WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/810 
2 November 2007 
 (07-4768) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP: 
INVESTMENT IN LABORATORIES FOR FOOD SAFETY AND  
AGRICULTURAL HEALTH 
 
Submission by the World Bank
 
  
 The following communication, received on 1 November 2007, is being circulated at the request of the World Bank
. 
 
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 The attached information regarding an STD F Consultative Workshop on Investment in 
Laboratories for Food Safety and Agricultural Health , to be held at WTO headquarters in Geneva on 
15-16 November 2007, is being circulated for the information of WTO Members. 
  Interested Members and observers are invite d to attend the workshop.  There will be no 
charge for participation and prior registration is not required.  
For additional information, please contact J ohn Lamb (jlamb@worldbank.org) or Xin Qin 
(xqin@worldbank.org) at the World Bank, or Michael Roberts at the WTO (Michael.Roberts@wto.org). 
 G/SPS/GEN/810 
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Announcement for a Consultative Workshop:  
Investment in Laboratories  
for Food Safety and Agricultural Health 
 
Date:  15-16 November 2007 
Location: WTO, Geneva 
 
Background   
 In their effort to expand trade in agri-food products while also nurturing the national economy, 
avoiding harm to citizenry, and conserving the environment, developing countries face serious 
challenges with respect to verification of food saf ety and protection of plant and animal health.   
 
First, with the adoption of the WTO SPS Agreement, the need for transparency and science-based 
risk management has increased dramatically.  
 
Secondly , regulatory complexity has risen with the pr oliferation of bilateral and regional trade 
agreements, as well as growth in regi onal trade and domestic commerce.  
 Third,  the emergence of private standards as well as private auditors and certifiers has raised 
questions about the role of government in analytical services.  
 Fourth , the appearance of zoonotic di seases such as BSE and HPAI (H5N1) as well as a succession 
of high profile food crises around the world has focused the attention of virtually everyone on food safety.  
Lastly , the relentless march of science and technolog y has made it possible to detect ever-smaller 
concentrations of potential harmful substances, but at  the same time raised the unit value of leading-
edge equipment.  Whether the standards of interest are public or priv ate, mandatory or voluntary, a key challenge for all 
participants in agri-food production, processing, and marketing is proof of compliance.  Proof of 
compliance implies a systematic approach to confor mity assessment. A systematic approach must deal 
with tasks and activities that range from standard- setting, controls, and quality management systems 
to surveillance, inspection, detection, identificati on, and treatment.  For analytical test results and 
ensuing mitigating actions to be credible, a solid network of domestic or foreign laboratories is 
needed. Their analytical services must be certified a priori and verifiable after the fact.  Accreditation 
of organizations and facilities is sometimes necessa ry or desirable. Yet developing countries often 
have inadequate laboratory and di agnostic capacity to address the three key SPS areas at all, much 
less aspire to certification or accreditation.   Many developing countries are investing more in  lab capacity development, and donors are often 
approached for financial and technical support. While further investment is certainly needed, 
traditional institutional interests may lead national gove rnments, donors, or the private sector to make 
expensive, overlapping or incomplete investments, which can result in waste of valuable resources. 
Competition for staff, budgets, and regulatory aut hority may threaten productivity and sustainability 
of public investments, especially in low-inco me and lower-middle-income countries. Poorly 
 G/SPS/GEN/810 
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  prioritized or inappropriate investments may also  hinder national compliance with WTO and bilateral 
trading partner requirements.  At the same time, inappropriate or unnecessary involvement by government labs in the provision of services to comm ercial operators may crowd out private providers 
of lab services, resulting in higher unit costs or slower service.  Guide for Assessing the Need for Investment  in Laboratory Capacities to Improve the 
Management of Food Safety, Plant Health, and Animal Health in Developing Countries 
 
To help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of lab investment and related capacity building 
activities, in cooperation with UNIDO and in cons ultation with other international agencies and 
bilateral donors the World Bank has taken the initia tive to develop certain guidelines for: (1) assessing 
the need for such project s; (2) formulating a strategy for upgrading capacity; (3) identifying and 
designing key interventions; and then (4) evaluating subsequent results. It is expected that the final 
guidelines will be disseminated in early 2008.  
Since agri-food labs have a key role to play in the ri sk prevention, control, a nd mitigation, the point of 
departure for this initiative is risk analysis, i. e. risk assessment, risk management, and risk 
communication.  While the risk analysis process fo r a single hazard is generally manageable, the SPS 
field presents a plethora of hazards, the importance of  which varies by region,  country or sub-region. 
It follows that investment decisions for agri-food labs should be based on si multaneous consideration 
of multiple hazards, especially at the country level. 
 
It is hoped that this effort will help: (a) clarif y and prioritize complementary or competing public, 
private and mixed objectives with respect to SPS; (b) capture best practices in risk assessment, 
management, and communications, as applied to the three main SPS areas; (c) provide a novel 
conceptual framework for using multi-hazard risk an alysis in combination with financial/economic 
analysis to guide investment decisions in agri-food  labs; (d) suggest best practices in interagency 
processes and stakeholder dialogue around risk management policy; and (e) provide useful 
information on how to make lab services more cu stomer-oriented and financially sustainable. 
 
Objective and Purposes of the Workshop 
 The World Bank and UNIDO recognize that devel opment of a practical guide requires broad 
consultation with stakeholders of  all kinds: directors of SPS regulatory agencies, laboratory heads 
from the public and private sector, technical expert s, user groups, agro-ent repreneurs, NGOs that 
represent consumers, and donors. While much can be learned from the approaches and experiences 
found in emerging and industrialized countries, th e challenge is arguably greater for developing 
countries, so the consultations will focus on de veloping country representatives.  A consultative 
workshop is planned for November 15-16
th, 2007 under the auspices of WTO in Geneva.  
 This workshop has two main purposes. First, si nce laboratory specialists have already been 
commissioned by the World Bank and UNIDO to provide  technical input into the draft guideline, this 
workshop will provide an opportunity to present their component findings and reports  (covering 
chemical analysis labs, microbiological analysis labs, plant health labs, and animal health labs, 
respectively), as well as draft texts  of the interpretative guideline for policy-makers. Secondly, this 
workshop will provide an open forum for stakeholders  of differing perspectives and background to 
comment on the presentations, and exchange views,  lessons, and experiences on a wide range of 
issues regarding SPS-related laboratory investment and capacity building.  G/SPS/GEN/810 
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  Questions  
 
Issues to be considered during the workshop include the following:  
¾ What is the mission of an agri-food laboratory system, and how does it vary by context?    
¾ What are the critical functions that agri-food labs must carry out in support of sanitary 
and phytosanitary issues as well as broader th emes such as environmental or worker 
protection? 
¾ What are the critical lab-related services th at must be offered within any country, 
irrespective of size of economy, population, or territory? 
¾ How does the breadth of functions and servi ces available domestically vary as the agri-
food sector and economy grow? 
¾ Which critical functions and services are inherently governmental? Which are largely 
commercial? And which represent mixed goods  that could be provided by either 
government or the private sector? 
¾ How best to deal with the realities of ove rlapping mandates, conflicting regulations, or 
rivalry between governmental agencies? 
¾ What’s the optimal role of private laboratory service providers in dealing with conformity 
assessment in the SPS field? How should they  interact with publicly-funded providers? 
How can collaboration rather than competition be enhanced?  
¾ What are the key technical, administrative, economic, financial, and market factors to 
consider in assessing lab investment needs? 
¾ How can competing public and privat e goals or objectives be dealt with? 
¾ What conceptual framework and procedures for cost-benefit analysis can improve the 
rigor of lab investment decisions? 
¾ What is the relationship between investment  in the hardware (physical structure, 
equipments, etc.), “wetware” (managerial and technical professionals and technicians), and “orgware” (organization and governance)? 
¾ What are the alternatives to investing in  national lab capacity in the public sector? 
¾ Under what circumstances and in which areas can regional approaches and resources 
complement national approaches and capaciti es? What are examples of good practices in 
achieving regional synergies? 
¾ How important is international accreditation,  and under what circumstances is it 
essential?  
¾ What lessons have been learned with respect to sustainability of lab investment projects?    
  G/SPS/GEN/810 
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  Agenda for Consultative Workshop:  
Investment in Laboratories for Food  Safety and Agricultural Health 
  
15 November 2007 
 10:00  Opening:  Welcoming remarks  by Mr. Michael Roberts, SPS Secretariat, WTO, Geneva  
 
10:05  Session 1:  Setting the stage 
 
Panel of Speakers: 
  Mr. John Lamb, World Bank, Washington, DC, on the growing challenge of dealing with 
agri-food standards, both public and private, to enhance productivity and competitiveness while 
protecting human, plant and animal health. 
 
 Dr. Kees Van Der Meer, World Bank, Washington, DC, on the responsibility, role and functions of domestic agricultural and food labora tory systems in support of food safety and 
agricultural health   Mr. Stanley Heri, Africa Chairman of COLEACP’s EU-funded Pesticide Improvement 
Programme, and former Executive Director of the Horticulture Promotion Council, Harare, 
Zimbabwe, on the experience of the EU-supported P esticide Improvement Program in dealing with 
the need for agricultural lab services   Mr. Steffen Kaeser, UNIDO, Vienna, on lessons learned to date by don or agencies engaged in 
trade capacity building in agri-food stan dards arena, for SPS matters especially 
 Q and A (written questions)   
11:15  Session 2:  Chemical and microbiological labs  
 
Presentations of main issues, findings, and recommendations by lead UNIDO consultant 
 
Discussant comments by:   Dr. Nirmala Pieris, Head of Corporate Services,  Industrial Technology Institute, Colombo, Sri 
Lanka, and Vice-President, WAITRO, on experien ce gained in establishing and managing a State-
owned full service lab   Mr. Steve Homer, Group Corporate Responsibility Manager, Flamingo Holdings, UK, on the perspective of private sector customers for lab services for high-value export crops  
Dr. Marcelo Alvarez, National Service for Food Qua lity and Safety (SENASA), Buenos Aires, on an 
example of public-private collaboration in dealing with the challenge of new EU aflatoxin standards 
for peanuts    Q&A (open microphone) 
 
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  13:00-14:30  Lunch 
 
14:30-15:00  Session 3:  (w/o translation):  LABNET , a Knowledge Management Portal for Lab 
Professionals 
 
A presentation by Mr. Steffen Kaeser and cooperators  
 
15.00  Session 4:  Plant health labs and animal health labs  
Presentation of main issues, findings, and recommendations by Dr. Maria Beug-Deeb 
 
Discussant comments by:   Dr. Alain Dehove, Coordinator of the World Fund  for Animal Health and Welfare, OIE, Paris 
focusing on the relevance of findings to the HPAI challenge 
 
 Dr. Henry Wainwright of Real IPM, Kenya, on the relevance of the findings to plant protection issues encountered in Sub-Saharan Africa  Q and A (open microphone)  16.15  Session 5:  Experiences from the fiel d with upgrading the domestic lab system  
 
Presentations on    Lithuania (upgrading and consolidation of the veterinary and food lab system) by Dr. 
Vidmantas Paulauskas, Deputy Director, State Food and Veterinary Service, National Veterinary 
Laboratory, Vilnius   El Salvador (strong initial donor support,  followed by re-positioning for financial 
sustainability) by Ing. Flor De Maria Sosa de Me ndoza, Director of Quality Services, Salvadoran 
Foundation for Economic and Social De velopment (FUSADES), San Salvador 
 
 South Africa, Dr. Mike Peet, CEO of  the National Accreditation Agency SANAS, on the role of  certification and accreditation in conformity assessment for agri-food products  
 
17:15-18:00  Session 6:  Findings from Day One 
 Panel discussion led by Mr. Steve Homer, Gr oup Corporate Responsibility Manager, Flamingo 
Holdings, United Kingdom, along with:   Dr. Sharonmae Shirley, President of the Laboratories Association of Jamaica  Dr. Faustine Masaga, Chief Standards Officer, National Bureau of Standards, Tanzania 
Dr. Saswati Bardhan Bose, Research Officer, Nationa l Institute of Agricultural Marketing, India 
Dr. Nerie Sanz, Managing Director, Belize Agricultural Health Authority 
 
18.15-19:30  Reception   
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  16 November 2007 
 10:00  Session 7:   Cross-cutting Issues I – parallel sessions  
 Session 7a - Public vs. Private  
 Stage-setting remarks by group facilitator Dr . S.P. Vasireddi, Chairman and Managing 
Director of  Vimta Labs Ltd, Hyderabad, India  
  Anticipated topics:  )Protecting the public good vs. serving the customer 
 )Comparative advantages and disadvantages  
 )Getting incentives right to ensure fair competition and grow the market   
 
Session 7b - Strategic Considerations 
 Stage-setting remarks by group facilitator Sr. Pabl o Lopez Salcedo, Director of the Agrifood 
Area,  APPLUS & LGI, Spain, on the roles that foreign laboratories can play in support of 
agri-food systems in developing countries   
   Anticipated topics:  )Dealing with issues of scale  
 )Interagency rivalry and c ooperation within a country 
 )Regional cooperation/resource-sharing 
 
11:00-11:30   Reports and Discussion on Parallel Sessions 7a and 7b 
 11.30  Session 8:  Cross-cutting Issues II – parallel sessions 
 
Session 8a - Financial Considerations 
 Stage-setting remarks by group facilitator Dr . S.P. Vasireddi, Chairman and Managing 
Director of  Vimta Labs Ltd, Hyderabad 
  Anticipated topics:  
 )Options for financing capital investments 
 )Cost recovery and price-setting  
 )Benefit/cost and ROI analysis for laboratory investment 
 
Session 8b – Capacity Building 
 Stage-setting remarks by group facilitators Dr. Maya Pineiro, Sr. Officer, Food Control and 
Consumer Protection, FAO, and Ms. Mary Kenny, Officer, FAO 
  Anticipated topics:  )Achieving a market-oriented and customer-driven operation 
 )Quality enhancement (GLP, lab accreditation) 
 )Best practices in technical assistance and training  
 
12:30 – 13:00   Reports and Discussion on Parallel Sessions 8a and 8b  
 13.00 – 15:00  Lunch 
 
15.00 – 16:00  Session 9:  Moving toward a synthesis  
 
 A representative from IPPC on the role of  labs in supporting the SPS Agreement 
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   A representative from WHO on better handling emerging diseases, especially zoonoses  
  Mr. John Lamb of the World Bank on other unmet development needs relating to assured 
compliance 
 
 Dr. Isabelle Rollier, Policy Officer for Multilate ral Relations (SPS), Directorate-General for 
Health and Consumer Protection, European Commission, on the way forward for donors 
 
16:00 – 16:30  Session 10:  Next steps  
  For the World Bank’s agri-food lab assessment, by Dr. Kees Van Der Meer 
  For UNIDO on agri-food lab capacity building, by Mr. Steffen Kaeser 
 
16:30  Open Forum 
 17:15  Closing by Mr. Michael Roberts of WTO 
 
  For additional information, please contact: 
 
John Lamb  (jlamb@worldbank.org
) 
 Xin Qin (xqin@worldbank.org ) 
 
 
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