. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1067 
2 March 2011 
 (11-1067) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures   
  
 
PROPOSED PROGRAMME FOR A WORK SHOP ON SPS COORDINATION AT 
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. In the Third Review of the Operation and Implementation of the SPS Agreement (G/SPS/53), 
the Committee agreed, inter alia : 
(a) that it should follow-up on the recommendations that resulted from the October 2009 
workshop (G/SPS/R/57) with a view to st rengthening the relationship between the 
Committee and the Codex, IPPC and OIE;  and  
(b) to encourage Members to provide inform ation on their experiences in coordinating 
their involvement in the work of Codex, IPPC and OIE at the national level. 
2. The October 2009 workshop resulted in 11  recommendations which seek to improve 
coordination and collaboration between the SPS Comm ittee, Codex, IPPC and the OIE (G/SPS/R/57): 
(1) Moving the reports on activities of the three Sisters to earlier in the Committee's 
agenda; 
 (2) Increasing the number of joint capacity -building activities which could provide an 
opportunity to discuss current work, for example, draft standards; 
 (3) Joint work by two or all three Sister s on cross-cutting issues such as certification, 
inspection, approval procedur es and/or risk analysis; 
 (4) Coordination meetings among the three Sisters and with the WTO Secretariat;   
 (5) Consideration of how to ensure equi valence among results of standards on related 
products; 
 (6) Soliciting more information at the strategic planning phase of the three Sisters' work;   
 (7) The SPS Committee transmitting informati on relating to trade issues linked to non-
use of standards, absence of standards, or  inappropriate standards to the relevant 
Sister organization; 
 (8) Requesting the three Sisters to analyze th e current specific trade concerns raised in 
the SPS Committee to see which of these could have been addressed by the use of the 
existing international standards; 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. G/SPS/GEN/1067 
Page 2  
 
   (9) Better use by the SPS Committee of the info rmation regarding the use of international 
standards which is available from the SPS notifications; 
 (10) Identifying ways to improve coordination  at a national level of the relevant 
representatives of the three Si sters and SPS representatives ;  and  
 (11) The establishment of a "help desk" to answer enquiries and provide information in 
each of the three Sisters and the WTO Secretariat. 
 3. In its proposal on the work of the Committee ar ising from the Third Review, Japan suggested 
that Members and the WTO Secretariat explore ways  to improve coordinati on at the national level 
(G/SPS/W/251). 
4. The Secretariat will organize a special wo rkshop on SPS Coordination at National and 
Regional Levels, to be held in Geneva, Switzer land.  The workshop will take place on Monday 17 
October 2011.  The SPS informal and regular me etings will be held on 18-20 October 2011. 
5. The objective of the workshop is to bring togeth er officials responsible for participation in 
and implementation of the SPS Agreement, Codex, I PPC and/or OIE for an in depth discussion, at a 
technical level, on best practices in coordi nation at national and regional levels:   
• Delegates to the SPS Committee will have th e opportunity to discuss how to improve 
coordination at the national and regional levels between their involvement in the work of the 
three Sisters, the SPS Committee and WTO more generally; 
• Representatives of the three Sisters will be inv ited to share their experiences on coherence of 
national and regional positions at the sta ndard-setting bodies and the SPS Committee;   
• The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STD F) will present the results of two studies:  
(i) Regional SPS Frameworks and Strategies in Africa
2;  and  (ii)  Scoping Study on National 
SPS Coordination Mechanisms in Africa (ongoing work). 
6. Members are invited to submit any suggestions they might have for the programme of the 
workshop by 27 May 2011 . 
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2 http://www.standardsfacility.org/Files/Publicati ons/STDF_Regional_SPS_Stategies_in_Africa.pdf