact:  Ricardo.Molins@iica.int. 
8. Future PVS applications:  Nicaragua (phyto sanitary), Bolivia (phytosanitary), Venezuela 
(food safety), Haiti (food safety), and the Bahamas (two PVSs).  For more information, please 
contact:  Ana.Cordero@iica.int. 
9. The IICA, as Secretariat, has organized a hemispheric video conference to reactivate the 
Inter-American Group for Coordination on Plant Prot ection (GICSV), members of which include the 
plant protection organizations of the American continent NAPPO, OIRSA and COSAVE, as a prelude 
to a coordination meeting that will take place at II CA headquarters in Costa Rica in November 2012.  
For more information, please contact:  Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int. 
10. The IICA has continued to support the Central American Customs Union (UAC) by providing 
technical assistance for the second round of meeti ngs of the UAC Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Committee.  For further information, please contact:  Alejandra.Díaz@iica.int. 
11. The IICA approved an internally funded project for the creation of a virtual school for 
phytosanitary inspectors in South America.  The project is now at the implementation stage.  
For further information, please cont act:  Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int. 
12. From 20 to 24 August 2012, the face-to-face training module on pest risk analysis was held in 
Lima, Peru.  This initiative was organized in conjunc tion with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) of the United States Department  of Agriculture (USDA), the Inter-American 
Development Bank (IADB) and the IPPC.  A tota l of 20 professionals from Peru, Colombia, 
Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Br azil received training.  For further information, please contact:  
Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int. 
13. In July, the four-year project to create an  epidemiological surveillance network in the 
Caribbean, funded by USDA/APHIS and with the pa rticipation of CIRAD (France) and CaribVET, 
was completed.  The project covered nine count ries (ten islands).  It provided training for  G/SPS/GEN/1195 
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  ten epidemiologists/para-epidemiologists, strengthe ned veterinary services, and ended with a round 
table simulation exercise on responding to an anim al health emergency in which 14 countries and 
territories participated.  For more informati on, please contact:  Ricardo.Molins@iica.int. 
14. The following publications may be viewed online at:  http://www.iica.int/esp/programas 
/sanidad/Paginas/default.aspx : 
(a) Situación y Perspectiva de las Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas en la Región Sur  
(Situation and outlook regarding good agricultu ral practices in the southern region) 
(in Spanish only). 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety 
 http://www.infoagro.net/salud 
http://www.iica.int 
 
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