G/SPS/GEN/1500  
 
20 June 2016  
(16-3346)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: Spanish  
 
 ACTIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION  OF THE WTO AGREEMENT ON 
SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES (WTO-SPS) 
INFORMATION PRESENTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR 
COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURE (IICA) 
The following communication, received on 17 June 20 16, is being circulated at the request of the IICA. 
 
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  The observer organizations of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(SPS Committee) are invited to submit reports on the activities they have carried out to promote 
the understanding and implementation of the Ag reement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). The IICA would like to present some of the actions and 
activities that it considers relevant to the work of this Committee. 
 1  EFFORTS TO MAKE GREATER USE OF MULTILATERAL AND REGIONAL FORUMS 
1.1  Codex Alimentarius 
1.1.  Programme to develop Codex Alimentarius-related priorities: The IICA is 
implementing this programme in order to create a process with the various Codex actors for identifying priorities that can help countries to focus resources on strategic Codex 
Alimentarius-related issues of major interest to their sectors. The activity took place in Paraguay 
last April, and served as a basis for the development of an annual work plan. 
1.2.  Codex Colloquium Programme:  Codex Colloquiums are events which bring together 
a large number of countries in the Americas for face-to-face discussion of matters on the agenda 
of the Codex Alimentarius Committees. The United  States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 
the IICA organized an interregional colloquium in Atlanta, United States, on 29 and 30 April, with 
the participation of more than 50 representati ves of the Codex Coordinating Committees for 
Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) and Africa (CCAFRICA). The aim of this event was to provide the Latin American, Caribbean and African countries with an opportunity to identify topics of common interest and to agree on common positions prior to the 30
th Session of the Codex 
Committee on General Principles. 
1.3.  Participation Programme:  This programme is a competitive fund to facilitate participation 
by some countries in selected committees. It has recently provided support for the Committees on 
Contaminants in Foods and on General Principles, and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.  
1.4.  Programme to support institutional stre ngthening in Codex Alimentarius in 
Caribbean countries: In July, the Chilean Agency for Food Safety and Quality (ACHIPIA), 
together with the IICA and with financial support from the USDA, organized a series of technical 
missions to launch a programme that will support institutional strengthening in five Caribbean countries: Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. These missions pursued two different objectives, with two different types of activities in each country: (i) raising 
awareness of the Codex Alimentarius among decision-makers; and (ii) institutional capacity 
building with the Codex community at the national level in order to strengthen the Codex National Committee.  G/SPS/GEN/1500 
 
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  1.5.  These activities benefitted from the financial support of the USDA, Canada and the IICA's 
own resources. In addition, they were or will be supported by officials from the Latin American and 
Caribbean countries.  
2  SUPPORT FOR STRENGTHENING THE INSTITUTIONAL, TECHNICAL AND REGULATORY 
FRAMEWORK 
2.1.  During the months of May and June, the IICA launched a pilot project in seven Caribbean 
countries (Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jama ica, Dominican Republic, Suriname, and 
Trinidad and Tobago) to set up antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance programmes. 
 2.2.  The initiatives formed part of the Sanitary  and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures project, which 
receives support from the 10
th European Development Fund, under the programme "Support to 
CARIFORUM States in the Implementation of the Commitments Undertaken under the 
CARIFORUM-European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures", which is implemented by the IICA with support from the 
European Union. 
 2.3.  This initiative was developed on the basis of the specific needs identified by the region, 
in collaboration with the College of Veterinary  Medicine of Ohio State University (OSU). 
 2.4.  Virtual workshops on the Food Sa fety Modernization Act (FSMA): With a view to 
making government officials, the private sector and the IICA technical staff in the Americas aware 
of the final regulations of the FSMA, on 11 and 18 May and 2 June, the IICA and the US FDA held 
three virtual workshops covering the state of im plementation of the FSMA; the Final Rule for 
Produce Safety; the Final Rule for Preventive Controls for Human Foods; the Foreign Supplier 
Verification Program; and the Final Rule on Accredited Third Party Certification. Overall, there were 
more than a thousand connection points for the series of workshops.  
 
2.5.  Workshop on good poultry farming and processing practices: Lessons drawn from 
avian influenza. The event took place from 8 to 10 March in Valencia, Venezuela. Its purpose was 
to update knowledge and establish criteria to gu arantee the quality and safety of poultry foods 
from the beginning to the end of the chain. The wo rkshop promoted the application of good poultry 
practices as a strategy for preventing avian influenza and other diseases in the production units, 
with emphasis on the importance of complying wi th poultry production requirements in order to 
guarantee food safety, animal health and welfare, the security of workers and respect for the 
environment, and also encouraged integratio n between the public and private sectors and 
academic circles. Thirty people participated in the workshop.  
2.6.  Project for the creation of a Virtua l Regional Food Inspectors School: 
More than 400 food inspectors from Central America and the Dominican Republic successfully completed the second instalment of the food inspectors course conducted from 20 October 2015 to 30 April 2016. A face-to-face meeting was held on 23, 24 and 25 of May in order to train 
the representatives of the Academic Council and the public sector from the Ministries 
of Agriculture on food safety auditing with th e support of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 
Approximately 40 professionals were trained in this area. In addition, discussions were held at the 
Central American level on the development of a strategy to make the initiative sustainable once 
the project came to an end on 30 June.  
 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety 
http://www.iica.int  
 
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