G/SPS/GEN/2207  
 
13 March 2024 
(24-2266) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  
ACTIONS AIMED AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO AGREEMENT  
ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY THE INTER -AMERICAN INSTITUTE  
FOR COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURE (IICA)  
The following communication, received on 12 March 2024, is being circulated at the request of  IICA. 
 
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The observer organizations of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(SPS Committee) are invited to submit reports on t he activities they have carried out to promote 
the understanding and implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). IICA would like to present some of the actions and 
activities that it considers relevant to the work of this Committee.  
1  SUPPORT FOR MULTILATERAL FORA ASSOCIATED WITH SANITARY AND 
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES  
1.1  Codex Alimentarius Colloquia  
1.1.  IICA, in collaboration with the United States Codex Office, the FAO/WHO Coordinating 
Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) and the African Union 's Interafrican Bureau 
for Animal Resources (AU -IBAR), continues to support its member countries in their active 
participation in the Codex Alimentarius, through the implementation of an annual program  of 
colloquiums aimed at the CCLAC and the CCAFRICA countries and the United States. In these 
colloquiums, both regions (43% of the Codex membership) discuss and exchange opinions on the 
various agenda items of each of the official Codex Alimentarius meeti ngs. These meetings motivate 
and support developing countries to enhance their active participation both individually and 
regionally. The most recent colloquiums were:  
− January 2024 - preparation for the 7th Session of the Codex Committee on Spices and 
Culinary Herbs (CCSCH7);  
− February 2024 - preparation for the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on 
Fats and Oils (CCFO28);  
− February 2024 - preparation for the 54th Session of the Codex Alimentariu s Committee on 
Food Hygiene (CCFH54);  
− March 2024 - preparation for the 17th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on 
Contaminants in Foods (CCCF17).  
1.2.  These events provided an opportunity for delegates from these two regions and the 
United  States to analyze issues of common interest and develop regional participation strategies 
prior to those Codex Committee meetings.  
1.2  Regional Coordination Session on WTO SPS Matters  
1.3.  Adding to the regional efforts to strengthen capacities in the hemisphere for the applic ation of 
sanitary and phytosanitary measures and working in collaboration with several of its members , 
IICA will conduct in March 2024 its Ninth  Coordination Session on WTO  SPS Committee Matters. 
The meeting w ill be h osted virtually with simultaneous interpretation for English, French  and G/SPS/GEN/2207  
 
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  Spanish . Considering the current prominent subjects under discussion in the WTO SPS Committee, 
the coordination session s will address matters related to the Sixth R eview of the Operation and 
Application o f the WTO SPS Agreement.  
1.3  Inter -American Coordinating Group in Plant Health (GICSV) recent activities  
1.4.  Since the constitution of the GICSV, IICA has exercised the technical secretariat on a 
permanent basis and currently hosts its website . In recent years it has maintained an intense agenda 
and a work plan focused on institutional strengthening, coordination of activities and attention to 
the main emerging phytosanitary i ssues. The most relevant events and activities conducted during 
the period covered by this report were:  
− Fruit Fly Working Group Meeting ; 
− Working Group on Phytosanitary Emergencies Responses ; 
− Locust Workshop ; 
− Electronic Certification Meeting (ePhyto) Workin g Group . 
2  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
2.1  2nd Cooperative Agreement IICA -FDA: Activities between December 2023 and 
March  2024  
2.1.  The Cooperative Agreement is currently on its last fiscal year, and the main focus of the efforts 
is on disseminating the "Growing Safe Produce " Program me, which is one of the most important 
products of this Agreement. The Program me can be found on its webpage ( https://pci.iica.int/ ) and 
is currently available in Spanish and Eng lish. 
2.2.  In-person dissemination activities of the "Growing Safe Produce " Program me: 
− IICA will participate in several in -person activities disseminating the "Growing Safe Produce " 
Program me, as a training tool to improve the understanding of the regulatory requirements 
of FSMA 's Produce Safety Rule (PSR). Two of those activities will be Produce Safety Summits, 
organized by FDA 's Division of Produce Safety (DPS). One will take place in Chihuahua, 
Mexico, in February 2024, and the second will be in Antigua, Guatemala, in March 2024. 
There are also Summits being planned in Peru in March 2024, and Baja California, Mexico, 
in April 2024, where IICA will also have a participation. These Summits will have the 
participation of government authorities, priva te organizations, as well as producers. 
During  these events, IICA delegates will present the Program me, its contents and will invite 
the participants to register for free on its web platform and use it. The delegates will also 
answer the participants ' questions and provide some printed samples of the resources 
available.  
2.3.  Virtual dissemination activities of the "Growing Safe Produce " Program me: 
− IICA has organized, in collaboration with PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers, virtual meeting 
with producers to dissemi nate the "Growing Safe Produce " Program me. These virtual events 
have already happened in Peru (November 2023, 80 participants), Argentina (December 
2023, 60 participants) and the Dominican Republic (January 2024, 95 participants). 
Upcoming events will be c onducted for Panama (February 2024), Chile and Peru (March 
2024) and Costa Rica (April 2024). During these events, IICA technical specialists and 
PSA Trainers and Lead Trainers will present the Program me, the web platform and some of 
the materials availabl e, and will help the participants register in the platform and provide 
some examples of the training materials and how to access and download printable 
materials. All of these events take place via Zoom and have a duration of approximately two 
hours. All  dissemination activities (virtual and in -person) are planned in partnership with 
FDA's Latin America Office.  
2.4.  Webinar series 2024:  
− An important part of the Cooperative Agreements between IICA and FDA has been the 
development of several webinar series address ing different food -safety -related regulations G/SPS/GEN/2207  
 
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  from the regulator 's as well as the industry 's point of view. All the webinars are coordinated 
jointly by IICA and FDA 's Latin America and the Caribbean Office (LAO) and have the support 
of subject matter exper ts. From this agreement, ten webinars will take place In 2024, with 
the first two programmed for March. Each webinar is expected to have more than 
200 participants from all of the Americas, with the events having simultaneous interpretation 
Spanish -English . 
2.2  Food Inspection Initiatives in Central America and the Caribbean  
2.5.  The IICA , in collaboration with USDA/FAS and the University of Minnesota (UMN), provided 
technical assistance to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in developing a pilot model of 
risk-based food safety inspection. Incorporating a risk classification model into the food safety 
monitoring system will enable regulators to determine the frequency of inspections that achieve the 
greatest relative risk reduction and optimize resources. I n the period from December 2023 to 
March  2024, more than ten virtual sessions were held with government entities in the 
Dominican  Republic, Ecuador , Guatemala and  Peru, and more virtual sessions and face -to-face visits 
to the countries are planned to socia lize the model with the industry.  
2.3  Capacity building activities under the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)  
2.6.  IICA, in collaboration with USDA/FAS and the Texas Tech University (TTU), conducted a series 
of training courses for Produce Safety Alliance growers on regulations, requirements and GAP, and 
delivered official Preventive Controls for Qualified Individuals (PCQI) workshops. The workshops 
provided free FDA -certified training materials on FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and 
the Preventive Controls for Human Food final rule, preparing participants to lead and support the 
creation, development and imp lementation of a Food Safety Plan in processors. Some of the 
countries that participated in the last three months were: Barbados, Guatemala  and Honduras. 
There  are plans to carry out this type of activities in El Salvador in the next few months.  
2.4  Voluntary Third Party Assurance with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)  
2.7.  In collaboration with CFIA Canada, IICA facilitated two virtual workshops on voluntary third 
party assurance (vTPA). The first workshop, conducted for BAHA Belize, focused on integrating  vTPA 
Information into the CFIA's Risk -Based Inspection and Auditing Approach (ERAs), CFIA's ERAs for 
Import, and the Development of ERA/Import Risk Assessment (IRA) Models. The second workshop, 
organized for SENASA Honduras, covered various topics includi ng the inclusion of vTPAs in risk 
profiling model, differences in risk models with different vTPAs, development and demonstration of 
risk model, recognition and selection of vTPAs by CFIA, availability of public database, data exchange 
mechanisms, and impact of vTPAs on inspection frequency.  
2.8.  In March, our focus will be on developing policy paper proposals and outlining a roadmap aimed 
at institutionalizing risk -based inspection models that incorporate vTPA risk frameworks in both 
Honduras  and Belize. This initiative highlights our commitment to enhancing food safety measures 
and regulatory practices in collaboration with stakeholders from both countries. Through these 
efforts, we strive to foster a more robust regulatory environment that e ffectively addresses emerging 
challenges and ensures the integrity of food supply chains.  
2.5  Workshop on African Swine Fever Prevention and Control in the Americas  
2.9.  Hosted in a physical format in March 2024 in Costa Rica, this event is the result of an agreeme nt 
between IICA and Agriculture and Agri -food Canada (AAFC), which was also joined by the Canadian 
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in the design and organization of the Workshop.  
2.10.  A group of 12 countries, considered as priority for Canadian technical cooperat ion (Bahamas, 
Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama , Peru, 
Dominican  Republic  and Trinidad and Tobago), was invited for a discussion covering the different 
topics related to the prevention of ASF, including epidemiolog ical and laboratory diagnosis of the 
disease. An extensive list of existing gaps and opportunities for international technical cooperation 
among Canada and the participants was identified to strengthen prevention against ASF in our 
hemisphere . G/SPS/GEN/2207  
 
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  For further information, please contact José H. Urdaz ( jose.urdaz@iica.int ). 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)  
Agricultural Health and Food Safety  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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