WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1181 
24 July 2012 
 (12-4053) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS-RELATED RECENT AND FORTHCOMING ASSISTANCE AND 
OTHER ACTIVITIES FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC) 
(APRIL-JUNE 2012) 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 9 July 2012, is being circulated at the request of 
the ITC. 
 
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I. PROJECTS 
A. E
NHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK (EIF)  - SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND EXPORT 
DIVERSIFICATION IN THE GAMBIA (2012-2015) 
1. The EIF-funded project, approved in April 2012, with ITC as Executing Agency, aims at 
responding to some of the trade related developmen t priorities of The Gambia as identified in its 
Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS).  The pr oject’s development objective is to reduce poverty 
through activities that (a) strengthen targeted sectors competitiveness, (b) promote new business 
opportunities in domestic, regional a nd international markets and (c) generate additional incomes and 
create employment.  The project targets at: 
(a) Agri-sector specific support for cashew nuts,  groundnuts and sesame;  Key focus will 
be on finding new export opportunities, pr oduct diversification, improved value-
addition, quality enhanc ement and strengthened sector support institutions 
(Component A). 
(b) Provision of cross-cutting assistance in the areas of trade information (Component B) 
and inclusive tourism (Component C). 
2. The Quality Enhancement component of th e project will address product food safety and 
quality issues and address technical barriers hindering market access of Gambian exports of 
groundnuts, cashew nuts, and sesame by im plementing activities which will include: 
 Upgrading NARI’s lab testing capacity and rec ognition at international level (aflatoxin); 
 Developing standards for groundnuts, cashew nuts and sesame; 
 Providing training and tools for enhanced qua lity segregation of groundnuts by quality control 
inspectors; G/SPS/GEN/1181 
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   Enhancing food safety of groundnuts through implementation of HACCP
1 and pre-requisites 
such as GAP2 and GMP3; 
 Developing a Quality Assurance Fr amework for cashew nuts and sesame; 
 Enhancing farmer capacity to grow groundnut s, cashew nuts and sesame of better quality and 
higher productivity through Farmer Field School Approach. 
 B. P
ERU  - EXPORT DEVELOPMENT IN PERU'S NORTHERN CORRIDOR  
3. The export quality management component of the project has the objective to build the 
capacity of Trade Related Institutions (such as Prom peru) in the Costa area of Peru to complement 
their programmes aimed at enhancing the comp etitiveness of small enterprises through compliance 
with food hygiene and safety requirements in in ternational markets and enhance and increase their 
exports.  The project (April 2012 – March 2013) wi ll assist small and mediums-sized enterprises to 
understand and implement food safety systems base d on HACCP through the sustainable support of 
selected Trainers-cum-Counsellors  (TcC) from the region.  The project is funded by the Economic 
Cooperation and Development Division at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).  In 
April-May 2012, the project delivered training on Implementing Food Safety Systems according to 
HACC to ten trainers-cum-Counsellors and repr esentatives from eleven agro and agro-processed 
enterprises from Chiclayo and Piura and conducte d gap analysis conducted against HACCP in the 
selected enterprises and designed their road map for improvement.  The next mission of the National 
consultant is planned in August 2012 to continue the practical training on implementing HACCP of 
the TcC and enterprises. 
C. NETHERLANDS TRUST FUND (NTF  II) - SENEGAL  
4. The project, funded by the Netherlands, h as the objective to create a competitive and 
sustainable value chain for mango export to Europe from the Niayes region in Senegal. 
5. Within the framework of the project, the ITC Quality component assists mango exporters to 
access the EU market and improve their compe titiveness.  Between Januaty 2012 and March 2013 
ITC with the support of ASEPEX and other Trade Support Institutions is assisting selected producers 
and exporters to obtain certification for GlobalGAP  and organic farming.  National consultants 
conducted the diagnostic analysis of three enterpri ses and two groups of farmers and will delivered 
the technical assistance to implement the requirements until March 2013. 
6. A programme of short training and communicati on courses is being held along the supply 
chain: for the producers to prevent and treat fruit fly infestation and implement good agricultural practices; for the exporters on good cold chain practice; for key operato rs on understanding of 
mandatory and voluntary requirements.  To monito r the sanitary compliance of mango with the EU 
regulation on Maximum Residue Limits (MRL), a series of analysis on pesticide residue will be 
conducted by the local lab.  
II. OTHER ITC PROJECTS OF INTEREST 
A. T
RADE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (T4SD) 
7. ITC’s Standards Map allows users to compare pr ivate standards with regards to, for example, 
social, environmental and economic criteria, ge ographic and product-related scopes, compliance 
                                                      
1 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points 
2 Good Agricultural Practice 
3 Good Manufacturing Practice  G/SPS/GEN/1181 
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  policies and requirements for implementation.  Comp liance 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.  
8. As of June 2012, Standards Ma p covers 75 private standards developed by non-governmental 
organizations, companies, multi-stakeholder coalitions  and other private entities.  The new standards 
loaded include SMETA Best Practice Guidance, Electronics Industry Code of Conduct (EICC), 
International Sustainability & Carbon Certific ation (ISCC), Primus GFS, TerraChoice and Food 
Justice Certified.  The team is working on additio nal 10 standards that will be loaded on the website 
by the end of August 2012, including Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) and The European Ecolabel, among others.  The T4SD team also published 
several papers in the past months, among which a paper series on the impacts of private standards in 
global value chains (part 1), on producers level (par t 2) and on the interplay of public and private 
standards (part 3).  The three papers are accessible at:  http://www.standardsmap.org   
9. In collaboration with the Sustainable Agri culture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the Dutch 
Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and IMD’s Corpor ate Sustainability Management Platform (CSM) 
the team is also developing a business guide for sust ainable sourcing.  This guide will lay-out the key 
issues companies need to take into considera tion when planning and implementing a sustainable 
sourcing strategy, with particular focus on developi ng a sustainable supply chain.  Illustrating the 
main challenges in developing sustainable supply ch ains, this guide will develop a set of concrete 
actions and strategic responses to support businesses in dealing with sustainability issues along the 
supply chain.  The final publication is expected in December 2012. 
10. We aim to have approximately 110 standards fu lly loaded on the website by the end of 2012.  
Should you be interested in a live demonstration of the website or in a webinar, please contact Joseph 
Wozniak, Program Manager (wozniak@intracen.org). 
B. NON-TARIFF MEASURES (NTM)  PROJECT  
11. ITC NTM report for Morocco has been published and released to the public and is now also 
available on ITC’s website at:  " http://www.intracen.org/maroc-perspec tives-des-entreprises-serie-sur-
les-mesures-non-tarifaires" . 
12. At the request of the WTO Secretariat and the Mission of Barbados in Geneva, a presentation 
of ITC's NTM programme was made at the sm all and vulnerable economies (SVEs) Strategic 
Brainstorming on Non-Tariff Trade Measures held at the WTO on 10 May 2012.  A number of SVEs are beneficiary of the programme, including Jam aica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mauritius.  
13. ITC also successfully launched the non-tariff measures (NTM) survey in two more countries 
(Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea) during the period Ma rch - June 2012.  Upcoming countries include 
Indonesia and Tanzania. 
14. For more information about ITC’s NTM project, please contact Ms Poonam Mohun, NTM 
Market Analyst, Market Analysis and Research, ITC, Tel: +41 22 730 0277 - Fax: +41 22 730 0577 - 
Email: mohun@intracen.org. 
 G/SPS/GEN/1181 
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  For more information: 
Khemraj Ramful, ITC Senior Adviser  on Export Quality Management  
Tel: +41 22 730 04 87 - Fax: +41 22 730  05 76  - E-mail:  ramful@intracen.org 
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 
Web address:  http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  
E-mail:  quality@intracen.org 
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