WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/THA/142/Rev.1 
27 June 2008  
 (08-3099) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES  
 
Revision
 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   THAILAND  
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:   Department of Fisheries (DOF) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Live koi fish (color carp or fancy carp) and common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Notification of the 
Department of Fisheries entitled "A review of the requirements for importation of live 
carps, Cyprinus carpio , into Thailand for culture purpose dated  21 March 2008" (available 
in Thai, 2 pages and in English, 1 page) 
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2008/sps/THA/08_1879_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  Thailand SPS notification # G/SPS/N/THA/142 entitled 
"Certificate of origin and health requirements for importation of live carps, Cyprinus 
carpio , and their gametes into Thailand for culture  purpose" shall be repealed and replaced 
by this emergency notification: 
According to the current Office Internationa l des Epizooties (OIE) Aquatic Manual for koi 
herpes virus (KHV) diagnosis, Department of Fi sheries (DOF) has re-accessed the risk of 
importation and import requirement for impor tation of live koi carp or common carp, 
Cyprinus carpio , into the Kingdom of Thailand.  The control regulation for trans-boundary 
movement of aquatic animal diseases using qua rantine measures on imports of koi carp or 
common carp is as follows: 
-  Pre-importation:  facilities of Thai aquatic an imal farms or companies have to achieve the 
quarantine standard of the DOF before receiving an import permit. 
-  Arrival of aquatic animals at the port:  the imported animals must be accompanied with 
Certificate of Origin and Health.  The fish will be subjected to quarantine at the certified 
quarantine areas of the importing farms or companies. 
-  Post-importation:  aquatic animals will be quarantined for at least 21 days.  Fish health 
inspectors will examine the animals for diseas es listed in the OIE, KHV and Spring 
viraemia of carp virus (SVCV) and other contagious pathogens. G/SPS/N/THA/142/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
   Certificate of Origin and Health shall certify as follows: 
 A health certificate must be presented at the port of entry together with the aquatic 
animal shipment.  The health certificate must be issued by competent authority, signed by 
veterinarian or authorised officer and contained information as follows: 
• Name and address of exporter 
• Name and address of destination/importer 
• Name (scientific and common name), size and number of imported common carp 
or koi carp 
• Origin of the common carp or koi carp to be exported 
• The common carp or koi carp must come from a country, a zone or a farm 
establishment where they are submitted to a health supervision set up to operate 
according to the procedures described in the Diagnostic Manual for Aquatic 
Animal Diseases  from OIE and that this country, zone, or farm establishment is 
recognized officially unaffected by the KHV and SVCV or OIE listed diseases. 
• The exported animals must not come from the sources that had an unusual 
mortality, which the causation could not  be explained, during the previous 
3 months. 
• Before exportation, the common carp and koi carp must be quarantined for 7-
10 days and treated with chemicals to remove all external parasites. 
• The model Health Certificate for live fish  suggested by the OIE that covered the 
KHV and SVCV certification shall be used.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [ X ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ]  protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  As the OIE has released 
the KHV diagnostic manual in 2007, Thailand requirements for testing KHV of imported 
kois are re-accessed.  The Health Certificate of kois from the exporting countries shall base on the current OIE standard.  The imported kois w ill subject to officially quarantine.  This 
quarantine measure is intended to protect th e local aquatic animal industry from harm 
caused by highly contagious diseases.  The SVCV and KHV have been included in the 
disease monitoring program in ornamental fi sh production farms and exporting farms.  
There is still no report of SVCV in Thaila nd while the KHV first occurred in 2005 in 
Thailand.  The DOF has actively implemented the surveillance, monitoring and control programmes for KHVD that based on OIE guidelines. 
9. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  Surveillance, testing and certification shall 
base on the current OIE Aquatic Code and Manua l.  A model of an international health 
certificate for live fish is available in the OI E Aquatic Code.  The Health Certificate shall 
also include KHV and SVCV.  G/SPS/N/THA/142/Rev.1 
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  10. Relevant documents and language(s ) in which these are available:   A review version of 
the requirements for importation of live carps, Cyprinus carpio , into Thailand for culture 
purpose, (available in Thai, 2 pages and in English, 1 page) 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  30 June 2008 
12. Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [ X ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS)  
Division of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards Policy 50 Phaholyothin Road, Ladyao Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Thailand Tel:  +(662) 561 4190 
Fax:  +(662) 561 4034 
Website:  www.acfs.go.th
 
E-mail:  sps@acfs.go.th, anut@acfs.go.th 
13. Texts available from: [ X ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
National Bureau of Agricultural Co mmodity and Food Standards (ACFS) 
Division of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards Policy 
50 Phaholyothin Road, Ladyao Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Thailand Tel:  +(662) 561 4190 
Fax:  +(662) 561 4034 
Website:  www.acfs.go.th
 
E-mail:  sps@acfs.go. th, anut@acfs.go.th