WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1197 
10 October 2012 
 (12-5504) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French/  Spanish 
 
  
THE OIE ROLE IN RELATION  TO THE SPS COMMITTEE 
 
Paper for the SPS Committee - October 2012 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 9 October 2012, is being circulated at the request 
of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). 
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1. This paper provides input to the SPS Committe e's deliberations on the role of observer 
organisations, specifically the OIE, as one of the Three Sisters.  
I. SUMMARY 
2. In the context of the SPS Comm ittee, the OIE, as one of the Three Sisters, advises on sanitary 
measures relevant to international trade, including  on risk assessment and on the relationship between 
national measures and the OIE's science-based standard s.  The application by trading countries of the 
standards set by the Three Sister s is the best way to facilitate safe international trade.  Active 
participation by the Three Sisters is an important feature of SPS Committee meetings, and can 
contribute to the prevention and resolution of trade disputes.  
3. To further strengthen this participation, it is  proposed that the SPS Committee Chair routinely 
invite the Three Sisters to comment, as appropriate , on the bilateral trade concerns placed on the 
Committee agenda by Members.  For example, the OIE would be invited to speak when the trade concern relates to an animal disease or zoonosis;  Codex would be invited to speak when the trade 
concern relates to a chemical residue issue or othe r relevant food safety con cerns, and the IPPC would 
be invited to address issues about phytosanitary m easures.  The scope of the ISSO intervention would 
be to indicate if there is a relevant internationa l standard, recommendation or guideline, and to assist 
the Committee to locate information that may be relevant to the matter under discussion. 
4. The attention of WTO Members is also drawn to the OIE voluntary procedures for mediation 
of trade differences.  These procedures are complementary to and do not conflict with the official 
WTO dispute settlement procedures.  Members are encouraged to consider using these science-based 
procedures to help resolve differences and facilitate safe trade.  
II. BACKGROUND 
5. A workshop on the Relationship between the SPS Committee and International Standard 
Setting Organisations took place on 26 October 2009.   The report of the workshop (G/SPS/R/57) 
contained 11 recommendations.  OIE comments on the r ecommendations that are directly relevant to 
its work are in Annex 1.  G/SPS/GEN/1197 
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  6. On 25 June 2012 the Secretariat of the SPS Committee prepared a background document 
(G/SPS/GEN/1157) to assist Members in their considera tion of the role of observers in the meetings 
of the SPS Committee and related matters.  
7. A communication from Chile and the United St ates (G/SPS/W/267) on the involvement of 
ISSOs in the SPS Committee on specifi c trade concerns was circulated  to Members on 3 July 2012.  
8. Matters relating to observer organizations were di scussed at an informal meeting, closed to 
observers, which was held on 9 July 2012.  
III. DISCUSSION 
A. THE THREE SISTERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WTO  SPS  AGREEMENT  
9. The SPS Agreement recognizes the OIE, the International Plant Protection Convention 
(IPPC) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the so -called Three Sisters, as the relevant standard-
setting bodies for animal health and zoonotic diseases, phytosanitary issues and food safety, 
respectively.  
10. The Preamble to the SPS Agreement states "t hat it is desirable to further the use of 
harmonized sanitary (…) measures between Members,  on the basis of international standards, 
guidelines and recommendations developed by the rele vant international organizations, including (…) 
the International Office of Epizootics (OIE)1".  
11. The SPS Agreement also refers to and recogni zes the standards developed by the Three 
Sisters in Article 3 (Harmonization)  and in Annex A, paragraph 3: 
– "International standards, guid elines and recommendations (….) 
(b)  for animal health and zoonoses, the sta ndards, guidelines and r ecommendations developed 
under the auspices of the …(OIE)". 
12. WTO Members may comply with their obligati ons under the SPS Agreement by basing their 
measures on relevant standards of the Three Sisters or by carrying out a scientific risk analysis, on 
which subject the Three Sisters also provide guidance.  
B. THE STANDARDS , GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OIE 
13. The OIE Terrestrial Code  and Aquatic Code  contain science-based standards for the 
surveillance reporting, prevention and control of diseases and for assuring safe international trade in 
animals and their products.  Use of these stan dards, including for the transparent and timely 
notification of animal diseases and as the basis for sanitary measures and international veterinary 
certification, will prevent the introduction and spr ead of diseases of animals and, as appropriate, of 
humans.  
14. The Code s provide guidance on the application, in the animal health context, of key principles 
found in the SPS Agreement, including risk analys is, equivalence, regionali sation and zoning.  In 
particular the Codes  facilitate the application of equivalen ce by the provision of multiple approaches 
to risk management.  
15. Additional standards and recommendations (e.g . on disease diagnosis and vaccination) are 
found in the OIE Manuals for terrestrial  and aquatic animals .  Resolutions of the OIE World 
                                                      
 1 Now known as the World Organisation for Animal Health – while retaining the acronym "OIE".    G/SPS/GEN/1197 
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  Assembly on the official status of member count ries for specified diseases, such as foot and mouth 
disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, em body the concept of regionalisation and offer 
important information to support saf e international trade in animals and their products.  Likewise, the 
OIE disease reporting and information dissemination f unctions that support transparency in the global 
animal disease situation enable member countri es to apply and withdraw appropriate sanitary 
measures in a timely manner. 
16. The OIE standard setting procedures provide fo r rapidity, responsiveness, scientific rigour 
and transparency, as outlined in Annex 2.  
17. In addition to developing standards, gui delines and recommendations, the OIE has an 
informal mediation procedure, which provides for its  members, on a voluntary basis, to resolve trade 
differences using an approach that is based on  science and the correct application of the OIE 
standards.  Reports of mediations are confidentia l to the parties, unless the parties have mutually 
agreed to the release of information.  
C. THE OIE  CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORK OF THE SPS  COMMITTEE  
18. The OIE, as one of the Three Sisters, provides regular updates to the SPS Committee on OIE 
activities relevant to standard setting, including on strategic issues and planning;  relationships with 
other organizations, and capacity building activiti es to strengthen the capacity of member countries 
not only to apply the standards but also to participate in their development.  The OIE maintains on-going contact with the SPS Secretariat and makes re gular interventions at Committee meetings to 
clarify the interpretation of its standards.  Th e OIE emphasises science and transparency as the 
appropriate basis for the development and implementation of sanitary measures.  
19. The discussion of bilateral trade concerns re lating to animal diseases and zoonoses is a key 
part of the SPS Committee agenda.  Here, the OIE provides advice relevant to the consistency of 
national measures with relevant international st andards, guidelines and recommendations, and on new 
and emerging diseases of importance to trade.  
20. The animal health related trade concerns th at WTO Members discuss at Committee meetings 
often concern measures relating to bovine spongifo rm encephalopathy, foot and mouth disease or 
influenza.  The failure of WTO Me mbers to fully implement the OIE standards – in particular, those 
providing a basis for safe trade in relation to these diseases – is often a factor in these discussions.  
The OIE urges member countries to give higher prior ity to the implementation of the OIE standards as 
a key step to facilitate safe trade in animals and their products.  
21. Under the SPS Agreement, WTO Members applying measures for animal diseases and 
zoonoses that are more restrictive than the OIE standards should conduct a science-based risk 
assessment as a basis for the measures.  Here, again, the OIE can advise regarding the quality of risk 
assessments with reference to the existing OIE scientific standards and recommendations on risk 
analysis. 
22. In the case of bilateral disagreements about  trade measures, the OIE offers a voluntary 
mediation mechanism that is relatively rapid and l ess costly than the official WTO dispute settlement 
procedure.  The emphasis is on transparency and the application of the OIE science-based standards 
as appropriate to the specific trade issue.  The OIE encourages WTO Members to make more use of 
its mediation mechanism as a tool to reso lve differences and facilitate safe trade.  G/SPS/GEN/1197 
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  D. CAPACITY BUILDING TO PROMO TE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SPS  STANDARDS  
23. SPS capacity building is an important means to enhance the participation of OIE members in 
the development of standards, to improve unders tanding and ownership of standards and to raise 
awareness of the obligations that arise from the SPS Agreement.  The OIE undertakes training and 
capacity building activities in collaboration with d onors, national governments,  and international and 
regional organizations, including joint OIE/FAO/WHO programmes to ensure s eamless coverage of 
SPS issues relevant to animal and human health and compliance of Veterinary Services with OIE 
standards.  The project PAN-SPSO2 in Africa is a good case study for the importance and potential 
gains to be made by strengthening the participa tion of developing countries in standard setting 
activities.  
24. The WTO Standards and Trade Development Fac ility (STDF), formed as a joint initiative of 
the OIE, WHO, FAO, World Bank and WTO with the goal of enhancing developing countries’ 
capacities to meet SPS standards, is a key forum for exchange of relevant information on SPS 
capacity building activities.  In addition to participating in STDF meetings and activities, the OIE 
regularly updates the SPS Committee about its capac ity building programme.  Representatives of the 
SPS Secretariat and the STDF Secretariat are invited to the annual OIE General Session, as well as OIE global conferences and other meetings relevant to the SPS agenda.  The Director General of the 
OIE routinely informs Delegates of SPS related act ivities and, where feasible, OIE activities may be 
held "back-to-back" with SPS workshops. 
IV CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
25. Under the WTO SPS Agreement, the Three Sist ers are responsible for the provision of 
standards, guidelines and recommendations to support saf e international trade.  In the context of the 
SPS Committee, the OIE specifically advises on sanitary measures relevant to international trade in 
animals and their products, including on risk asse ssment and on the relatio nship between national 
measures and the OIE's science based standards.  Ac tive participation by the Three Sisters is an 
important feature of SPS Committee meetings.  
26. To further strengthen this participation, it is  proposed that the SPS Committee Chair routinely 
invite the Three Sisters to comment on the bilate ral trade concerns placed  on the Committee agenda 
by Members, as appropriate.  For example, the OIE would be invited to speak when the trade concern 
relates to an animal disease or zoonosis.  The scope of the intervention would be to indicate if there is 
a relevant international standard, recommendation or guideline, and to assist the Committee to locate 
information that may be relevant to the matter under discussion. 
27. The attention of WTO Members is also drawn to the OIE voluntary procedures for mediation 
of trade differences.  These procedures are complementary to and do not conflict with the official WTO dispute settlement procedures.  Members are en couraged to consider using these procedures to 
help resolve differences and facilitate safe trade.  
                                                      
  2 PAN-SPSO is a partnership project between the African Union, the European Commission and the 
Africa Caribbean Pacific Secretariat (ACP) on behalf of  seven African Regional Economic Communities.  It 
involves 47 African countries.  G/SPS/GEN/1197 
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  ANNEX 1 
 
OIE comments on the recommendations of the SPS Committee Workshop  
held on 26 October 2009 (G/SPS/R/57) 
 
(2)  Increasing the number of joint capacity building activities 
 Subject to the availability of resources,  the OIE could support such an initiative. 
(3)  Joint work on cross cutting issues 
 Following a decision of the Codex Committee on General Principles, the OIE and the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission are preparing to coll aborate in new work on the harmonisation of 
approaches to standard setting.  
(4)  Coordination meetings of the Three sisters and the WTO Secretariat 
 The OIE supports this proposal. 
(7)  The SPS Committee transmitting information rel ating to trade issues…to the relevant Sister 
organisation) and 
(8)  Requesting the Three sisters to analyse the current specific trade con cerns raised in the SPS 
Committee… 
 The OIE considers that the most effective way to address points 7 and 8 is by strengthening the 
participation of the Three Sisters in the Specific Trade Concerns item of the regular Committee 
agenda.  
(10)  Identifying ways to improve coordination at national level of the relevant representatives of the 
Three sisters and SPS representatives 
 The OIE recommends continued emphasis on th e SPS regional workshops, where relevant 
national representatives are encouraged to communicat e and to form networks at regional level.  
(11) The establishment of a help desk to answer enquiries and provide information in each of the 
Three sisters and the WTO Secretariat. 
 Enquiries on SPS related matters from national go vernments, the private sector and NGOs are 
handled directly by the OIE International Trade Department in OIE headquarters.  G/SPS/GEN/1197 
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  ANNEX 2 
 
The OIE standard setting procedures:  key aspects relating to transparency 
 
 
 Standards are drafted by independent experts drawn from different OIE regions and selected on 
the basis of scientific excellence and geographical balance.  Official mechanisms are in place to 
ensure the neutrality and scientific integrity of experts appointed to work with the OIE. 
 All reports of ad hoc  expert Groups are reviewed by Specialist Commissions, comprising 
members elected by the World Assembly of National Delegates, and, as appropriate, by 
permanent Working Groups.  These reviews particul arly consider the proposed risk management 
options. 
 Reports of Specialist Commissions, Working Groups and ad hoc  expert Groups are made 
available to members and the public via the OIE website. 
 OIE member countries have scheduled opportunities to comment on draft standards. 
 Member country comments are reviewed by the Specialist Commissions, which advise Delegates 
of their analysis and decisions on th ese comments by report on the OIE website. 
 All standards are adopted by the World Assembly, usually by consensus or, in rare cases, by a 
two thirds majority vote. 
 Each one of the 178 OIE member countries has an  equal voice in the development and adoption 
of standards and each has a responsibility and an opportunity to engage with the OIE in this 
important work. 
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