WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/995 
5 March 2010 
 (10-1208) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
EU TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT:   
STANDARDS HARMONIZATION AND SANITARY AND  
PHYTOSANITARY (SPS) CONFORMITY 
 
Communication from the Philippines
 
  
 The following communication, received on 4 March 2010, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of the Philippines
. 
_______________ 
 
 1. The Department of Agriculture (DA) as the country’s primary rural development agency 
places great importance on initiatives which will contri bute to the competitiveness of the agriculture 
and fisheries sector in today’s highly globalized trade.   One of the principal concerns of the DA in this 
regard is to stimulate and support the sector’s  trade capabilities through the formulation and 
implementation of internationally recognized and accepted sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards 
and measures. 
2. The commitment to observe consistency and compliance with the WTO SPS Agreement is 
well-recognized and is bei ng given due attention by the DA.  Such commitment is embedded in the 
Department’s efforts to continually develop its capa bilities in this field.  The participation of the DA 
in the Trade-Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) Pr oject of the European Union (EU) is one such 
means for moving towards this goal.  
3. The DA and its relevant regulatory agencies have been direct and active participants in the 
SPS component of the TRTA Projects: TRTA 1, fi rst undertaken in 2005-20 07; and TRTA 2 being 
implemented from 2009-2012.  
1. What is the TRTA 2 Project? 
4. The Trade-Related Technical Assistance Proj ect 2 (TRTA 2) is a development cooperation 
initiative by and between the Republic of the Phili ppines (RP) and the Commission of the European 
Union (EU).  Its implementation arrangements, including the role of the National Economic and 
Development Authority (NEDA) as requesting au thority and coordinating agency, are prescribed 
under Financing Agreement DCI-ASIE/2007/018-950. 
5. The overall objective is "to support sustainabl e poverty reduction in the Philippines through 
further integration into the international trade system".  The specific purpose is "to enhance the 
capacity of selected Government agencies and state act ors" for deeper integration into the system.  It 
has four components, as follows: G/SPS/GEN/995 
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  (a) Capacity building for trade policy and export development
 – to support development and 
implementation of a coherent a nd effective international trade strategy;  and implementation 
of international commitments including those to  be made in the framework of the ongoing 
EU-ASEAN FTA negotiations; 
(b) Standards harmonization and SPS conformity  – to facilitate adoption of, and compliance with, 
international standards and regulations  for selected product and service exports; 
(c) Trade facilitation  – to enhance competitive,  transparent, and efficient movement of traded 
products within the international and regional trade facilitation systems;  
(d) Rapid response facility  – to enable rapid, efficient and effective response to unforeseen 
problems and issues in trade-related areas through provision of short-term technical 
assistance. 
6. The project has an operational implementation pe riod of four years – from 23 August 2008 to 
22 August 2012 - and an estimated cost of EUR 7,475,000, of which EUR 6,500,000 and EUR 
975,000 are to be contributed by the European Union and the Philippines, respectively.  It is to be 
implemented through "decentralized management" under which NEDA will be the contracting and 
paying authority for certain expenditures including for training, seminars, workshops and operating 
costs.  
7. The SPS sub-component of TRTA 2 takes off from the gains of TRTA 1.  As in the first 
phase, DA is the lead implementing agency of the SPS sub-component of the TRTA 2.  The sub-
component involves a number of key activities which specifically support the capacity building of key 
SPS agencies of the DA, namely, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the 
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), the Bureau of  Animal Industry (BAI) and the National Meat 
inspection Service (NMIS).  
8. We are now on the second year of implementa tion and given the magnitude of capacity 
building needed in the field of SPS,  which involves all players in th e agriculture and fisheries sector, 
the implementing agencies are expected to have their hands full attending to the numerous activities 
concerning their respective sectors. 
2. What are the key activities of the SPS component?  
9. There are seven key activities which address cross-cutting as well as agency/commodity-
specific concerns, namely: 
• Review all SPS related regulations and r ecommend strategy for their harmonization, 
streamlining and consolidation; 
• Implement the SPS management and control sy stem for fishery products developed in 
TRTA I to partly fulfil BFAR commitments to the EU Food and Veterinary Office 
(FVO);  
• Develop and implement an ISO 17020 system for the Fish Inspection Unit (FIU) of 
BFAR to fulfil part of its requirements to the FVO; 
• Harmonize and strengthen the farm to fork in spection and enforcement service for poultry 
and poultry products; 
• Strengthen the capacity of DA to identify and select appropriate traceability systems for 
fishery and poultry products, mangoes and bananas;  G/SPS/GEN/995 
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  • Develop and train a central ISO17025 traini ng / technical support entity to benefit DA 
laboratories;  and 
• Formulate and implement a programme of support to the MSMEs, to enable them to meet 
SPS and other requirements of international markets. 
 
3. What is the relevance of the TRTA 2 Project to the DA and what is expected of the 
project? 
10. The DA envisions that at the end of this four-year project, the participating agencies will have 
further upgraded their capabilities on SPS management and control systems that are aligned with 
international standards and requirements.  The priv ate stakeholders, particularly micro-, small-, and 
medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural and fisheries sector, are also given attention in 
this project to help them meet SPS and othe r requirements of the international market.  
11. Specifically with reference to the EU market , the European Union continues to be an 
important trading partner of the Philippines.  Current ly, our major exports to this market are fishery 
products (tuna, skipjack, carrageenan), coconut pr oducts (crude oil, desiccated) , and some fruit 
products (pineapple juice concentrates and banana ch ips) but we also see potential for exporting live 
birds, poultry and meat and meat products, and ot her fruit products.  The TRTA is providing the 
necessary assistance to realize ma rket access opportunities for th ese agricultural products by 
addressing SPS and food safety requirements. 
12. In general, the TRTA 2 should help pave the way for sustaining and increasing market shares 
of current exports and opening more trade opportunities for our other exportable agricultural and 
fishery products, and therefore contribute to the poverty reduction goals of the project. 
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