WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1082 
5 April 2011 
 (11-1696) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON SPS-RELATED RECENT AND FORTHCOMING  
ASSISTANCE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES 
(PERIOD COVERED:  NOVEMBER 2010 – MARCH 2011) 
 
Statement by the International Trade Center (ITC) at the Meeting 
 
Held on 30-31 March 2011  
   The following communication, received on 25 Marc h 2011, is being circulated at the request 
of ITC
. 
 
_______________ 
 
 A. P
ROJECTS  
Central Asia (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) 
1. The projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (SECO), have  started their third phase in September 2009.  
The overall objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainable expansion and diversification of 
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  exports in Tajikistan through increasing the 
competitiveness of the textile and clothing in dustry and improving the quality management 
infrastructure of the country. 
2. The specific objective in the areas of TBT a nd SPS is to improve the capacity of SQAM1, 
TBT and SPS bodies and the regulatory infrastructure.   
Tajikistan 
3. Two laboratories for food and agricultural products  of Tajikstandart (the national standards 
body) have been accredited by DAkkS, the German national accreditation body. 
4. The National Notification Authority for TBT and SPS, as well as the National Enquiry Points 
for TBT and SPS, have been established. 
5. Meetings were held with vari ous stakeholders in November  2010 to initiate the study to 
streamline the SPS infrastructure and to obtain inform ation about the current situation.  This study, 
which focuses on food safety regulatory activities, w ill identify areas of duplication and gaps in the 
food safety control system and formulate options for the re-organisation of regulatory activities 
among agencies to provide a more streamlined, cohe rent and non-duplicative approach to control of 
food safety in Tajikistan.  It appears that there is  no overlap or duplication in the areas of animal and 
plant health. 
                                                      
 1 SQAM:  Standards, Quality Assu rance, Metrology and Accreditation G/SPS/GEN/1082 
Page 2  
 
  Kyrgyzstan 
6. The Kyrgyz Accreditation Centre (the national accreditation body) is now ready for pre-peer 
evaluation by the International Laboratory Accreditati on Cooperation, which will take place this year. 
7. Information about the "Implementation and Ad ministration of the Agreement on Technical 
Barriers to Trade" submitted to WTO in 2000 will be  revised to take account of developments since 
then and the revised version will be communicated to WTO.  Information about the current National 
Notification Authority and the National Enquiry Po int for SPS will be communi cated to WTO, as the 
WTO website indicates the previous NNA and NEP. 
8. Meetings were held with vari ous stakeholders in November  2010 to initiate the study to 
streamline the SPS infrastructure and to obtain inform ation about the current situation.  This study, 
which will focus on food safety regulatory activities,  will identify areas of duplication and gaps in the 
food safety control system and formulate options for the re-organisation of regulatory activities 
among agencies to provide a more streamlined, cohe rent and non-duplicative approach to control of 
food safety in Kyrgyzstan.  Consultations with some donors indicated that it would not be productive for ITC to seek to intervene in th e areas of animal and plant health .  There were major initiatives in 
the area of animal health.  Furthermore, no information was received that indicated overlap or 
duplication of functions in the areas of animal and plant health. 
STDF/PG/172:  "Expanding Nigeria's export of sesame seeds and sheanut/butter through 
improved SPS capacity building for private and public sector" 
 
9. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is the implementing agency of the project 
with ITC as supervisory agency.  The project is expe cted to end by October 2012.  An ITC planning 
mission took place from 24 to 26 January 2011, that he lped clarify the roles and responsibilities of all 
parties and the contract obligations with STDF/WT O and plan the project activities.  A meeting was 
convened with all the stakeholders involved in th e project on 26 January 2011, where evaluation was 
done of the progress made and solutions proposed fo r addressing any constraints.  Project activities 
have started.  The study of the socio-economic ch aracterization of shea and sesame production and the 
supply chain in Nigeria is ongoing.  The draft pr oject website has been uploaded (www.sesame-shea-
stdf172.org.ng).  A six-month progress report (O ctober 2010 – March 2011) is due for submission to 
STDF by 15 April 2011.   
All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme - Samoa 
 10. Assistance was provided to Samoa under the All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme, 
funded by the European Commission, which targets agricultural commodity sectors in ACP countries.  
In October 2010, workshops were conducted on "I mplementing Food Safety Management Systems - 
ISO 22000" and "Initiating documentation for ISO 22000".  Seven enterprises were visited and 
provided initial assistance to start implementing an ISO 22000 food safety management system.  
Three trainers-cum-counsellors were also being trai ned to ensure sustainability at the end of the 
project in December 2011.   
11. In March 2011, a workshop was conducted on "Hazard Analysis and Categorization of 
Control Measures". 
Guinea 
12. Assistance was provided to five small pilot enterprises under the project on "Strengthening 
capability for international trade in the agro-processing sector", f unded by the Agence Française de  G/SPS/GEN/1082 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Développement.  They were advised on technical im provements in their processes, calculation of the 
price of their products and on business plans.   The latter has been submitted for funding. 
B. OTHER ITC  PROJECTS OF INTEREST  
Non-Tariff Measures project 
 13. ITC assists countries to better understand the obstacl es to trade experienced by their business 
sectors when complying with non-tariff measures (NTM).   In this regard, ITC continued launching the 
NTM surveys in a number of countries including Kenya and Mauritius.  NTM workshops were held in 
two countries where the survey had been complete d, namely Burkina Faso (8 November 2010) and 
Sri Lanka (22 November 2010).  An STDF secretari at staff member attended the workshop in Sri 
Lanka.  During the workshops, a number of recomme ndations were made on technical barriers to 
trade, SPS, and TBT, amongst others.  In Burkina Faso, the need to streamline SPS infrastructure was 
identified.  There was also a need  for accreditation of the Laboratoire National de Santé Publique.  In 
Sri Lanka, the project included developing capability  of a designated trade support institution to 
provide comprehensive information on technical requirements in export markets in a friendly and 
easy-to-understand language, and to keep track of new developments.  ITC continues to follow up 
with its local partners. 
For more information about NTM project, please contact
: 
Ms Poonam Mohun, ITC, NTM Market Analyst, Market Analysis and Research Tel:  +41 22 730 0277 - Fax:  +41 22 730 0577 – E-mail:  mohun@intracen.org
 
 
Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) 
 
14. Exporters, producers and retailers can now compar e dozens of different voluntary standards in 
one place.  The ITC new Standards Map website ( www.standardsmap.org ) is the first comprehensive 
database on voluntary standards such as Fairtrade, Fo rest Stewardship Council, Marine Stewardship 
Council, GlobalG.A.P and others. 
15. The standards Map covers voluntary or "priva te" standards developed by non-governmental 
organizations and private entities.  Compliance w ith these standards is not legally required by 
governments or regulations, but it could lead to more sustainable environmental practices or 
potentially open up new markets.   
16. The standards Map was set up by ITC as pr ivate standards experienced unprecedented 
growth, becoming in many cases de facto requirement s for southern exporters wishing to enter 
developed country markets.  Accompanying this gr owth is an increasing need for information and 
transparency.   
17. There are currently 30 standards or codes of conduct available for comparison on the website.  
These standards operate in more than 140 countries and collectively certify or verify over 60 product 
groups.  Additional standards will be continually adde d to the website.  The website will be translated 
into Spanish and French by the end of April 2010.   
For more information about T4SD, please contact : 
Joseph Wozniak, Programme Manager (wozniak@intracen.org). 
 G/SPS/GEN/1082 
Page 4  
 
  ACCESS! Programme 
18. The ACCESS! Programme, initiated under the Canadian-funded Programme for building 
African Capacities for Trade (PACT), is a gender-fo cused, regional trade support programme aimed at 
improving the trade support services offered to Afri can businesswomen in international trade, with a 
view to promoting their economic empowerment.   
19. The ACCESS! programme's Business Counselling co mponent was started in partnership with 
Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL) and the Center for African Women Economic Empowerment (CAWEE), the ACCESS! Focal  Point (AFP) institutions in Uganda and 
Ethiopia, to provide post-training assistance, coaching and business counselling services to participating women entrepreneurs, and will run over the course of the year 2011.  Meanwhile, 
19 AFPs (including UWEAL and CAWEE) have fi nalised their national ACCESS! Export Training 
implementation plan which will be implemente d during 2011 starting in the second quarter. 
OIF - ToT programme 
20. ITC and Organisation Internationale de la Fran cophonie (OIF) jointly organised a Training of 
Trainers programme in Cameroon on "Improving and Maintaining Market Access through standards 
and conformity assessment" from 7 to 14 December 2010.  Seventeen trainers from ECCAS countries 
(Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Centra l African Republic, Congo) were trained.  They 
are now equipped to conduct national traini ng workshops in 2011 in this area.   
C. J
OINT ITC-ISO  WORKSHOP ON "LINKING TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS AND 
NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES FOR EXPORT SUCCESS " AND JOINT ITC-ISO  PUBLICATION 
ON THE SAME TOPIC  
21. ITC and ISO jointly organized a regional three-day workshop on "Linking Trade Promotion 
Organizations (TPOs) and National Standards B odies (NSBs) for Export Success", hosted by the 
Oficina Nacional de Normalizacion (NC) in coll aboration with the Centro de Promoción del 
Comercio Exterior y la Inversión Extranjera de  Cuba (CEPEC), in Havana, Cuba from 24 to 26 
November, 2010. 
22. Some 40 senior officials from NSBs and TPO s representing 22 countries from regions of 
South America, Caribbean and Central America e xplored how linkages between TPOs and NSBs can 
be strengthened to improve the international comp etitiveness of enterprises and developed joint action 
plans.  The joint ISO-ITC publication "Buildi ng Linkages for Export Success" was well received by 
delegates and considered a useful foundation to su pport the delivery of the workshop.  This handbook 
is available in English, French and Spanish a nd can be downloaded as PDF from the ISO and ITC 
websites2.  Hard copies can be ordered through the IT C and ISO websites respectively.  The Swedish 
International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)  partly funded the regional workshop.  A joint 
ISO-ITC article on this event will be featur ed in the April issue of the ISO Focus. 
23. ITC and ISO are planning to organise a third event for the Anglophone countries in Africa in 
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on 21-23 June 2011.  This  event follows on from the first two such regional 
events organized in Malaysia in December 2009, and in Cuba in November 2010.  The event will be 
hosted by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS ) in cooperation with Tanzania Trade Development 
Authority (TanTrade). 
                                                      
 2 http://www.intracen.org/eqm/  (click on "Handbook and Bulletins") 
  G/SPS/GEN/1082 
 Page 5 
 
 
  ITC International Trade Forum Magazine - Issu e 3, 2010 Quality & Standards (available in 
English, French and Spanish) 
24. The Quality & Standards magazine issued in E nglish in October 2010 is now available also in 
French and Spanish.  It looks at standards and qualit y and their role for the promotion of exports from 
developing countries.  Online version is available at http://www.tradeforum.org  
For more information : 
Shyam K.  Gujadhur, ITC Senior Adviser on Standards and Quality Management 
Tel:  +41 22 730 03 96;  Fax:  +41 22 730 05 76;  E-mail:  gujadhur@intracen.org  
Ludovica Ghizzoni, ITC Adviser on Enterprise Value Chain, Export Quality Management  
Tel:  +41 22 730 06 38;  Fax:  +41 22 730 05 76;  E-mail:  ghizzoni@intracen.org  
Web address:  http://www.intracen.org/eqm ;  E-mail:  quality@intracen.org 
 
__________