WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/234/Add.1 
22 June 2009 
 
 (09-3043) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
THIRD REVIEW OF THE WTO/SPS AGREEMENT 
 
China’s Responses to Comments on G/SPS/W/234
 
 
Addendum  
 
  The following communcation, received on 19 June 2009, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of China
. 
 
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 1. China submitted a paper under the Thir d Review of the WTO SPS Agreement 
(G/SPS/W/234).  China appreciates the interests s howed by Members concerning further clarifying 
Article 8 and Annex C of the SPS Agreement, and thanks Members for providing comments to 
China’s proposal, especially comments by Australia (G/SPS/W/238).  To facilitate a full discussion on 
this topic in the context of the Third Review of the SPS Agreement, China would like hereby to make 
the following responses to the comments made.   
2. For the convenience of discussion, this docum ent first notes in italics the major comments 
from Members, and then gives China’s response.  
Comments from Australia and other Members: 
 
(a) Codex, IPPC and OIE, which are the rec ognized SPS international standard-setting 
bodies (ISSBs) in the SPS Agreement, already have in place detailed technical and practical guidance on control, inspection a nd approval procedures.  Besides, the 
ISSBs have the appropriate technical expertise.  Therefore, the ISSB s, rather than the 
SPS Committee, should  carry out discussion on relevant matters.  
(b) Concerning China’s proposal that the SP S Committee should draw the attention of 
the ISSBs to the discussion and consult with them regarding the development of relevant international standards and guidelines pertaining to control, inspection and approval procedures, relevant Members comm ent that the ISSBs are observers of the 
SPS Committee and provide regular update repor ts to the SPS Committee, as well as 
provide opportunities for the SPS Committee to  have input to the work of the ISSBs. 
China’s response:  
 
3. China also notes that Codex, IPPC and OIE have in place a series of guidelines and standards 
on SPS inspection, certification and control.  China, as a member of all these three ISSBs, has taken 
part in the development of relevant guidelines and st andards.  One point to clarify is that China’s 
proposal in G/SPS/W/234 is that the SPS Committee should initiate discussions on the implementation of Article 8 "Control, Inspection and Approval Procedures" and Annex C of the SPS G/SPS/W/234/Add.1 
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  Agreement.  China is not proposing that the SPS Committee take the place of Codex, IPPC and OIE 
to discuss relevant technical details and to de velop standards.  What China proposes is that the SPS 
Committee should initiate discussions on how to effectively implement relevant provisions 
within the framework of the SPS Agreement.  
4. Article 8 "Control, Inspection and Approval Pr ocedures" and Annex C are very important 
components of the SPS Agreement, and are closely related to the rights and obligations of each 
Member, both developed and de veloping country Members, no matter whether importing or 
exporting.  Based on our observations as described in  G/SPS/W/234, China thinks that it is necessary 
and worthwhile for the SPS Committee to initiate discussions on Article 8 and Annex C with the 
purpose of clarifying the following.  
5. Besides "sampling, testing and certification" sp ecified in Footnote 7, Annex C, and "national 
systems for approving the use of additives or for establishing tolerances for contaminants in foods, 
beverages or feedstuffs" prescribed in Article 8,  do any other procedures fall into the "control, 
inspection and approval procedures" as referred in Article 8 of the SPS Agreement?  For example, do 
"control, inspection and approval procedures" incl ude:  risk assessment procedures for the market 
access application of a certain product;  the assessm ent and approval of applications for pest- or 
disease-free areas;  the assessment and approval of applications for equivalence;  pre-inspection conducted in producing areas;  port management measures (e.g. designa ting ports of entry, automatic 
detention, risk warning);  quarantine treatment;  pos t-entry quarantine;  and market surveillance?  If 
the answer is positive, are there any other compara tively typical procedures or measures that comprise 
control, inspection and approval procedures?  It is therefore proposed that the SPS Committee 
should clarify the scope of Article 8 and Annex C.  Through this, not only can Members better 
understand and implement Article 8 and Annex C, the ISSBs can also focus better on the needs of 
Members while developing and revi sing relevant international standa rds, therefore providing stronger 
technical support for the implementation of Ar ticle 8 and Annex C of the SPS Agreement.  
6. Besides, the SPS Committee may find it useful, with  the help of Codex, IPPC and OIE, to sort 
and classify existing international guidelines and st andards related to Article 8 and Annex C of the 
SPS Agreement  as applied to animal health, phytosanitary hea lth or food safety.  In case relevant parts 
of Article 8 and Annex C have not  been reflected and specified in the corresponding international 
guidelines and standards, the SPS Committee should draw this to the attention of relevant 
international organizations in order for th em to prepare a future work programme. 
Comments from Australia and other Members: 
 
(a) Concerning the clarification and understanding of such terms as "reasonable and 
necessary" in Article 1(e) and "reasonable insp ection" in Article 3 of Annex C of the 
SPS Agreement, relevant members comment that a similar discussion was held several years ago when the Codex Guidelines for Food Import Control Systems were 
being amended, and the term "reasonable in terval" had been clarified.  Furthermore, 
any clarification of these terms would be best considered on a case-by-case basis.  
Clarification of these terms within the SPS Agreement is unlikely to be helpful or 
useful. 
China’s response: 
 
7. Article 8 and Annex C are important compone nts of the SPS Agreement.  To carry out 
discussions on ambiguous concepts and terms in cl auses of the SPS Agreement through this Review 
can help Members better understand and more effectiv ely implement the SPS Agreement.  Therefore, 
clarifying terms such as "reasonable and necessary" and "reasonable inspection" can help in reaching  G/SPS/W/234/Add.1 
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  a unified understanding among Members, and is also helpful to keep consistency in the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement.  
8. The understanding of "reasonable interval" as in the Decision of the Doha WTO Ministerial 
2001 on "Implementation-Related Issues and Concer ns" has greatly promoted the implementation of 
relevant articles of the SPS Agreement.  Intern ational organizations like Codex also apply this 
understanding in relevant internati onal standards and guidelines.  Therefore, it is beneficial for the 
SPS Committee to start discussions from a long-term point of view.  Through discussion underlying 
problems can be identified.  
9. China appreciates this opportunity to exch ange views with Members regarding the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement and looks forward to a full discussion. 
 
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