. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/COL/163 
12 November 2008 
 (08-5494) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  COLOMBIA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:  Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario , ICA  (Colombian Agricultural 
Institute)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Bovine animals, sheep, goats, swine a nd other species susceptible to foot-and-
mouth disease (FMD) and other products that pose a risk of transmitting the virus 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
 Venezuela  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Resolución Nº 003754 
del 4 de noviembre de 2008 del Instituto Co lombiano Agropecuario "Por la cual se 
suspende la importación procedente de Ven ezuela a Colombia de animales susceptibles y 
productos de riesgo de transmitir o vehic ulizar el virus de Fiebre Aftosa" (Colombian 
Agricultural Institute (ICA) Resolution No . 003754 of 4 November 2008 suspending the 
importation into Colombia from Venezuela of animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and risk products capable of transmitting or carrying the virus) (3 pages, in Spanish).  
6. Description of content:  Suspension of the entry into Colo mbia from Venezuela of animals 
susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and risk products capable  of transmitting or 
carrying the virus, for a period of six (6) m onths, during which time the ICA will assess the 
risk of the disease being introduced into Colomb ia by means of a review of updated official 
information on the status of the disease or in situ  verification by ICA officials. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [    ] food safety,  [  X ] animal health,  [    ] plant protection,
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [    ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests 
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reasons for urgent action:  According to the 
weekly epidemiological reports on foot-and- mouth disease (FMD) and vesicular stomatitis 
(Informes Epidemiológicos Semanales Sobre Fiebre Aftosa y Estomatitis Vesicular ) 
Nos. 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40 of the Pan-American Foot-and-Mouth Disease 
Centre ( Centro Panamericano de Fiebre Aftosa , PANAFTOSA), outbreaks of serotype-A 
and serotype-O FMD have been reporte d in various parts of Venezuela.  G/SPS/N/COL/163 
Page 2  
 
  9. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations: 
10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Not applicable  
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  As from the date of 
publication in the Diario Oficial  (Official Journal) / six (6) months  
12. Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority,  [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
Enquiry Point   
Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo Dirección de Regulación Calle 28 No.13A - 15, tercer piso 
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia 
Tel.: +(571) 241-0478 Fax: +(571) 241-0480 
or Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario - ICA
 
Grupo de Análisis de Riesgos Agropecuarios y Asuntos Internacionales  
Calle 37 #  8-43, Oficina 409 
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia Tel.: +(571) 285-3485 Fax: +(571) 232-4695 Web site: http://www.ica.gov.co
 
13. Texts available from:  [  X ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  
Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 
Dirección de Regulación Calle 28 No.13A - 15, tercer piso  Bogotá, D.C., Colombia 
Enquiry Point
: 
Contact person:  Daniel Héctor Rico R. 
Tel.: +(571) 606-7676, Ext. 1690 Fax: +(571) 241-0480 E-mail:  drico@mincomercio.gov.co Web site: http://www.mincomercio.gov.co