WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1125 
19 October 2011 
 (11-5187) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS-RELATED RECENT AND FORTHCOMING 
ASSISTANCE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES 
(PERIOD:  JULY - SEPTEMBER 2011) 
 
Communication from the International Trade Center (ITC) 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 18 Octo ber 2011, is being circulated at the request 
of the ITC. 
 
_______________ 
 
 A. P
ROJECTS : 
STDF/PG/172:  "Expanding Nigeria's export of sesame seeds and sheanut butter through 
improved SPS capacity building for private and public sector" 
 
1. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is the implementing agency of the STDF 
172 project with ITC as supervisory agency.  The project duration is expected to be October 2010- 
October 2012.  Implementation of project activ ities is ongoing.  Component 1:  reports on 
characterization of shea butter and sesame value chains in Nigeria and interim laboratory reports on 
samples available;  Component 2:  Decision made about the purchasing of equipment (set of shea 
fabricating equipment to be purchased from Benin, remaining equipment for sesame to be fabricated locally).  Appointment of the National Technical C oordinator is pending.  The second ITC monitoring 
mission is to be scheduled in November/December  2011.  The second tranche of funds from WTO to 
NEPC has been processed.  The second six-month progress report is due to STDF by the end of 
October 2011. 
All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme - Samoa 
 
2. Assistance was provided to Samoa under the All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme, 
funded by the European Commission and which targets agricultural commodity sectors in ACP 
countries.  Eight enterprises were being assisted  for the implementation of ISO 22000 food safety 
management systems.  An ITC monitoring mission took place in Samoa from 13 to 18 October 2011.  
An experience-sharing workshop was organised during the mission to share the results of the project. 
Empowering the African Private Sector Network to strengthen the international 
competitiveness of Small and Meidum-sized Enterprises (SMEs) – Component 2 
 
3. The programme, funded by the European Commi ssion, and implemented by ITC from May to 
September 2011 reinforced the capacities of intermedia ry organizations in Africa in their ability to 
increase their contribution to, and impact of the Aid for Trade agenda, by means of creating strong 
networks of enterprise level experts available and u sed by the intermediary organizations in Africa for 
the building capacity of African exporting SMEs.   Component 2 of the project, namely "Maximizing G/SPS/GEN/1125 
Page 2  
 
  export performance through implementation of fo od safety and quality management in the agro-
business sector"  was implemented in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda in partnership with the Ghana 
Standards Board (GSB), the Kenya Bureau of Sta ndards (KEBS), and the Uganda National Bureau of 
Standards (UNBS).  The component delivered capaci ty building of Trainers-cum-counsellors (TcCs) 
on food safety pre-requisites, HACCP, and coaching on quality audit techniques for enterprises from 
the agro-processed sector through training and advisory services at enterprise level.  In particular the 
component reached, inter alia , the following: 
 15 TcCs in the region enabled to train and advise exporting SMEs in the field of food 
safety; 
 15 SMEs increased their compliance with food  hygiene and safety requirements;  and 
 GSB, KEBS, UNBS have developed action plans to deliver programmes on food 
safety for sustainability. 
 
4. Furthermore, the project built a network of  trainers on packaging and supply chain 
management through the delivery of Components 1 and 3, respectively. 
B. O
THER ITC  PROJECTS OF INTEREST : 
Non-Tariff Measures project 
 5. ITC has successfully launched the non-tariff measu res (NTM) survey in three more countries 
(Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Senegal) during the period July-October 2011.  Upcoming 
surveys  will be in Palestine, Kazakhstan and Cambodi a.  At the same time, the surveys have ended in 
a number of other countries including Morocco, Ma uritius, Rwanda and Kenya.  NTM Reports for 
those countries are in the preparation and nati onal workshops being planned for discussion and 
dissemination of the results with national stakeholde rs.  In parallel to the NTM surveys, ITC also 
continues the collection of official NTM data in several countries, including some of those where the 
surveys are taking place.  The official database should  be launched by end of this year.  ITC is also 
keeping in touch with ongoing work on NTMs/NTBs in the different regions, such as the monitoring 
system (on line Mechanism for Reporting, Monitori ng and Eliminating Non-Tariff Barriers) in the 
tripartite region (SADC, COMESA and EAC). 
For more information about NTM project, pleas e contact Ms Poonam Mohun, ITC, NTM Market 
Analyst, Market Analysis and Research Tel:  +41 22 730 0277 - Fax:  +41 22 730 0577 - Email:  mohun@intracen.org 
 
Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) 
 
6. The European Commission (DG Trade) is now a donor to T4SD/Standards Map.  ITC's 
Standards Map allows users to compare private standards with regards to, for example, their 
governance structure, social, environmental and economic criteria, and requirements for 
implementation.  Compliance to these standards is no t legally required by gove rnments or regulations, 
but it could lead to more sustainable environmen tal practices or potentially open up new markets. 
7. As of October 2011, Standards Map covers 43 private standards developed by non-
governmental organizations and private entities.  Th e new standards loaded since June 2011 are Fair 
Labour Association, GoodWeave, Green Seal, Gree n-e, International Featured Standards – IFS, 
KRAV, Roundtable on Responsible Soy – RTRS, SQF Program, Cotton Made in Africa, Gold 
Standard, ProTerra, Rótulo Ecológico ABNT  - Qualidade Ambiental, Food Alliance. 
  G/SPS/GEN/1125 
 Page 3 
 
 
  8. The team is working on an additional nine standa rds that will be loaded on the website by the 
end of October.  These standards are Canada GAP, FSSC22000, Fair Wear Foundation, LEAF, Global 
Reporting Initiative – GRI, Impact Reporting & In vestment Standards - IRIS, Climate Community 
and Biodiversity Standards - CCBS MPS ABC Carbon Trust. 
9. We aim to have approximately 70 standards fully  loaded on the website by the end of 2011.  
Should you be interested in a live demonstration of the website or in a webinar, please contact Joseph 
Wozniak, Programme Manager (wozniak@intracen.org). 
Joint ITC-ISO Workshop on "Linking Trade Pr omotion Organizations (TPOs) and National 
Standards Bodies (NSBs) for Export Success" 
 
10. ITC and ISO organized in partnership a re gional three-day workshop on "Linking TPOs and 
NSBs for Export Success", hosted by hosted by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and co-
hosted by the Tanzania Trade Development Author ity (TanTrade) in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania from 
21 to 23 June 2011.1 
11. Fifty officials from NSBs and TPOs representi ng 22 Anglophone countries in Africa explored 
how linkages between TPOs and NSBs can be strengthened to improve the international 
competitiveness of enterprises and developed join t country action plans.  All the background 
documents will be uploaded on th e ITC website by November 2011 
(http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  by clicking on "information and events"). 
12. This event follows from the first two such regional events organized in Malaysia in 
December 2009, and in Cuba in November 2010.  ITC is currently developing case studies on various 
areas of collaboration between the TPOs and NSBs th at participated in the previous joint ITC-ISO 
workshops. 
13. ITC and ISO are planning to conduct a simila r workshop for French-speaking countries in 
Africa in the first quarter of 2012 and ITC is cu rrently seeking funding partners for this regional 
workshop. 
 For more information: Shyam K. Gujadhur, ITC Senior Adviser on Standards and Quality Management 
Tel:  +41 22 730 03 96 - Fax:  +41 22 730 05 76  - E-mail:  gujadhur@intracen.org 
Ludovica Ghizzoni, ITC Adviser on Export Quality Management  
Tel:  +41 22 730 06 38 - Fax:  +41 22 730 05 76  - E-mail:  ghizzoni@intracen.org 
Web address:  http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  
E-mail address:  quality@intracen.org 
 
__________  
                                                      
1 The workshop was organized within the framework of the ITC project Empowering the African 
Private Sector Network to strengthen the international competitiveness of SMEs – Component 3, funded by the 
European Commission.