. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/725 
4 October 2006 
 (06-4742) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 6 OF THE SPS AGREEMENT:  
COMMENTS ON G/SPS/GEN/640/REV.1 
 
Communication from New Zealand
 
 
  The following communication, received on 3 October 2006, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of New Zealand.  
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 1. New Zealand believes the effective application of the provisions of Article 6 of the SPS 
Agreement is of significant benefit both for facilita tion of market access and in improving the sanitary 
and phytosanitary situation in all Members. 
2. Members of the SPS Committee have identified concerns with respect to the effective 
implementation of these provisions, and as a conseque nce the Committee invited the OIE and IPPC to 
examine, inter alia , the development of administrative procedures on the recognition of 
regionalization, the technical feasibility of ascribing tim e-limits to the consideration of regionalization 
requests, and the issue of recognition of pest- or  disease-free status by the standard-setting bodies. 
3. Both the IPPC and the OIE have been very r esponsive to this requ est by the SPS Committee 
and considerable progress has been made to date. 
4. The OIE revised its chapter on zoning and compar tmentalization (e.g., regionalization) at the 
General Session in May 2005 to provide more  guidance to Members on the procedures for 
regionalization.  A number of these additions can be  classified as "administrative", encompassing the 
process of requesting recognition, information excha nge, evaluation, notification "within a reasonable 
period of time", dispute resolution and formal agre ements between parties.  Some additional small 
changes were adopted at the General Session in 2006. 
5. The IPPC has developed three standards in th e area of regionalization: requirements for 
establishment of pest-free areas, pest-free places of pr oduction and production sites, and areas of low 
pest prevalence.  It has also recognized the need to  develop a standard for the process to be followed 
in the recognition of such areas.  Through this stan dard it aims to outline the criteria for recognition 
and provide guidance on the activities required to ensu re there is not undue delay in the process while 
maintaining the importing country’s appropriate level of protection.  This draft standard is now 
undergoing country consultation. 
6. In New Zealand’s communication G/SPS/GEN/698/Rev.1, we noted there was close 
correlation between the OIE and IPPC standa rds on recognition of regionalization and the 
Secretariat’s summary of proposals for typical step s for administrative procedures for recognition (in 
G/SPS/GEN/640).  New Zealand believes that the inte rnational standard-setting bodies have the most G/SPS/GEN/725 
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  appropriate expertise to develop guidance in th e recognition of regionalization and that the 
development of normative standards, guidelines an d recommendations is the responsibility of these 
standard-setting bodies.   
7. Any decision adopted by the SPS Committee should be fully aligned to the work of the OIE 
and IPPC so as to avoid unnecessary duplication a nd confusion. The SPS Agreement specifically 
recognizes the OIE and IPPC as the appropriate bodies to develop standards, guidelines and 
recommendations.  These bodies have the necessary tec hnical expertise to allow them to address 
matters such as the recognition of regionalization.  The role of the SPS Committee to address the trade 
policy concerns identified by Members means that any guidance on this issue such as that contained 
in the "typical steps" listed in G/SPS/GEN/640/Rev. 1 should be limited to the form of high level, 
enabling principles.   
8. Clear reference should therefore be made in th e "typical steps" listed in G/SPS/GEN/640, to 
the relevant OIE and IPPC standards and the need for the steps to be read  in conjunction with these 
standards. 
9. Language and terminology used in the "typical st eps" should be comparable to the relevant 
IPPC and OIE standards to avoid confusion. 
10. New Zealand considers that the focus of the SPS Committee should be on those matters that 
are common across both zoosanitary and phytosanitary c onsiderations of this issue.  This role could 
highlight where opportunities for collaboration and harm onization could be constructive.  With this in 
mind, the focus of the "typical steps" should be on the common elements of the relevant IPPC and OIE standards. 
 
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