WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/644 
22 March 2006 
 
 (06-1286) 
Committee on Sanitary and  
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   French 
 
  
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
 
Contributions and Suggestions by the Central African Republic
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 20 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of the Central African Republic.  
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1. The Central African Republic, a land-locked  country, is currently experiencing some 
difficulties in implementing the SPS Agreement, partic ularly in the areas of transparency, resource 
allocation and technical assistance.  There are, as yet, no experts specializing in these areas. 
 
2. Since the Central African Republic's accession to the WTO, no country representatives have 
been present at meetings of the Committee on San itary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Committee).  
The country has no representatives in Geneva.  
3. The Central African Republic receives in formation relating to SPS Committee meetings 
through the WTO Reference Centre, based within the Ministry of Trade, and through official 
documents faxed by the WTO.  4. The Central African Republic does not have  a national SPS Committee comparable to the 
Technical Group on Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which was 
established within the framework of the Economic  Partnership Agreement between the European 
Union, the Central African Economic and Mone tary Community (CAEMC) and Sao Tomé and 
Principe.  Groups such as this are made up of of ficials from Ministries of Trade, Rural Affairs 
(Agriculture, Livestock) and Public Health, a nd Chamber of Commerce representatives who export 
and import food products and ve terinary and fish products. 
 
5. Exporters in the Central African Republic ar e informed of their trading partners' new SPS 
requirements through the foreign media or the WT O Reference Centre, which unfortunately has only 
one computer with Internet access.  
6. The national mechanisms that could be created to ensure that stakeholders are notified of new 
SPS requirements in a timely manner, so that the requi rements of trading partners can be taken into 
account, include the creation of a food biosafety labo ratory, phytosanitary risk analysis, the treatment 
of obsolete pesticides, the training of managerial and operative staff and the installation of computers 
with Internet access so that information can be  circulated at subregional, inter-African and 
international level.  The mechanisms should also  include the setting up of a working group on SPS 
matters, the participation of national representativ es in the work of the SPS Committee, and the G/SPS/GEN/644 
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  updating of national legislation to ensure consiste ncy with SPS measures – a task which would require 
the assistance of an expert in such matters.   7. With the establishment of such mechanisms th e members would be able to identify domestic 
stakeholders and promote effective interaction among them through a follow-up committee made up 
of experts from the Departments of Trade, Agriculture and Livestock, Water and Forestry, Hunting 
and Fisheries, and Public Health, and through a notification committee. 
 8. Information on SPS requirements could be circul ated to groups outside of the capital by the 
above-mentioned notification committee using computer s with Internet access and a proper reference 
laboratory for SPS risk analysis and control.  There has been no national planning on how to 
implement the SPS Agreement at national level.  However, the country has two legal texts 
accompanied by implementing orders and decrees:   - Law No. 65.63 of 16 July 1999 regulating livestock farming; 
 
 - Law No. 001.99 of 16 July 1999 establishing the Ordre National des Vétérinaires  
(National Veterinary Association) and setting the framework for the veterinary 
profession. 
 9. The Economic Commission on Cattle, Meat a nd Fish Resources, a specialized CAEMC body, 
organizes annual coordination sessions at which the an imal health situation in each of the member 
States is examined.  At national level, the prot ection of animal and public health is a State 
responsibility assigned to the Ministry of Rural Affair s, which develops policies to be implemented by 
the National Agency for Livestock Development (ANDE ), the State Agency for Abattoir Management 
(SEGA) and, to a certain extent, the National Federation of Central A frican Livestock Farmers 
(FNEC). 
 10. The Pasteur Institute in Bangui assists ANDE in screening for tuberculosis, rabies and Ebola 
haemorrhagic fever, and trains Agency official s in laboratory techniques.  The Central African 
Republic is an agricultural and pastoral country and, as such, has a number of technical assistance 
requirements, most notably in the following areas: 
 
 - Creation of a body for standardization, certification and the quality promotion of 
agricultural and pastoral products and fo r the detection of pesticide and other 
residues; 
 
 - creation of a reference laboratory for sanita ry and phytosanitary analysis and control; 
  - active participation of national representatives in SPS Committee meetings; 
  - setting up of an SPS information system  for economic operators involving the 
installation of computer equipment with Internet access; 
 
 - launch of a study on distribution channels  for agricultural and veterinary inputs; 
  - the launch of a study on animal diseases at  border level and within national territory; 
 
 - compliance of national legislation with the SPS Agreement; 
  - creation of a national list of pests;   - SPS-related human resource training;  G/SPS/GEN/644 
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   - creation of an agricultural database; 
  - capacity-building for agricultural producer s in the areas of international trade and 
plant protection; 
 
 - services of an expert in SPS-related matters. 
  The technical assistance requested above coul d effectively address the country's needs, and 
there would be no duplication because it sums up priority areas that have not yet been covered in a satisfactory manner by donors.  Technical assistance would resolve certain problems in anticipation of 
the Central African Republic (as a CAEMC memb er) signing an Economic Partnership Agreement 
with the European Union by January 2008.  
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