G/SPS/GEN/1237  
 
27 March 2013  
(13-1656)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS-RELATED RECENT AND FORTHCOMING ASSISTANCE AND 
OTHER ACTIVITIES FROM THE INTE RNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC) 
(NOVEMBER 2012 – FEBRUARY 2013) 
The following communication, received on 20 March 2013, is being circulated at the request of the 
ITC. 
 
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  1  PROJECTS 
1.1  EIF - Sector Competitiveness and Export  Diversification in The Gambia (2012-2015) 
1.1.  This project addresses technical barriers  hindering market access of Gambian exports of 
groundnuts, cashew nuts, and sesame by implementing activities which will include: 
a. Upgrading laboratory testing (aflatoxin) capacity and recognition at international level; 
b. Assistance to the Gambia Bureau of Standa rds to develop standards according to the 
Code of Good Practice of the TBT Agreement; 
c. Assistance for the setting up of control of prepackages according to OIML 
Recommendations; 
d. Providing training and tools for enhanced quality segregation of groundnuts by quality 
control inspectors; 
e. Enhancing food safety of groundnuts through implementation of HACCP
1 and pre-
requisites such as GAP2 and GMP3; 
f. Developing a Quality Assurance Framework for cashew nuts and sesame; and 
g. Enhancing farmer capacity to grow groundnuts, cashew nuts and sesame of better 
quality and higher productivity throug h the Farmer Field School Approach. 
1.2  The CIS Regional Trade Development pr oject for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia 
1.2.  This is a project where a guide for export of food of non-animal origin (in particular pasta and 
flour) to the European Union has been finali sed based on a study on the quality and SPS 
infrastructures of these countries and the roundtables with stakeholders conducted in October-November 2012. The guide is available in English and Russian from ITC. 
1.3  STDF/PG/172: "Expanding Nigeria's ex port of sesame seeds and sheanut/butter 
through improved SPS capacity buildi ng for private and public sector" 
1.3.  The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is the implementing agency of the STDF 
project 172 with ITC as supervisory agency. An  additional funding request (US$ 40,000) and 
additional six-month extension were granted until September 2013 (decision of the STDF WG in November 2012). Over the last period, the project advanced with the completion of four sites with 
                                               
1 Hazard Analysis and Cr itical Cont rol Points. 
2 Good Agricultural Practice. 
3 Good Manufacturing Practice. G/SPS/GEN/1237 
 
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  installation of equipment. A training on the impl ementation of HACCP is scheduled in April 2013 in 
the first four completed sites. Since the previously  contracted consultant is no longer available, 
another international consultant is under recruitment to supervise the training conducted by the local institutions. 
1.4  STDF/PG/354: "Improving Safety and Quality of Sri Lankan Fruits and Vegetables" 
1.4.  The project has the objective to analyse SPS constraints along the value chains, enhance 
public and private sector stakeholders capacity  to meet international SPS requirements and 
improve public-private cooperation and networking . The project is implemented by ITC is close 
coordination at national level with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The implementation arrangement between ITC and WTO was recently signed on 5 March 2013. The project has a duration of two years (March 2013-March 2015). The kick off workshop is tentatively planned in 
June 2013. 
1.5  Peru - Export Development in Peru's northern corridor
4 
1.5.  The export quality management component of the project has the objective to build the 
capacity of trade related institutions in the Costa area of Peru, to complement their programmes 
aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of small enterprises through compliance with food hygiene and safety requirements in international markets and enhance and increase their exports. 
The food safety component of the project (A pril 2012–March 2013) has reached its end and it 
helped strengthening the capacity of 10 selected Trainers-cum-Counsellors (TcC) to assist ten small and medium-sized enterprises from Chiclayo and Piura to understand and implement food safety systems based on HACCP through the ITC methodology of TcCs and the related training 
pack. 
1.6.  Over the last six months, the project has completed the practical training on implementing 
HACCP of the TcC and enterprises, in particular: 
 Three-day workshop on Internal Verification, 12-14 November 2012, Chiclayo; 
 Conducted mock internal audits in each participating enterprise and follow-up on the 
documentation in November-December 2012; 
 Lead auditor course on ISO 22000 for ten Tr ainers-cum-Counsellors conducted by Quara 
Argentina, 21-25 January 2013 in Piura; 
 Internal audits of selected enterprises, January 2013; 
 Experience sharing workshop on HACCP, 28 February 2013, with more than 
120 participants, where the challenges, results and the lessons learnt of the participating 
enterprises were shared. 
1.7.  PromPeru has expressed interest in hosting the training and advisory programme on HACCP 
and to reach out to additional enterprises to im plement HACCP using some of the trained Trainers-
cum-Counsellors. 
1.6  Fiji "Improving key services to agriculture" 
1.8.  An EU programme, funded from the Mult i-Annual Indicative Programme on Accompanying 
Measures for Sugar (AAP2011), implemented by the ITC and the Secretariat of the Pacific 
Communities (SPC), aims at improvement of key services to non-sugar agriculture in order to 
improve and consolidate farming systems in Fiji with the ultimate goal of income generation 
through alternative livelihoods for poverty alleviation. 
1.9.  The food safety component aims at i) Mappi ng existing food safety/quality infrastructure and 
key stakeholders in the agro-food sector and their relevant needs; ii) Building the capacity of 
enterprises and local Trainers-cum-Counsellors (TcCs) to comply with and advise on food safety 
requirements (Fiji Food Act, HACCP, GAP); iii) Se tting up a system of registration for trainers, 
advisory and training services in the area of f ood safety; iv) Advise to streamline and align to 
international standards institutions dealing with qu ality, food safety and conformity assessment.  
                                               
4 The project is funded by the Economic Cooperat ion and Development Division at the Swiss State 
Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). G/SPS/GEN/1237 
 
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  1.10.  Two ITC missions related to food safety were conducted so far in September 2012 and 
February 2013. 
1.11.  ITC has contributed to establish a food safety task force among various institutions and 
development agencies working in the area of food safety with the aim to coordinate and synergise 
different interventions. 
1.12.  In February 2013, the training and advisory programme in food safety was launched. Eleven 
enterprises and ten TcCs have been selected as be neficiaries. One workshop building awareness on 
Hygiene Practices and Food Safety Systems was conducted for more than 50 participants on 
14 February in Nadi, and a three-day workshop on "Implementing Hygiene Practices and HACCP" 
brought together 22 participants among representa tives of the selected enterprises, TcCs and 
inspectors. Visits to selected enterprises were conducted to initiate the gap analysis in light of 
HACCP. 
1.13.  The selected enterprises and their appoin ted professionals will receive a theoretical and 
hands-on training on food safety and will be guid ed by an ITC International Consultant and TcCs to 
implement food safety systems. The next mi ssion of the ITC is planned for June 2013. 
2  PUBLICATIONS 2.1.  The second edition of the Export Quality Management Guide for Small and Medium Exporters, 
published by ITC jointly with the German Metrolog y Institute (PTB), was published in December in 
French and Spanish. The publication is available from the ITC Website. 
3  OTHER ITC PROJECTS OF INTEREST 3.1  Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) project 
3.1.  This project aims to increase transparency and understanding of NTMs in order to facilitate 
trade in the long-run. It helps countries to understand the non-tariff obstacles to trade faced by their business sector, and assists in defining strategies and solutions that meet their exporters' 
needs to speed up and ease cross-border trade. This project is implemented with the close 
collaboration of ministries, export promotion agencies, research institutes, business associations and local experts in each country. 
3.2.  ITC has launched large-scale company su rveys on NTMs and obstacles to trade in 
23 developing countries worldwide. As of early March 2013, the results of the survey have been thoroughly analysed and discussed in 15 countries in public-private dialogues. These stakeholder 
workshops have validated the survey results an d elaborated technical recommendations, policy 
options and practical solutions for problems repo rted by the private sector. The results of the 
workshop are used to finalize detailed country reports. Such reports are currently available for five countries (Burkina Faso, Malawi, Morocco, Peru and Sri Lanka) and accessible at 
http://www.intracen.org/publicationlist.aspx?taxid=2314 . 
3.3.  For example, the stakeholder workshop  in Mauritius was held on 24 January 2013 and 
brought together more than 60 participants from the Mauritian public and private sector. Survey 
results will serve the Mauritian Government as supporting evidence in on-going regional and 
bilateral negotiations, among others (1) with CO MESA partners, which the survey revealed to be 
disproportionately difficult to access, and (2) the European Commission, in particular with respect to certificates of origin and a number of technical requirements, including labelling, which 
Mauritian exporters have difficulties to meet. The stakeholder meeting also recommended the 
development of a national food control strategy and of a comprehensive food legislation covering 
food safety. ITC was asked to support this by pr oviding technical assistance pertaining to SPS 
issues and other technical requirements. Furthermor e, as result of the meeting, the Customs of 
Mauritius has already cancelled the need for Tea Board clearance of rooibos tea imports, a policy change sought by Mauritian enterprises. 
3.4.  For more information about NTM project, please contact ntm@intracen.org . G/SPS/GEN/1237 
 
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  3.2  Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) project 
3.5.  ITC's Standards Map allows users to compare private standards with regards to, for example, 
social, environmental and economic criteria, geographic and product-related scopes, compliance policies and requirements for implementation. Compliance 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. 
3.6.  As of March 2013, the Standards Map covers over 100 voluntary standards, codes of conduct 
and sustainability frameworks operating in over 200 countries and applicable to over 80 sectors/ 
subsectors. The recently added standards, codes and frameworks include the UN Global Compact, 
the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the USDA National Organic Program, among others. The team is working on 30 additional stan dards systems and certifications that will be 
loaded on the website by the end of 2013, includ ing sustainable tourism standards, aquaculture 
certification schemes, finance and investment codes of conduct. The team also co-published several papers in the past months, among which the Trade and Environment Briefings: 
Sustainability Standards, The World of Organic Agriculture, The Interplay of Public and Private 
Standards. The publications are accessible at: http://www.standardsmap.org . 
3.7.  In collaboration with the Sustainable Ag riculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the Dutch 
Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and IMD's Corporate Sustainability Management Platform (CSM) 
the team is also developing a business guide for sustainable sourcing. This guide will be published in the coming months and lays out the key issues companies need to take into consideration when planning and implementing a sustainable sourcing strategy, with particular focus on developing a 
sustainable supply chain. Illustrating the main ch allenges in developing sustainable supply chains, 
this guide will develop a set of concrete actions and strategic responses to support businesses in dealing with sustainability issues along the supply chain. 
3.8.  We aim to have approximately 130 standards fully loaded on the website by the end of 2013. 
Should you be interested in a live demonstration of the website or in a webinar, please contact Joseph Wozniak, Program Manager ( wozniak@intracen.org ). 
For more information: 
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 
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 
Web address: http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  
E-mail address: quality@intracen.org 
 
 
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