WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/740 
3 November 2006 
 (06-5301) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC) 
AT THE MEETING OF THE SPS CO MMITTEE ON 11-12 OCTOBER 2006 
  
 The following communication, dated 1 November 2006, is being circulated at the request of 
the ITC. 
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1. Improving Indonesia's fishery inspection capabilities – ITC Project implementation 
1. The European Commission and the ITC, under the Asia Trust Fund, are sponsoring a one-
year project to help strengthen the inspection and au diting services in Indonesia for fishery exports, to 
improve the quality and safety of the fish pro cessing facilities listed as approved establishments for 
export to the European Communities.  This will enable the Indonesian Competent Authority to 
conduct a fast review of the approved list of vessels and establishments.  The project will contribute to 
addressing the urgent deficiencies highlighted by the European Commission FVO mission regarding 
fish exports to the European Communities.  The pr oject was launched in July during the first mission 
of the international project team leader.  The curre nt system of inspection at central and provincial 
levels in Indonesia was reviewed.  The review an alyzed the training needs required to upgrade the 
skills of the inspectors in using this system to approve  fishery facilities to export to the EC market.  It 
also provided a framework for a training programme to  be designed and delivered by the project team 
during project implementation. 
2. Helping Malaysia meet EC fishery requirements – ITC Project implementation 
2. The European Commission and the ITC, under the Asia Trust Fund, are sponsoring a one-
year project with the objective to improve the effectiveness of inspection and auditing services in 
Malaysia for fishery exports and the quality and safet y of fish supplies to m eet the requirements of 
import markets.  The project will contribute to addressing the urgent deficiencies highlighted by the 
European Commission FVO mission regarding fish e xports to the European Communities.  An ITC 
mission is planned in late November to launch th e project.  The mission will assess the training needs 
of the Malaysian Competent Authorities and industry  personnel with regard to trade-related policies 
and requirements for the export of fish and fishery products to the European Communities.  Visits to 
the Competent Authorities' offices and several fish -related facilities will be conducted.  The project 
training programme will be designed based on the outcome of this first mission. 
3. Technical Support for Improving the Standardiz ation, Quality Assura nce, Accreditation 
and Metrology (SQAM) infrastructure in  Malawi - ITC Project implementation 
3. ITC in collaboration with the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) is implementing a 
Technical Support Project for improving the Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation & 
Metrology (SQAM) infrastructure in Malawi.  The two-year project is funded under the Integrated 
Framework.  The overall and long-term objective of the project is to build national capacity in the 
field of SQAM both at the enterprise level, thr ough the enhancement of the awareness of Malawi 
enterprises on the importance of standardization issues, and at the institutional level. G/SPS/GEN/740 
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  4. One of the components of the project is to  provide support to the local enterprises for 
establishing and implementing Food  Safety Management Systems (HACCP) in accordance with the 
Codex Standard.  MBS selected 12 enterprises in Malawi for training and consultancy support for 
implementing HACCP based food safety management systems.  
4. Joint ITC/ ISO tool:  ISO 22000 - Are you ready? 
5. There are more than 20 different schemes worldwide for auditing suppliers in the food sector; 
this plethora of schemes poses a challenge to developing countries, especially least developed 
countries, since agriculture plays a prominent ro le in their economy and exports.  The recently 
published international standard  ISO 22000:2005,  Food safety management systems - Requirements 
for any organization in the food chain, provides one solution as it harmonizes the requirements for 
food safety management systems.  It is beco ming more accepted internationally, with over 
35 countries having adopted it as a national standard  following its publication in September 2005.  All 
types of organization within the food supply chai n, including feed producers - primary producers, 
food manufacturers, transport and storage operators a nd food service outlets - can use it to ensure that 
there is no weak link in the food supply chain. 
6. ISO 22000 incorporates the requirements of th e HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical 
Control Point) system developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.  HACCP has increasingly 
become a mandatory requirement in the markets of various countries since the 1990s, most notably 
for non-farm food businesses in the European Communities since January 2006.  As ISO 22000 is an 
auditable standard, certified companies can demonstr ate their compliance to HACCP.  Certification to 
ISO 22000 could facilitate acceptance by global food re tailers, as it also covers the requirements of 
key standards developed by various global food retailer systems. 
7. ITC and ISO have been collaborating to deve lop a software-based checklist on ISO 22000, 
that will help, inter alia, small businesses, esp ecially in developing countries and transition 
economies, operating in the food chain to understa nd the regulatory requirements for food safety and 
their readiness for a food safety management system.  It  will be of benefit to enterprises in their effort 
to improve their market share of food and agricu ltural products in the global market.  This tool 
consists of questions c overing various aspects of the setting-up,  implementation and certification of a 
food safety management system according to ISO 22000:2005, Food safety management systems - Requirements for any organization in the food chain. 
8. The tool will be available on CD-ROM as well as in hard copy later this month. 
5. Follow-up of the Workshop on "Influencing  and Meeting International Standards: 
Challenges for developing countries" 
9. An interactive workshop on "Influencing and M eeting International Standards:  Challenges 
for developing countries", was organized by ITC jo intly with the Commonwealth Secretariat, in 
June 2005 in Geneva.  The publication with the same  name was used as background material for the 
workshop.  The workshop reviewed the recommenda tions for technical assistance contained in the 
joint ComSec/ITC publication (especially that on "Mentoring and Twinning Arrangement").  The 
final report of the workshop is available with ITC and has been distributed to the workshop's 
participants.  ITC is now developing proposals fo r providing assistance to developing countries to 
influence as well as meet SPS measure s, including those imposed by the private sector, taking into 
account assistance being provided in this area to avoid duplication and the deliberations and 
recommendations of the workshop. 
 
  G/SPS/GEN/740 
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  6. Review of national SPS infrastructures and workshops on the SPS Agreement 
10. A review was carried out of the national SPS in frastructures in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 
July 2006 under projects, financed by the Govern ment of Switzerland, for trade promotion in these 
countries and road maps are being prepared fo r their improvement.  Workshops on "The WTO 
SPS Agreement:  A Business Perspective" will be  conducted in these countries in November 2006. 
11. A review of the national SPS infrastructure was conducted in September 2006 in Bangladesh 
under the project on "Bangladesh Quality Support Programme" financed by the European Communities.  A road map is being prepared for its improvement. 
 
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