G/SPS/W/298  
 
4 June 2018  
(18-3348) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
FIFTH REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEM ENTATION OF THE AGRE EMENT  
ON THE APPLICATION O F SANITARY AND PHYTO SANITARY MEASURES  
PEST- AND DISEASE -FREE AREAS – REGIONALIZATION (ARTICLE 6)  
Submission by  the European Union  
The following communication, received on 1 June 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Union . 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  As part of the 5th Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosani tary Measures (the SPS Agreement), pursuant to the 
provisions of Article 12.7 of the Agreement, the Secretariat has invited Members to identify issues 
they wish to be considered during the Review by 1 June 2018.  
1.2.  The European Union has identified regionaliz ation (pest- and disease -free areas) as an issue 
that requires the Committee 's continuing attention.  
1.3.  The concept of regionalization is one of the fundamental principles of the SPS Agreement. 
Article 6 lays down the rules on the application of regionalization when setting SPS measures.  
1.4.  Regionaliz ation, if established in line with WTO rules and standards of the World Organisation 
for Animal Health (OIE) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), is an important 
tool for maintaining  safe trade by only restricting trade from areas affected by a disease or pest, 
whilst avoiding trade disruptions in goods from unaffected areas.  
1.5.  Recognition of another country 's regionalization measures should be based on objective 
information and should be carried out within a reasonable period of time. Exporting countries must 
be able to guarantee that their regionalization measures are reliable, "objectively demonstrating " 
that their pest - and disease -free regions/areas are indeed free, and are "likely to remain free ". 
1.6.  It also requires a high level of trust and confidence in other country's measures and policies 
on controlling anima l and plant diseases to recogniz e their regionalization measures in order to 
facilitate trade. This mutual exercise should i deally be carried out in peace time, in order to be 
prepared when an outbreak happens. According to the EU 's experience, the recognition of trade 
partner 's regionalization measures is often not in line with the above mentioned international 
principles, whi ch may result in non -justified trade restrictions.  
1.7.   Managing and controlling highly contagious animal and plant disease outbreaks is a costly 
exercise in itself, however the main economic damage is often inflicted by the excessive trade 
restrictions impose d by importing countries both in terms of geographical and temporal scale.  
1.8.  On 16 May 2008, the SPS Committee adopted "Guidelines to further the practical 
implementation of Article 6 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
measures " published in document G/SPS/48.  G/SPS/W/298  
 
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  1.9.  The Guidelines, while not creating legal obligations, are intended to provide assistance to 
Members in the practical implementation of Article 6 by improving transparency, exchange of 
information, predictability, confidenc e and credibility between importing and exporting countries. 
In principle, they should become reference of best practice among Members and should be 
followed by all Members.  
1.10.   Point 3 of the Guidelines requires that they should be periodically reviewed and r evised as 
necessary by the Committee in light of the experience gained through the implementation of the 
SPS Agreement and the use of these Guidelines themselves.  
1.11.   The Guidelines have not been reviewed since their adoption in 2008. Given the importance 
of the concept of regionalization and the usefulness of having all Members follow the Guidelines, 
the European Union considers worthwhile to look at them during the 5th Review of the SPS 
Agreement, in order to assess how effective they really are, to what exte nt they are followed and, 
if needed, to identify areas which could be improved.  
1.12.   Before doing so, however, attention should be paid to the on -going activities of the OIE 
setting up an observatory and surveying its Members ' practices by a questionnaire with regard to 
the implementation of its standards. The European Union is aware that in the recently circulated 
OIE questionnaire specific attention is paid to regionalization (zoning) and to the use of 
international standards when negotiating market access. Th e European Union is also aware of 
activities of the IPPC regarding fruit flies, and its plans to develop a manual for the  recognition 
procedure for pest -free areas.  
1.13.   Recent dispute settlement cases underlined the obligation of WTO Members to apply the 
conce pt of regionalization and seek to minimize  the trade impact of a disease outbreak in an 
exporting country.  
2  PROPOSAL  
2.1.  The European Union is of the view that any further work of the SPS Committee on 
regionalization should build on the on -going work of the international standard setting bodies, and 
on WTO jurisprudence. Accordingly, and within the framework of the 5th Review, the European 
Union would like to submit the following specific proposals for action by the SPS Committee:  
a. To invite the OIE to share w ith the SPS Committee the outcome of its on -going work in 
relation to regionalization and trade facilitation;  
b. To invite the IPPC to conduct a similar survey, and to share information about its on -
going activities and about any experience it may have about the implementation of its 
standards in relation to pest-free areas;  
c. With the assistance of the WTO Secretariat and Legal Service, to look at recent WTO 
jurisprudence on regionalization both in the Animal Health and Plant Health domains;  
d. To examine the Gui delines on Article 6 (G/SPS/48) in order to assess their effectiveness, 
to what extent they are actually followed by Members and, if needed, identify areas 
which could be improved.  
 
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