RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/YEM/12 
23 May 2006 
 (06-2482) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of Yemen Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF YEMEN 
 
Revised Check-list of Illustrative Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Issues1 
 
 
 The following submission, dated 12 May 2006, is  being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Republic of Yemen.   
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1 This document revises the SPS checklist contained in WT/ACC/YEM/5. WT/ACC/YEM/12 
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Commitments (by the time of accession) Status of Implementation and Progress 
1. Standstill: the introduction of new standards, 
animal health regulations and food safety 
regulations shall conform to SPS Agreement 
principles. Yemen, being a member to the international 
conventions: Codex Alimentarius (Codex), IPPC and 
OIE, is working on the application of the international 
guidelines and recommendations of the respective conventions and needs technical and financial 
assistance to this end. The respective technical 
assistance needs are reflected in the Action Plan on the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. 
2. Establishment and operation of a single Contact 
Point for Information ("enquiry point"). Yemen is currently considering how to meet this 
obligation through the respective authorities, and needs technical assistance to  this end. The technical 
assistance needs are reflected in the Action Plan on 
the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. 
3. Transparency: notification and access to 
documentation:  
 (a) identification of authority responsible for 
making notifications to the WTO and 
ensuring transparency obligations are met 
on an ongoing basis; See Item 2 above. 
 (b) establish guidance or law requiring 
publication of proposed measures at an 
early stage for comment; Yemen is working to meet this obligation and will 
approve, amend and update its legislation and 
regulations. The respective technical assistance needs 
are reflected in the Action Plan on the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary Measures. 
 (c) provision in law or administrative 
procedure to provide copies of proposed measures to WTO Members; and See item 3. 
 (d) require in law or administrative procedure, 
a reasonable period of time for comment 
from Members and the public, and establishment of a process to take 
comments into account without 
discrimination. See Item 3. 
4. Necessity: measures are applied only to the 
extent necessary to protect human, animal or 
plant health. Yemen is working to meet such commitment through 
the application of Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) and 
HACCP according to international standards issued by Codex, IPPC and OIE and will approve and amend 
its related legislation and regulations. The respective 
technical assistance needs ar e reflected in the Action 
Plan on the Implementation of the WTO Agreement 
on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. 
5. Regulations Based on Science: regulations 
governing animal and plant health and food safety shall be based on scientific evidence. See Item 4 above. 
6. Harmonization: to the extent possible, members 
shall follow international standards, guidelines, 
and recommendations in establishing SPS measures. Yemen is working on the application of Codex, IPPC 
and OIE guidelines and regulations and will amend 
its SPS related measures based on those guidelines and regulations when amending or updating its 
relevant legislation and regulations. The respective 
technical assistance needs ar e reflected in the Action 
Plan on the Implementation of the WTO Agreement 
on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.    WT/ACC/YEM/12 
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  Commitments (by the time of accession) Status of Implementation and Progress 
7. Equivalence: members shall recognize different 
measures that achieve the same level of protection. See Items 4 and 6 above. 
8. Risk Assessment: developing scientific 
evidence and conducting risk assessments to 
ensure that measures are based on science and 
applied only to the extent necessary to protect 
health. See Item 4 above. 
9. Regional conditions: measures take into 
account the regional char acteristics both of the 
areas from which products originate and the 
areas for which they are destined. Yemen will take into consideration regional 
characteristics. This is reflected in the Action Plan on 
the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures together with the respective technical assistance needed for that 
purpose. 
10. Non-discrimination:  measures do not 
arbitrarily or unjustifia bly discriminate between 
different members or between domestic and 
foreign suppliers. See Item 6 above. 
11. Control, inspection and approval procedures: 
ensure that procedures, including systems for approval of the use of additives or for 
establishing tolerances for contaminants in 
foods, beverages or feedstuffs comply with the Agreement. See Item 1 above. 
 
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