WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/692 
19 April 2006 
 (06-1799) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
 
Information for the Workshop on 31 March 2006  
 
Communication from Paraguay  
   The following communication, received on 11 April 2006, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Paraguay. 
 
1. In preparation for the Workshop on the Impl ementation of the SPS Agreement, participants 
were invited to provide repli es to the following questions. 
1. How regularly do representatives of your country participate in meetings of the 
SPS Committee?  Who usually participates from yo ur country (capital-based experts?  Geneva-
based trade representatives?)?  What informat ion do you receive regarding meetings of the 
SPS Committee, and how do you receive this information? 
2. In the past, participation in SPS Committee mee tings has for the most part involved officials 
from our Permanent Mission in Geneva, with little or no direct participation by the bodies responsible 
for the Agreement. 
3. Since 2000, under IICA sponsorship a number of  meetings (informal in nature, initially), 
involving experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and other relevant bodies 
have been held prior to the meetings of the WTO SPS Committee, for the purpose of exchanging 
information on commitments under the decisions and recommendations made during SPS meetings. 
4. Since June 2002, MAG experts in animal health  and plant health have regularly participated 
in WTO SPS meetings, thanks to the SPS Initiative for the Countries of the Americas (USDA/IICA), 
the aim of which is to encourage the developm ent of countries capacity to implement the WTO 
SPS Agreement more effectively. 
5. It should be noted that, with the participa tion in SPS Committee meetings of the experts from 
MAG together with the representatives of the Perman ent Mission in Geneva, there is now an excellent 
and fluid exchange of information on SPS decisions and commitments.  This information is received 
from the Permanent Mission in Geneva, through the Mi nistry of External Relations of Paraguay and 
the WTO web site. 
5. Does your country have an SPS national committee?  How do your exporters find out 
about your trading partners new SPS requirements?   What national mechanisms can be created 
to ensure that stakeholders in your country are informed in a timely manner of new 
SPS requirements, so that the SPS requirements of  trading partners can be evaluated and so 
that the views of relevant stakeholders can be  taken into account when responding to 
SPS notifications?  In establishing such mech anisms, how can Members identify the relevant G/SPS/GEN/692 
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  domestic stakeholders and promote effective inte raction among those stakeholders that can be 
sustained over time?  How can information abou t SPS requirements be transmitted to groups 
outside of capital?   
6. The IICA office in Paraguay has  supported and coordinated me etings for information and 
dialogue purposes between national de legates who have participated in the WTO SPS meetings, to 
allow an exchange of views on matters addressed in  this forum and to cont ribute to strengthening 
Paraguay's presence at future events.  Thanks to these meetings, an informal SPS working group has 
been set up to provide support to nati onal delegates prior to WTO meetings. 
 
7. The members of the informal SPS working group recommended that the Government of 
Paraguay form a National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  as a matter of 
priority.  This Committee comprises representatives of the MAG;  Ministry of External Relations 
(MRE);  the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIC);  the Ministry of Public H ealth and Social Welfare 
(MSP and BS);  the National Institute of Technol ogy and Standardization (INTN);  the National 
Animal Health Service (SENACSA);  the Nationa l Plant and Seed Health Service (SENAVE) and 
representatives of the private agriculture sector, a ll bodies involved in the various aspects of sanitary 
and phytosanitary measures. 
8. The IICA actively participated in the prepar ation and follow-up of the different mechanisms 
involved in this process, which culminated in the enactment of Decree No. 6626/05 establishing the 
National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary  Measures.  The Committee started up on 
12 January 2006 and is in the process of preparing its rules of procedure. 
 9. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock,  supported by the IICA, which acts as technical 
secretariat, is responsible for the coordination of the Committee.  
10. Exporters and/or importers currently receive  information through the bodies responsible for 
sanitary certification, both for agriculture and for livestock.  11. The creation of the National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  on 
which public and private sector institutions are re presented, will allow wider dissemination of the 
plant and animal health requirements governing inte rnational trade.  Moreover, the WTO-Sponsored 
Standards Trade and Development Facility (STDF) has a project – STDF 19 – involving plans to 
establish a National Agri-Food Safety Portal, which will give all stakeholde rs updated and direct 
access to SPS topics.  This project is well under way.  Furthermore, there are plans to hold workshops 
in the sectors concerned, both public and privat e, to spread awareness and increase understanding of 
SPS issues, with the participation of national and international experts. 
12. Information may be  transmitted through: 
 • The offices of the sanitary and phytosanitary and certification services across the 
country; 
 • information meetings with the sectors concerned;  • access to the Agri-Food Safety Portal;  • specific consultation with the stakeholders.  G/SPS/GEN/692 
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  3. Has there been any national planning on  how to implement the SPS Agreement in your 
country? If so, was this planning developed using a particular methodology ? 
 13. The institutions responsible for animal and plan t health are in charge at national level of the 
sanitary standards governing agricultural trade, and of  application of international standards, whether 
regional (MERCOSUR) or global (SPS/WTO). 
 
4. How does your country identify its technica l assistance needs?  What has been your 
country's experience in both the request and th e supply of SPS-related technical assistance?  
How can technical assistance supply and demand be  most effectively matched, priority areas 
identified and duplication of donor efforts avoided? 
14. Greater direct participation in meetings of the WTO SPS Committee by the national experts 
involved in sanitary, phytosanitary and certification issues has led to the need for technical assistance 
to improve the capacity of the bodies concerned to fulfil the commitments and obligations contained 
in the SPS Agreement. 
15. Participation in meetings of the SPS Co mmittee, as well as in the WTO workshops and 
training courses (both regional and multilateral) on the SPS Agreement has been very valuable from 
the point of view of training experts in this process of "continuous improvement" and updating. 
16. As recipient countries become aware, through participation and appropria te dissemination, of 
the assistance on offer, and with the establishment of the National SPS Committee, the country will be 
able better to exploit opportuniti es and identify more precisely the ar eas where technical assistance is 
required, as well as avoiding duplication of activities. 
 
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