WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/835 
27 March 2008 
 
 (08-1370) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
ACTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE WTO AGREEMENT ON 
SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Information Presented by the Inter-American Institute
 
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA ) 
 
  The following communication, received on 25 Marc h 2008, is being distributed at the request 
of IICA.  
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  1. The observer organizations of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) 
of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are inv ited to submit reports on activities they have 
accomplished to foster an understanding of the SPS Agreement and to promote its implementation.  
IICA wishes to put forward a number of actions or activ ities which it considers to be of interest to this 
Committee. 
I. SPS INITIATIVE FOR THE COUNTRIES OF THE AMERICAS 
2. IICA is continuing to implement the SPS Initiative for the Americas.  This 41
st meeting of the 
WTO SPS Committee is the 17th consecutive one for which Member Countries of IICA have 
benefited from support under the In itiative.  Seventeen meetings account for 41 per cent of the 
meetings held by this Committee to date. 
3. In accordance with the objective of gradually  transferring financial responsibility to the 
countries, beginning with this meeting the financial assistance granted to the countries is again being 
reduced.  Only air travel will be fund ed.  As a result, of the 28 countr ies that are part of the Initiative, 
15, that is to say, 53 per cent, attended this  Committee meeting through capital-based experts. 
4. Since October 2002, the Initiative has facilitated pa rticipation by a total of 223 capital based 
experts from 32 countries.  This has made it possible to strengthen the existing institutional framework or to create a new one, thus promoting th e development or upgrading of an international 
agenda in the countries and coordinating the work of the WTO SPS Committee and that of the three 
international reference organizations (Codex Alimentarius, ICCP and OIE). 
5. For further information, kindly contact:  ricardo.molins@iica.int
 (Ricardo Molins), 
erick.bolanos@iica.int  (Eric Bolaños), or mariela.madrigal@iica.int  (Mariela Madrigal). G/SPS/GEN/835 
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II. IICA-STDF PROJECT 
6. As a follow up to the development of ins titutional capabilities in the countries of the 
Americas, IICA has initiated implementation of  the IICA-STDF-108 project.  For this initial 
information-gathering phase, IICA developed a Perf ormance, Vision and Strategy instrument for 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (PVS-SPS).  This tool is in addition to other versions developed 
earlier by IICA for veterinary services (animal health ), phytosanitary services (plant health) and food 
safety systems. 
7. Implementation of the IICA-STDF- 108 project is being supported by the six countries that are 
also members of the SPS Initiative for the Amer icas Steering Group (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, 
Chile, Mexico, United States of America). 
8. In this initial phase, institutional performance in addressing the SPS international agendas in 
28 countries will be characterized.  The countries will also be able to identify their needs and 
strengths from the institutional a nd international standpoints. 
9. Application of the SPS-PVS instrument in the countries will make it possible to obtain 
information broken down into three fundamental  components.  These components have several 
competencies that represent actions or processes that  enable the countries to develop and administer 
an SPS national and interna tional agenda adequately. 
10. The three fundamental component s and their competencies are: 
(a) Ability of the national service to enlist the cooperation and active participation of the 
private sector in the implementation of programmes and activities. 
• Information 
 
• External and internal communication 
 
• Official representation 
 
• Coordination mechanisms 
 
• Coordination between the capital and the Mission in Geneva 41st meeting of the WTO 
SPS Committee : 
• 20 countries supported 
• 20 capital-based experts 
participating 
 
The full programme: 
• 17 meetings supported 
• 223 specialists involved 
• 32 countries benefited 
• 6 countries on the Steering Group 
• Countries upgrade their 
institutional framework Reuniones del Comitè M SF de la OM C asistidas por 
la Iniciativa en M SF para las Amèricas
No 
asistidas
24 (59%)Asistidas
17  ( 4 1%)Meetings of the WTO SPS Committee that have been 
attended under the SPS Initiative for the Americas 
Attended 
17 (41%) 
Not attended 
24 (59%)  G/SPS/GEN/835 
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• Relevance of the topic 
 
(b) Ability and degree of authority of the national services to promote access to 
international markets and retain them. 
• Compliance with regulatory standards 
 
• Setting of regulatory standards 
 
• Harmonization 
 
• Transparency 
 
• Technical cooperation and special and differential treatment 
 
(c) Institutional and financial sustainability  based on available human and economic 
resources. 
• Updating 
 
• Technical independence 
 
• Financial and technical resources 
 
• Human resources devoted to SPS issues 
 11. For further information, kindly contact:  ricardo.molins@iica.int
 (Ricardo Molins), 
erick.bolanos@iica.int  (Eric Bolaños), or mariela.madrigal@iica.int  (Mariela Madrigal). 
III. TRAINING PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE 
THREE INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE ORGANIZATIONS 
12. Four regional courses (Southern, Andean, Centra l and Caribbean IICA regions) on each of the 
standard-development processes of the Codex Alimen tarius, the OIE and the IPPC will be conducted 
as part of the training programme developed by  IICA on SPS.  The courses on the OIE will be 
conducted in May, those on the Codex in June, and t hose on the IPPC in July or August.  Each course 
will be taught in 32 countries of the Americas and the expectation is to provide training for a total of 
20 specialists per country, 10 of whom would be from the public sector and the other 10 from the 
private sector.  IICA's new Distance Training Center will be used for the courses, which will be taught 
by staff members from the Codex, the OIE and the IPPC via Internet from IICA Headquarters in Costa Rica.  For further information, kindly contact:  ricardo.molins@iica.int
 (Ricardo Molins). 
IV. SPECIFIC ACTIONS BY COUNTRY OR REGION 
13. IICA and the Standing Veterinary Committee of the South (SVC), which groups the heads of 
veterinary services of Argentina, Chile, Brazil,  Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, renewed their 
cooperation agreement for strengthening ties between the two organizations over the next two years.  
The SVC is the highest official animal health entity in the region. 
14. IICA participated in a national work session in Panama where technical cooperation needs 
and priorities in food safety and quality were di scussed.  Technical coopera tion areas established by G/SPS/GEN/835 
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  the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), th e Regional International Organization for Plant 
Protection and Animal Health (OIRSA) and IICA were presented.  A work plan for the biennium 2008-2009 to promote joint action by the organizations was prepared. 
15. On 8 and 9 November 2007, IICA supported the event "Sanitary Control of Cattle in  
Ecuador" organized by the Ministry of Agricultu re, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries.  
Participants in this event incl uded specialists from FAO, PAHO and Colombia's private sector.  IICA 
made a presentation on the importance of sanitary  control based on the upgrading of veterinary 
services. 
16. IICA and USDA-APHIS organized a workshop on  Emergency Preparedness and Response in 
Miami, Florida, from 26 to 30 November.  Partic ipants included representatives from the veterinary 
services and health sector of Belize, Barbados , Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and 
Saint Lucia.  Technical subjects, such as the Incident Command System methodology were explained and discussed and the representatives of each c ountry described their emergency plans. 
17. On 5 and 6 November 2007, IICA contributed  to the National Traceability Workshop in 
Honduras, in which the public and private sectors join ed forces to structure a nation-wide traceability 
system for those agricultural chains that are most important to trade. 
18. From 14 to 16 November, IICA provided suppor t for the Second Subregional Workshop on 
Geographic Risk Analysis of Avian Flu for Countries of Central America, held in Guatemala City.  
The workshop was organized jointly by PAHO, the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID), IICA and OIRSA.  Personnel from the government sector working on epidemiological surveillance received training in the use of software for standardization of geo 
referencing. 
19. From 19 to 23 November, IICA conducted a mu lti-purpose cooperation mission to Uruguay.  
The mission was conducted with a view to the future  application of the PVS instrument on food safety 
and distribution of educational material on food  safety basics through the Uruguayan primary school 
system. 
20. The Joint FAO/IICA Regional Workshop on Enhanc ing Food Safety in the Tourism Sector 
through the Application of Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control 
Point (HACCP) was held in Bridgetown, Barbados, fr om 7 to 9 November 2007.  Twenty participants 
from ten countries and from the public and private sectors received training that was based on new FAO guidelines for the use of HACCP proce dures in small or developing businesses. 
21. IICA provided logistic support to the nationa l SPS workshops conducted by the WTO in 
Costa Rica and Belize in January and March 2008, respectively. 
22. The project documents on modernization of  the National Animal Quality and Health 
Service (SENACSA) of Paraguay and the National An imal Health Service (SENASA) of Costa Rica 
were completed, as was a project profile on modern ization of Jamaica's veterinary service, following 
application of the PVS in all three countries, a nd the evaluation of these services in Costa Rica and 
Jamaica by the OIE.  In addition, a project for m odernization of the National Plant and Seed Quality 
and Health Service (SENAVE) in Paraguay is currently being prepared. 
23. Three PVS instruments (veterinary, plant hea lth and food safety services) were applied in 
Argentina;  the food safety PVS instrument was a pplied in Paraguay, and the veterinary services PVS 
instrument was applied in several Brazilian states.  G/SPS/GEN/835 
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  V. SUPPORT FOR THE DISSEMINA TION OF INFORMATION 
24. IICA uses several bulletins and communicati on systems to promote an exchange of 
information on the SPS and on the work accomplishe d by the WTO, the relevant international 
organizations and the regional organizations. 
25. The electronic bulletin CODEX-MSF Foro de Opinión  (CODEX-SPS Opinion Forum) 
focuses on developments in the Codex Alimenta rius and the WTO SPS Committee.  The bulletin 
publicizes and analyses standards and ongoing de velopments, and its purpose is to increase 
communication and the study of these topics.  Its main clientele consists of countries in South 
America, but it is available to all members at www.iica.org.ar .  For further information, kindly 
contact:  mlfonalleras@iica.org.ar  (Lourdes Fonalleras). 
26. The AGRIHEALTH  information system focuses on the distribution of information related to 
agricultural health and food safety, in particular standards developed and actions carried out in the 
WTO and the international reference organizations.  This information system is currently launching 
an observatory on emerging issues and emergencies in  the areas of animal and plant health and food 
safety (www.agrihealth.ws  for English and www.infoagro.net/salud  for Spanish).  For further 
information, kindly contact:  ericka.calderon@iica.int  (Ericka Calderón). 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety 
http://www.infoagro.net/salud  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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