. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/651 
24 March 2006 
 (06-1355) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
 
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE EGYPTIAN PLANT QUARANTINE 
 
Information for the Workshop on 31 March 2006
 
 
Communication from Egypt  
  
 The following communication, received on 23 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the Delegation of Egypt. 
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1. Trade in agricultural products is  fast growing in a liberalized world trade system.  Research 
and development are producing new plant varieties a nd strains.  As a result, new pests are emerging 
and secondary pests have become primary in nature.  Through its sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures, each country is trying to protect its plan t resources against the entry of unrecorded pests.  
2. The SPS Agreement introduces an important set of  guidelines that govern trading practices at 
the international level.  It sets out the rights a nd responsibilities of WTO Members that wish to take 
action to restrict imports in order to prot ect human, animal or plant life or health.  
3. Plant quarantine laws and regula tions must be dynamic, keeping a close eye on the research 
findings.  With this in mind, Central Administ ration for Plant Quarantine (CAPQ) in Egypt has 
reviewed the corpus of laws, rules and regulations governing its work so as to ensure compliance with 
the international agreements and streamline its operation.  This is also intended to increase 
transparency to all the stakeholders in the import/export business.  
4. The purpose of this paper is to reflect the experience of the Egyptian Plant Quarantine in 
implementing the SPS Agreement.  At the time it hi ghlights some of the achievements of the Egyptian 
Plant Quarantine in the SPS field, the paper also ends with some recommendations based on practical 
experience. 
5. With regard to Article 6 of the SPS Agreement , the CAPQ through the Potato Brown Rot 
Project (PBRP) and the effective technical assistance received in this filed managed to establish a Pest 
Free Area (PFA), which has had a substantial impact on Egyptian potato exports to different 
Members' territories.  In our view, this represents a good example of how technical assistance might help developing countries to overcome their problems. 
6. With regard to Article 5 of the SPS Agreement , CAPQ successfully implemented a Pest 
Risk Assessment with one of the larger importers of Egyptian citrus.  There are also ongoing 
negotiations with other countries under this article.  G/SPS/GEN/651 
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7. With regard to Article 7 of the SPS Agreement , and as a step for enhancing transparency, a 
number of notifications were pub lished reflecting changes in national sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures and providing information on other measures.  
8. Generally, the Egyptian Plant Quarantine has ta ken the following actions in order to better 
comply with and implement the SPS Agreement: 
(a) Cooperation with internationa l organizations to increase awareness of international 
standards and guidelines. 
(b) Establishing SPS groups in all departments dealing with the implementation of the 
SPS Agreement.  
(c) Cooperation between all agricultural institu tions and Geneva-based delegations.   
(d) Conducting bilateral discussion with tradi ng partners to effectively implement 
provisions of the Agreement, seeking comp lete understanding of the rights and 
obligations of other Members.  
(e) Participating in all SPS activities and meetings. 
(f) Depending on scientific evidence and pest ri sk analysis for all national quarantine 
decisions. 
(g) Updating the Egyptian Quarantine legislation to be in a harmony with SPS rules. 
 
9. Recommendation : 
(a) No restrictive quarantine measures should be taken against an exporting country 
without acceptable scientific evidence and/or a pest risk assessment. 
(b) There should be balance between measures taken against the exporting country and 
the risk assessment.  The measure should be to the extent necessary for protection and should be appropriate vis-à-vis the econom ic status of an exporting developing 
country. 
(c) Egypt calls for the elimination of undue dela ys in the importing Member in any of the 
steps involved in recognition, and a decisi on on a specific accepted time frame to be 
implemented on an international basis.  
(d) Egypt encourages mutual recognition between exporting and importing Members 
which would establish that the inspection a nd certification system of one country is 
equivalent to that of another providing the same protection. 
 
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