. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/220 
18 March 2008 
 (08-1211) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
PROPOSALS REGARDING THE REVISION OF RECOMMENDED 
PROCEDURES REGARDING TRANSPARENCY 
 
Communication from Argentina
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 14 Marc h 2008, is being distributed at the request 
of the delegation of Argentina . 
 
_______________ 
 
 1. Argentina thanks the Secretariat for prepar ing document G/SPS/W/215/Rev.1, Compilation of 
Proposals Regarding the Revision of the "R ecommended Procedures for Implementing the 
Transparency Obligations of the SPS Agreement (A rticle 7)", on the understanding that it closely 
reflects the views exchanged at the meeting in Oc tober 2007.  We therefore consider that this 
document should serve as a basis for future work  in the Committee aimed at improving the current 
procedures. 
2. Accordingly, Argentina would like to put fo rward the following views and/or suggestions 
regarding document G/SPS/W/215/Rev.1: 
- Paragraph 7
:  We wish to highlight the importan ce of this new clause, the purpose of 
which is to promote monitoring of the use of international standards.  While being 
mindful not to upset the delicate balance of rights and obligations contained in the SPS Agreement, we suggest that the Secret ariat draw up an annual report compiling 
all the notifications received, in wh ich Members communicate the adoption of 
measures that are based on, conform to, or are substantially the same as an 
international standard, guideline or recomme ndation.  We believe that such a report 
will be most useful for analysing devel opments in the international regulatory 
harmonization process. 
- Paragraphs 12 – 34(c) – 37
:  Although Argentina concurs with the idea of not 
applying the 60-day period in the case of no tifications which facilitate trade, we 
believe that application of this provision might give rise to misunderstandings if it is 
not made clear what is meant by a "trade-facilitating" measure.  We therefore suggest specifying the scope of this type of measure. 
- Paragraph 13
:  Along the lines of previous paragraphs, we suggest that the subject of 
paragraph 6(a) of Annex B be clarified. 
- Paragraph 14 :  We suggest adding the following phrase to the end of the paragraph:  
"in accordance with paragraph 6(c) of Annex B ". G/SPS/W/220 
Page 2  
 
  - Paragraph 30(iii)
:  We suggest deleting this subparagraph.  On the one hand, we 
believe that this type of information s hould be made available to the Committee as a 
whole and not only to the Member that commented.  This would, moreover, already be provided for in paragraph 34(b). 
- Paragraph 34(b)
:  We suggest that addenda announcing the adoption, publication or 
entry into force of a sanitary or phytosan itary measure be notified even where the 
dates of adoption, publication or entry into force were duly indicated in the original notification.  This is most useful information for agro-exporting countries, above all 
in cases where considerable time has elapsed since the original notification was made. 
It is also our view that when a Member has made "substantial" modifications to the 
notified proposal, a revision of the proposed text should be submitted as mentioned in 
paragraph 37.  Otherwise, Members will be  deprived of the opportunity to make 
comments on a text which is "substantially" di fferent from the original notification.  
We therefore suggest that the fo llowing sentence be deleted:  " A Member may wish to 
indicate on the addendum if the final regulatio n has been substan tially modified from 
the notified proposal ". 
- Paragraph 34(c)
:  We suggest adding that in such cases, the notifying Member will 
give details about the changes made and the reasons behind them. 
- Paragraph 39 :  We suggest assessing the pertinence of allowing a period for 
comments, in the event of corrections be ing made to the original notification. 
 
__________