WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/52 
11 November 2009 
 (09-5623) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
 
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRAD E IN GOODS ON THE TRANSITIONAL 
REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF ACCESSION  
OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
 
 
 The present report is submitted under the responsib ility of the Chairperson, as agreed by the 
Committee at its meeting of 28-29 October 2009.  
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 1. The Committee held its eighth Annual Tran sitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the 
Protocol of the Accession of the People's Republic of China at the regular meeting commencing on 28 October 2009. 
2. Prior to the meeting, the United States and th e European Communities submitted questions to 
China in writing, which can be found in documents G/SPS/GEN/963 and G/SPS/GEN/968, 
respectively. 
3. Statements made at the Committee meeting in the context of this transitional review by China, 
the United States and the European Communities w ill be reflected in the summary report of the 
meeting, to be circulated as G/SPS/R/56 and are attached. 
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  EXCERPT FROM G/SPS/R/56 
XII. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF 
 ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
1. The Chairperson recalled that in accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession 
of the People's Republic of China, the SPS Committ ee was to undertake an annual review for eight 
years of the implementation by China of the SPS Agreement.  The United States and the European 
Communities had submitted documents on this  subject, G/SPS/GEN/963 and G/SPS/GEN/968, 
respectively. 
2. The representative of the United States observe d that the Transitional Review Mechanism 
allowed Members to assess and understand the progr ess that China had made in implementing and 
complying with the WTO agreements.  She raised se veral issues relating to restrictions on agricultural 
trade, noting that in most cases th e details of the US concerns had been raised under previous agenda 
items at this meeting.  The concerns were:  (1) restrictions on pork imposed due to H1N1 outbreak 
among humans in the United States, and whether Ch ina had any scientific evidence to justify these 
restrictions;  (2) BSE-related restrictions on imports  of beef and beef products, with a request that 
China provide additional information on the risk assessment that supported the measures applied to 
US-origin beef and beef products;  (3) BSE-related im port restrictions on protein-free tallow;  and (4) 
restrictions related to avian influe nza, in particular bans affecting the states of Virginia, Kentucky, 
Idaho and Arkansas.  The representative recalled that several of these issues had already been raised 
during the 2008 transitional review, however Chin a had provided only limited responses to date. 
3. The representative of the United States furthe r requested information on the status of 
revisions to China's sampling plans and microbiological criteria for food-born pathogens, as well as 
the procedures it used to revise national standards.   Moreover, the United States was also concerned 
that China had banned ractopamine without co nducting an appropriate risk assessment. 
4. The representative of the European Communities sh ared the concerns of the United States on 
a number of issues, including:  (1) H1N1 related trade requirements on pigs and pig products from 
several EC members States;  and (2) BSE-related trade restrictions, reiterating that OIE standards 
should be respected .  The European Communities also had specific concerns regarding the plant 
health standards implemented by China.  In ad dition, the European Comm unities expressed concern 
for the lack of a notification before the applica tion of the new Chinese food safety legislation and its 
implementing regulation, and provided comments on a number of chapters of the new legislation.  
Finally the representative of the European Comm unities expressed concern on the slow progress of 
bilateral negotiations of SPS protoc ols and inspections that limited market access of EC products to 
China, especially for meat, fruits and vegetables. 
5. The representative of China offered some clarif ications and responses to the questions and 
comments raised by the United States and the Europ ean Communities.  However, China had received 
the EC questions only on 24 October and had not had time to prepare the corresponding answers.  
Nonetheless these issues were being discussed under the bilateral cooperation mechanism and China 
would continue to work with the European Comm unities to resolve the issues in an appropriate 
manner. 
6. Regarding United States concerns on BSE-related issues on beef, the representative stated that 
China had conducted many bilateral talks with the United States between senior level politicians as 
well as technical experts.  Based on a risk assessme nt, China had agreed to import US de-boned beef 
from animals aged under 30 months.  China was w illing to address the US beef import concerns 
through a step-by-step approach.  China's beef i ndustry had visited the United States at the invitation 
of the US beef industry, to purchase eligible beef products.  However, the USDA had refused to issue  G/SPS/52 
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  sanitary certificates for those beef products and ha d thus stopped the purchase.  China had made 
efforts to address the US demands, and the issue could not be furthered without US cooperation. 
7. With regard to the BSE-related issues on othe r products, the representative of China reported 
that in March 2008, the quarantine and inspection au thorities of China and the United States held a 
bilateral technical meeting on animal quarantine an d inspection.  During the meeting, the two sides 
had in-depth discussions and reached an agreemen t on the working procedures to move the tallow 
issue forward.  In order to further clarify the de finition of protein-free tallow by the OIE, in March 
2008 the United States proposed to the OIE that the de finition of protein-free tallow be modified;  the 
proposal was approved in August of this year.  Chinese experts were now carrying out a risk 
assessment according to the newly revised OIE standa rds and they would try to resolve the issue soon. 
8. Regarding restrictions related to H1N1, the re presentative of China, for the sake of time, 
advised Members to refer to th e statement that had been made by the Chinese delegation under the 
agenda item on specific trade concerns, regarding th e reasons for China's adoption of the  relevant 
measure and the work plan for the next stage.  China welcomed any input from its trading partners 
with regards to scientific research that would he lp it finalize the risk assessment.  Based on the 
conclusions of the risk assessment, China woul d consider adjusting the temporary measure 
accordingly. 
9. On avian influenza, the representative of China not ed that according to OIE rules, all cases of 
H5 and H7 avian influenza should be communicated to the OIE.  This was an indication of the special 
status of these two types of low pathogenic sub-type av ian influenza.  Due to this situation, China had 
applied the principle of regionalization, and had su spended the import of poultry and poultry products 
from certain states of the United States that ha d relevant outbreaks.  The Chinese policy had taken 
into consideration both risks and the need for trad e;  and China believed the measures were rational 
and science-based. 
10. The representative of China indicated that documen ts on the lifting of the ban with respect to 
avian influenza in the states of Idaho and Kentuc ky had been submitted to the Chinese expert panel 
and a risk analysis on the lifting of the ban was now underway.  After the conclusion of the 
assessment, China would communicate the relevant in formation to the United States in a timely 
manner.  Regarding the lifting of the ban with resp ect to avian influenza in Virginia, China requested 
the United States to provide virus strains as soon as  possible, so that China could make accurate 
analysis on the pathological causes of avian influen za in Virginia and the impact of lifting the ban on 
China.  The representative stated that according to the SPS Agreement, an exporting Member has the 
obligation to provide to the importing Member the ev idence needed to complete the risk assessment.  
The representative expressed hope that the United St ates could cooperate with China in providing the 
virus strains as soon as possible.  Regarding the lifti ng of the ban with respect to avian influenza in 
Arkansas, the representative reported that Chin a and the United States had held two rounds of 
technical document exchanges.  The Chinese Mi nistry of Agriculture had now received the 
supplementary documents provided by the United Stat es and a risk assessment was in process.  China 
would communicate the result to the United States once it was available. 
11. With respect to pathogens in poultry products , the representative of China reported that in 
2008 the Chinese Ministry of Health had organized, fo rmulated and published, in connection with the 
Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China, relevant standards on the 
inspection of microorganisms in foods, such as the Inspection of Salmonella, and Microbiological 
Inspection in Food Hygiene .  The Ministry of Health undertook the formulation and promulgation of 
food safety standards as from 1 June  2009, in accordance with the new Food Safety Law of the 
People's Republic of China.   This law required integrating the curr ent standards in the areas of edible 
agricultural products, food hygiene and food quality, with the mandatory food standards in the current sectorial standards, and promulgating them as a un ified national food safety standard.  This task G/SPS/52 
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  involves many standards and a huge amount of work, therefore, the Ministry of Health would 
undertake the work with good planning and organizati on.  At present, the Chinese Ministry of Health 
was working on a safety standard for dairy products in connection with relevant authorities.  The 
revision of the standards on microbiological criteri a in food, including fresh and frozen poultry, would 
be incorporated into the work plan for the next st age.  Additionally, China pointed out that a seminar 
had been organized with the United States on best practices for controlling sal monella in poultry and 
poultry products.  Experts from China and the United States would enhance communication and 
dialogue in the area of food safety assessment and relevant standards. 
12. On the issue of residue standards for ractopamine , the representative of China stated that in 
October 2007 the Ministry of Agriculture had set up an expert group to conduct a risk assessment on 
ractopamine.  During 2009, the expert group had carried out research work on residue elimination in 
various varieties and various modes of feeding.  The results showed that with the recommended dose 
of usage, relatively high residue levels remained in  edible tissues, especially in the viscera, therefore 
resulting in higher potential risks for Chinese consumers.   The Ministry of Agriculture would continue 
to work on the risk assessment;  however, due to the complexity of the task, no specific time line 
could be established.  On the issue of when China could submit further data on risk assessment to the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the representative recalled that the 32
nd session of the CAC 
did not adopt the maximum residue level on ractopamine in July 2009, but had decided to return the matter to JECFA for further assessment.  China had al most finished analyzing the test data on residue 
elimination of ractopamine and the testing report would be submitted to JECFA soon.  
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