RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/R/45 
12 September 2007 
 (07-3810) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
SUMMARY OF THE MEETING OF 27-28 JUNE 2007 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
Table of Contents
 
 
Page   
I.
 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA.............................................................................................3  
II. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON ..........................................................................................3  
III. ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS.................................................................................................3  
IV. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS ...........................................................................................5  
(a) New issues ..................................................................................................................... .............5  
(b) Issues previous ly raised ....................................................................................................... .......8  
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received.......................................................................10  
(d) Information on resolution of issues...........................................................................................1 1 
V. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS........................................................12  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................12  
(b) SPS Information Management System .....................................................................................14  
VI. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ................14  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................14  
(b) Use of G/SPS/33 ................................................................................................................ .......16  
VII. EQUIVALENCE.................................................................................................................... .17 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences .....................................................................17  
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations....................................................................17  
VIII.  ARTICLE  6- PEST OR DISEASE FREE AREA ...............................................................17  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................17  
(b) Information from Members....................................................................................................... 19 
(c) Information from relevant  observer organizations....................................................................19  
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. G/SPS/R/45 
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  IX.
 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ................................................................................................20  
(a) Information from the Secretariat............................................................................................... 20 
(b) Information from Members....................................................................................................... 21 
(c) Information from observers ..................................................................................................... .21 
(d) Best practices for SPS technical assi stance...............................................................................23  
X. OTHER ISSUES ARISING FROM THE REVIEW OF THE OPERATION OF 
THE SPS AGREEMENT.......................................................................................................24  
(a) Use of ad hoc consultations .................................................................................................... ..24 
(b) Relationship between the SPS Committ ee and Codex, IPPC and OIE.....................................25  
XI. COMMERCIAL AND PR IVATE STANDARDS ...............................................................27  
XII. MONITORING THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS..................................29  
(a) New issues ..................................................................................................................... ...........29  
(b) Issues previous ly raised ....................................................................................................... .....30  
(c) Adoption of annual report...................................................................................................... ...30 
XIII.  MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................................................................30  
XIV.  OBSERVERS – REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS ..................................................32  
XV. CALENDAR OF MEETINGS FOR 2008 ............................................................................32  
XVI.  OTHER BUSINESS................................................................................................................3 2 
XVII.  DATE AND AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING..................................................................32  
  G/SPS/R/45 
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  I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "Committee") held its thirty-
ninth meeting on 27-28 June 2007.  The agenda proposed  for this meeting, circulated on 15 June 2007 
(WTO/AIR/3036), was adopted with amendments. 
II. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON 
2. The Committee elected Mr. Marinus Huige of  the Netherlands by acclamation to be 
Chairperson during 2007-2008.  The Committee expressed its appreciation to the former Chairperson, 
Mr. Juan Antonio Dorantes of Mexico.   
III. ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS 
Canada  - "Controlled BSE risk" classification 
 3. The representative of Canada reported on the recent official recognition by the World 
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) of Canada as a "controlled risk" country for BSE.  This was 
based on a comprehensive assessment of Canada's B SE risk mitigation, surveillance and eradication 
measures.  OIE members strongly endorsed both the process of OIE risk categorization and the 
outcomes of that process.  The representative of Canada further noted that as Canada had already 
controlled the risk of BSE, Canada's ultimate goal was the complete eradication of the disease.  To 
accelerate that eradication, on 12 July 2007, Ca nada would enhance its current feeding ban to 
eliminate all specified risk material from all animal feeds, fertilizers and pet foods.  This enhanced 
feed ban would further bolster the comprehensiv e suite of measures Cana da had implemented to 
control and eradicate BSE and to assure public and animal health protection from exposure to the 
agent of BSE.  In light of this, Canada requested  that all trading partners remove any remaining 
restrictions on the importation of Canadian ca ttle, cattle genetics, meat and meat products. 
Saudi Arabia – Inauguration of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority 
 
4. The representative of Saudi Arabia reported that  the Saudi Food and Drug Authority had been 
established in 2003 as an independent body.  The main  objective of the Authority was to ensure the 
safety of food for human and animal consumpti on, as well as the safety of drugs and of medical 
equipment used to treat humans and animals.  This  leading regional authority should provide excellent 
services to ensure the protection of health of Sa udi Arabia's public.  The Authority develops and 
enforces an appropriate regulatory system, that app lies throughout the food chain.  More specifically, 
it develops strategies for food quality and safety,  reviews and upgrades existing legislation, and 
harmonizes Saudi requirements with the relevant inte rnational standards.  The Authority develops 
technical regulations for food, feed and pesticid es, hygienic practices,  rules and procedures for 
analysis.  It is also responsible for implem enting regulations, including through the testing and 
analysis of food, water and feed for conformity with technical regulations, as well as for promoting 
training programmes, including for the testing of  pesticides. 
Panama - Freedom from classical swine fever 
 
5. The representative of Panama reported that hi s country had achieved freedom from classical 
swine fever, in accordance with Chap ter 2.6.7 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the OIE.  
There was no evidence of any cases of classical swin e fever in Panama since 1962, and since then a 
series of monitoring and surveillance procedures had been introduced to reduce the risk of the disease 
entering into the country.  The details of Panama's programmes are provided in document 
G/SPS/GEN/783. G/SPS/R/45 
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  Bolivia - End of FMD outbreak 
 
6. The representative of Bolivia reported on the end of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) 
outbreak which had occurred in the city of Santa Cruz.  Among the measures which had been implemented to end the outbreak was the introductio n of vaccination in certain areas of the country, 
restrictions of movement of animals and other v ectors, disinfection of vehicles, strengthening of 
control points, and special measures to protect disease -free areas.  Bolivia gave priority to the goal of 
achieving the recognition of FMD freedom from the OIE, and the re-opening of export markets in Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador.  Discussions and th e exchange of information with the Colombian 
authorities was still continuing.  The representative of Bolivia stressed the level of transparency of his 
authorities during the outbreak, and their commitment to inform and cooperate with their trading 
partners.  
Brazil – FMD situation 
 
7. The representative of Brazil reported that the stat e of Santa Catarina had been recognized as 
free of FMD without vaccination by the OIE.  This was the result of much coordinated work for many 
years, involving both the government and the priv ate sector.  Santa Catarina had stopped FMD 
vaccination more than seven years ago, and had devel oped very effective veterinary services to ensure 
the situation remained under control.  Brazil hoped that these efforts would be compensated by 
increased market access abro ad.  Santa Catarina also had a gr eat potential for pork production. with 
more than 5 million animals, providing about 45 per cent of Brazil's exports of pork.  The state of 
Santa Catarina was also free of FMD and classical swine fever, as well as free of African swine fever 
and swine vesicular disease.  
8. The representative of Brazil noted that the Centra l-South region of Parana was also free of 
FMD.  In Mato Grosso do Sul, the areas affected  by FMD outbreaks were under strict control, and 
Brazil was fully implementing the OIE recommendations in that area in cooperation with 
neighbouring countries. 
China – Management of export food safety 
 
9. The representative of China reported that his government was taking active and effective 
measures to ensure food safety, using a "stable to  table" comprehensive control system for food 
safety.  China had taken measures to effectively d eal with the recent food safety problems, and would 
continue to be active, sincere and cooperative in th e WTO.  In the case of pet food contaminated with 
melamine, China had cooperated fully with US authorities, suspended the production and exports 
from the implicated companies, recalled their products, and imposed punishments according to 
China's regulations.  Requirements for the testing for melamine and special inspection on misuse of 
melamine had been introduced.   
10. The representative of China indicated that China had nine laws and 18 regulations covering 
food safety, with over 660 food safety and health st andards, 590 inspection and quarantine standards.  
Federal ministries had subordinate agencies to help ensure enforcement.  China's General 
Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspec tion and Quarantine (AQSIQ) had 500 subordinate 
bureaus all over China as well as a large number of laboratories.  Food producing companies had to register, and the quarantine authorities monitored th eir management of food safety, which was subject 
to labelling, export inspection and certification re quirements.  China exported to over 200 countries 
and regions, and considered that its export food saf ety system was 99 per cent safe.  However, China 
recognized the need for all Members to strengthen co operation and coordination to ensure food safety, 
and was willing to share inform ation with trading partners.  G/SPS/R/45 
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  Costa Rica - Exports of ornamental plants to the United States 
 
11. The representative of Costa Rica reported on  a pilot programme for the inspection and 
certification of Dracaena spp. ornamental plants fo r export to the United States, known as the Clean 
Stock Program.  The programme had three components:  research to identify pests and develop 
effective integrated pest management;  traceability  and inspection to minimize risks;  and public 
information through publications, workshops, and the creation of a website.  Technical support for the 
programme came from the Costa Rican government and private sector, and from the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US De partment of Agriculture.  The programme was 
designed to run for three years: 2005-2008, financed  by Costa Rica.  The objective was to enable 
Costa Rica to secure and maintain  access to the US market and to achieve a significant annual 
increase in its exports of this type of propa gative material while improving its competitiveness vis-à-
vis international markets.  More details on the programme are provided in document G/SPS/GEN/784. 
IV. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS 
(a) New issues 
Trade restrictions related to national systems fo r determining maximum residue levels (MRLs) for 
pesticides – Concerns of Argentina  
 
12. The representative of Argentina raised the c oncern that a number of Members establish 
maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides at leve ls that are more restrictive to trade than the 
levels established by the Codex.  These lower MRLs  had a particularly nega tive impact on developing 
countries, since they often concerned some of the older pesticides on the market.  The prices for older 
pesticides were usually lower than for the newest products, in particular for those products no longer 
under patent protection.  Argentina considered th at these Members were not taking into account their 
obligations under the SPS Agreement,  in particular under Article 10.1.  Argentina was also concerned 
regarding the review and maintena nce of Codex MRLs for older pesticides, an issue they addressed 
under the agenda item on monitoring the use of international standards.  
13. Many Members shared Argentina's concern and stressed that MRLs which were not based on 
those established by Codex should not be maintained  without appropriate scientific justification as 
required by the SPS Agreement.  Several suggested that the Committee should analyze the use of and 
deviations from international standards, to ensure  that SPS measures did not present disguised barriers 
to trade for products from developing countries.   
14. The representative of the Codex noted that the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues had 
recently adopted new procedures to allow more ra pid development of MRLs.  If the necessary data 
were available, it should usually take no more th an two years for Codex to establish MRLs for a 
pesticide in various products. 
China's zero tolerance for pathogens on raw meat and poultry products – Concerns of the 
United States 
 
15. The representative of the United States indicated  that her country had for many years been 
concerned that China maintained an unrealistic ze ro tolerance level for pathogens in raw meat and 
poultry products.  This requirement far exceeded the international standards;  was more trade 
restrictive than necessary;  and lacked scientific ju stification.  The United States was also concerned 
that while several US poultry plants had been de- listed because of this requirement, a similar zero 
tolerance was apparently not app lied to Chinese-produced products.   G/SPS/R/45 
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  16. The representative of China observed that this i ssue had been previously  discussed bilaterally 
and would again be addressed at a meeting scheduled  for September.   The requirement that food be 
free from microbiological contamination applied both  to imported and domestic products.  Health 
problems relating to microbiological contaminati on had occurred in the United States, such as the 
situation involving spinach, and many Members had similar requirements to protect the health and 
safety of consumers.   
El Salvador's zero tolerance fo r salmonella in poultry and eggs – Concerns of the United States 
17. The representative of the United States raised c oncerns about El Salva dor's zero tolerance of 
Salmonella in poultry and eggs, and the required certificate attestations.  This requirement did not 
have a scientific justification, and also rais ed some concerns regarding national treatment.  
El Salvador had not as yet provided informati on requested by the United States regarding the 
prevalence of Salmonella in poultry and eggs in El Salvador, nor on domestic t esting for Salmonella.  
Despite bilateral discussions of the prob lem, no resolution had been reached.   
18. The representative of El Salvador stressed his country's willingness to continue to seek a 
resolution of this problem bilaterally.  He inv ited the Untied States to submit their request and  
questions in writing, for consideration by his authorities.  
India's export certification requirements for dai ry products – Concerns of the United States 
 
19. The representative of the United States stated that India had imposed a number of certification 
requirements on imported dairy products that were  trade prohibitive and lacked any scientific 
justification.  These requirements also raised qu estions regarding national treatment.  There was a 
long history with over 40 years of exports of US dairy products to India with no  reported violations of 
Indian safety standards.  Although the United Stat es had proposed certificate language to India in 
October 2006, no progress had been made towards the resolution of this problem.  
20. The representative of India observed that the prot ocol in place in India established limits for 
contaminants that were in accord ance with Codex standards,.  His authorities were still studying the 
US comments on India's protocol for dairy products. 
India's avian influenza restrictions  – Concerns of the United States  
 
21. The representative of the United States noted that India was banning poultry, swine and other 
products in response to the detection of low pathogeni c avian influenza in wild birds in some parts of 
the United States.  These restrictions far exceeded the standards developed by the OIE for the control 
of avian influenza.  India failed to apply the con cept of regionalization to the United States.  India 
applied its ban against US products although no in cident of highly pathogenic avian influenza had 
occurred in the United States;  applied its ban to prod ucts that had been treated or processed in such a 
manner that the avian influenza virus was killed;  and applied its ban to species and products from 
animals that were not known to transmit the virus.   Although India had recently notified a change to 
its measures to allow the entry of dry processed pet food, it continued to pr ohibit other heat-treated 
pet foods that posed no animal health risk. 
22. The representative of the European Communities observed that they had similar concerns 
regarding India's measures.  Although they had been seeking to resolve the matter bilaterally, 
problems continued to appear and reappear.  He  urged all Members to apply the international 
standards, to ensure that the measures applied were  proportionate to the risks.  India's measure was 
applied even to products that had never been know n to transmit avian influenza, including pork meat.  G/SPS/R/45 
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  23. The representative of India noted that high or low pathogenic strains of avian influenza had 
been reported in more than 60 countries, and hi s authorities were concerned that the virus was 
spreading.  The virus had important human health im plications, given its high fatality rate.  India had 
experienced an outbreak of highly pathogenic av ian influenza in 2006 which had been successfully 
contained, and the country was now free of the di sease.  India was trying to safeguard animal and 
human health in its territory, and protect its fam ily-run poultry industry.  It therefore banned imports 
of poultry from any country which had experienced an outbreak of avian influenza, whether highly 
pathogenic or low pathogenic.  The United States had reported an outbreak of low pathogenic avian 
influenza.  Countries free from avian influenza c ould export livestock to India, and pathogen-free 
eggs for vaccine production were permitted from any country, regardl ess of its avian influenza status.  
Because many wild birds visited India, this was a v ector of concern.  With regard to pet food, India 
had revised its health protocol notified in June 2007, and would take into account the comments made 
on this matter.  
El Salvador's animal health requirements for poultry meat – Concerns of the United States 
 
24. The representative of the United States was concer ned that El Salvador required that imported 
uncooked poultry meat be sourced from farms free of a number of diseases.  This requirement exceeded the OIE standards, as many of the diseases identified were cosmopo litan in nature and not 
known to be transmissible via poultry meat.  El Sa lvador's measure was therefore without scientific 
justification. 
25. The representative of El Salvador observed that there had been bilateral meetings with US 
officials, at which some protocol s had been agreed for certain produc ts.  He requested that the United 
States provide its requests and comments in writing. 
China's application of regionalization and proh ibition of bovine meat – Concerns of Brazil 
26. The representative of Brazil indicated that China continued to prohibit meat products that had 
been treated to prevent the potential spread of FM D and furthermore failed to apply the concept of 
regionalization in accordance with Article 6 of th e SPS Agreement.  China had not notified these 
measures;  Brazilian exporters learned of them only when shipments were bloc ked.  Numerous efforts 
to resolve these problems bilaterally had not su cceeded, and China had not responded to Brazil's 
requests for justification.  Brazil requested that Ch ina adjust it requirements to take into account the 
OIE-recognized FMD-free zones, and to remove  restrictions on products whose processing 
inactivated the FMD virus, such as gelatine and dairy products. 
27. The representative of China recalled that there had been an FMD outbreak in Brazil in 2005, 
which led China to impose emergency measures.  Ho wever, progress had been made through bilateral 
consultations.  China had provided a questionnaire to  Brazil with respect to the recognition of FMD-
free zones in June 2006, and had received a reply onl y in March 2007.  This response was now being 
considered by experts in risk assessment to de termine whether a visit was needed to verify 
information.  With regard to the ban on Brazilian beef, China had provided Brazil with draft protocol 
last year, and received some feedback in February  2007.  However, this response was not complete, 
and China was waiting for further reply.  China re mained willing to further discuss this matter with 
Brazil at the technical expert level, as good and e fficient cooperation was required to resolve the issue 
quickly. G/SPS/R/45 
Page 8  
 
  (b) Issues previously raised 
Australia's import restrictions on New Zealand  apples – Concerns of New Zealand (no. 217– 
G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7)  
28. The representative of New Zealand recalled that  this dispute over access to the Australian 
market was long-running.  Since Australia had concl uded its import risk analysis process by issuing a 
Final Policy Determination on 27 March 2007, New Zealand had been closely engaged with 
Australian authorities in negotiating standard ope rating procedures to implement in practice the 
requirements prescribed by Australia.  New Zealand considered that these requirements and measures were scientifically unjustified and inconsistent with the SPS Agreement, however New Zealand had 
been negotiating a work plan and standard operatin g procedures in good faith in order to determine 
precisely what the conditions would be for access of New Zealand apples into Australia.   Whether or not these conditions would permit any commercially m eaningful trade to occur remained to be seen, 
but the restrictions and costs imposed on the NZ industry were unjustified, and New Zealand would 
keep open its options for further action. 
29. The representative of the United States noted that  her country was disappointed by the March 
2007 decision of Australia, which imposed more onerous restrictions on apples than could be 
scientifically justified.  Her country found it partic ularly distressing that Australia failed to take 
account of the available scientific evidence and of the previous legal proceedings, and had decided to 
impose onerous requirements on apples from New Zeal and.  This decision undermined confidence in 
Australia's commitment to ensure th at SPS measures were not maintain ed without sufficient scientific 
evidence. 
30. The representative of Australia reported that considerable progress had been made, as the 
determination of March 2007 woul d permit the importation of apples under certain conditions.  
Australia was working to permit trade to commence in 2008.  The relationship between Australia and 
New Zealand on SPS matters was much broader th an just the apple issue, and Australia was 
committed to continue working with New Z ealand on a wide range of concerns.   
Indonesia's lack of recognition of pest-fre e areas – Concerns of  the United States 
(no. 243 - G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
 
31. The representative of the United States provided an  update on concerns her country had first 
raised in October 2006 regarding In donesia’s Decree 37.  These c oncerns had been only partially 
resolved.  The measure continued to affect US exports of apples, pears and cherries from various 
states.  In May, Indonesia had hosted a meeting of t echnical experts to consider whether the pests at 
issue could in fact become established in Indonesia.   The United States considered that this disruption 
of trade should never have occurred, and looke d for a rapid resolution of the problem.   
32. The representative of Indonesia clarified that Indonesia prohibited the importation of fruit and 
vegetables only from countries which had fruit flies th at did not exist in Indonesia and which could 
cause damage if introduced.  The products must come  from pest free areas in accordance with ISPM 
26, or else the fruits and vegetables must undergo suita ble treatment.  Indonesia had transmitted to the 
United States the list of fruit flies that were presen t in the United States but not present in Indonesia.  
Indonesia authorities had conducted on site inspection in  the United States to ve rify the Mediterranean 
fruit fly free areas, and although the situation was encouraging, Indonesia considered that grape 
imports posed too high a risk.  Furthermore, apple maggots did not exist in Indonesia, and as the 
United States could not meet the requirements of a pest-free area according to ISPM 26, apples had to 
be treated by vapour heat treatment, cold treatment  or fumigation.  Trappi ng had shown that apple 
maggots were still present in pest free areas of the United States.  Contrary to US arguments, apple 
maggots could become established in Indonesia since apples were produced at high altitudes with cool  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 9 
 
 
  climates.  Indonesia was looking forward to recei ving further technical information from the United 
States, and to continue bilateral efforts to resolve this concern. 
Australia's revised generic import risk assessment (IRA) for prawns and prawn products – Concerns 
of Thailand and of China (no. 95 – G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
 33. The representative of Thailand expressed serious  concerns about Australia's revised IRA 
process, which was long and unpredictable.  Almost a decade had passed since the first import risk 
analysis had been undertaken by Australia on prawns .  The import risk analysis continued, with no 
conclusion in sight.  In the meantime, Australia had indicated that it would apply stricter measures on 
imports.  This raised concerns that the scientific  information submitted to Australia was not being 
taken into account.  He requested that Australia ke ep the Committee informed of its process, and the 
expected timeline, as well as to report on how the information submitted by Thailand and other 
trading partners was taken into account.  
34. The representative of China shared the concer ns expressed by Thailand.  He recalled the 
concerns raised by China at the previous meeting and maintained that Australia's requirements were 
too stringent, unnecessary, and without scientific. basis.  China had submitted comments, but received 
no response;  it would appreciate information on ho w its comments had been taken into account by 
Australia.  
35. The representative of Viet Nam stressed the importance of the prawn industry to his country 
and the serious consequences of the measures imposed by Australia.  To date, there were no reports of any disease outbreaks related to Vietnamese prawn e xports, hence his authorities had carefully studied 
Australia's draft risk analysis.  Of the five diseases id entified to be of concern in the IRA, three were 
not known to occur in Viet Nam.  The other two di seases were widespread in South East Asia, yet had 
never been introduced into Australia despite year s of prawn imports without the current quarantine 
restrictions.  The risk management measures proposed  in the draft IRA lacked scientific justification 
and would present a serious barrier to trade.  Th e details of the statement by Viet Nam are in 
document G/SPS/GEN/791.  
36. The representatives of the Philippines and Indonesia indicated that they shared the concerns 
of Thailand and China, and urged the Australian au thorities to consider the comments submitted in a 
balanced and speedy manner, and provi de responses to trading partners. 
37. The representative of Australia drew attention to the public consultation period which had 
closed on 21 February 2007.  Australia had reviewed  the large number of submissions received.  All 
submissions were available from Biosecurity Aust ralia's website.  Australia had provided the 
opportunity for all stakeholders to put forward ne w scientific information that may not have been 
considered before the implementation of the revi sed interim measures.  Further consideration was 
required before the Director of Quarantine determ ined whether the interim measures needed to be 
strengthened to achieve Australia's  appropriate level of protection (ALOP).  The IRA would then be 
finalized using the established process, including re view by the Eminent Scientists' Group, and a 
limited possibility for appeal of their decision.  Th e representative anticipated  that further information 
on this matter would be available within the next few weeks. 
Romania's restrictions on pork and poultry pro ducts – Concerns of the United States (no. 245, 
G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7)  
38. The representative of the United States observe d that prior to Romania's accession to the 
European Communities, the United States had su ccessfully exported pork and poultry products to 
Romania.  Since accession, poultry exports had ceased , while exports of pork and red meat had been 
drastically reduced.  Although product imported into Romania was now required to meet EC G/SPS/R/45 
Page 10  
 
  standards, Romanian-produced goods benefited from a derogation until 2009.  This appeared to be a 
direct violation of Article 2 of the SPS Agreement. 
39. The representative of the European Communities observed that the issue had arisen because 
producers in countries which became members of th e European Communities were required to either 
comply with the existing EC regulations or close.   A limited number of Romanian establishments had 
been given a brief derogation while they chose to e ither upgrade their facilities or to close these down.  
The derogation was subject to strict conditions a nd these establishments were permitted to sell their 
products only in Romania.   He requested that  the United States exercise some patience and 
understanding given the low living standards in Roma nia, which had so recently joined the European 
Communities.  The immediate closure of all of these establishments would exacerbate the high 
unemployment situation of Romania. 
Korea's application of regionalization and scientific  standards on bovine and pig meat – Concerns of 
Brazil 
 
40. The representative of Brazil stated that alt hough Korea claimed to accept the concept of 
regionalization in general, it continued to refuse to  apply regionalization in practice for FMD.  This 
was contrary to both the SPS Agreement, and the OI E Code.  If Korea wanted to maintain a measure 
that reflected a higher ALOP than that provided by  the relevant international standard, Korea should 
provide the risk assessment supporting its measur e.  However, Brazil had not received any such 
information from Korea, and there had been no bi lateral progress towards resolving the problem.  
Members should give full weight to the mechanis m for raising specific trade concerns in the 
Committee;  they should seek to resolve these probl ems and to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade. 
41. The representative of Korea noted that an out break of FMD in Korea could bring social 
disruption and cause serious economic damage.  His authorities were engaged in assessing the risk of importing heat-treated beef from all of Brazil, ta king into account the OIE Code.  Korea had sent a 
questionnaire in December 2006, and was awaiting Br azil's response.  His authorities were committed 
to continue bilateral talks to resolv e this concern in a cooperative manner. 
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received 
G/SPS/N/CHN/100 – China's repeal of BSE certificat es for cosmetics - Concerns of the European 
Communities 
 
42. The representative of the European Communiti es expressed appreciation for the important 
changes in China's rules that were notified in G/SPS/CHN/100 and would take effect on 31 August 
2007.  The proposed changes would modify the ma nagement measures for cosmetics imported from 
BSE-infected areas, and repeal the current requirement for an accompanying BSE certificate.  The European Communities welcomed this move from China to adjust it rules to en sure that they were 
scientifically justified and in proportion to the ri sk.  At the same time, the European Communities 
urged China to follow a similar approach for othe r BSE-related measures applied to other bovine 
products, and to bring these into line with international standards. 
43. The representative of China welcomed the pos itive comments of the European Communities 
and agreed that these new measures would facilitate trade through the simplification of the import procedure.    G/SPS/R/45 
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  (d) Information on resolution of issues 
European Communities – Geographical BSE risk assessment (no. 96, G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
European Communities – Transitional TSE meas ures (no.107, G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
  
44. The representative of Canada indicated that hi s authorities considered both of these specific 
trade concerns, numbers 96 and 107, to be resolved as they had been overtaken by the OIE's new risk 
assessment framework and categorization system for BSE risk posed by countries.  The EC 
geographical BSE risk assessment had led to concerns  regarding the consistency of the risk analysis 
and the possibility of reviewing risk assessments  over time.  The EC transitional TSE measures 
resulted in the classification of countries according to four levels of risk, but only recognized two 
levels of risk management.  The OIE had made amendments to the Animal Health Code, which 
updated the risk assessment framework and BSE categor ization.  As previously reported, Canada was 
recognized as a controlled risk country for BSE.  The European Communities had decided to use the 
new OIE standards. 
45. The representative of the European Communities noted that the EC measures on BSE had 
always been intended to be interim measures.  Th e European Communities had clearly indicated that 
the measures would be adapted in light of OIE sta ndards, but that interim measures were required to 
to protect health while the OIE completed its work .   The interim measures had been proportionate, 
fair and science-based, especially when compared to  the measures imposed by other Members.  When 
cases of BSE had occurred in Canada and the United States, the EC measures had not been changed in 
any way, whereas many other Members had im posed unjustified measures.  Now the OIE had 
completed an excellent job in preparing appropria te standards, and the European Communities had 
adapted its measures immediately to ensure full c onformity with the new OIE standards.  This 
modification had already been notified to the SPS Committee, and the representative noted that the 
European Communities was the firs t Member to fully adopt the new OIE Code.  Members had voiced 
their confidence in the international standards earlier, and the European Communities invited all 
Members to quickly adopt the OIE standards on  BSE. 
Japan - Import suspension of heat-treated straw and forage (no. 222, G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
 
46. The representative of China reported that much progress had been made towards the 
resolution of this concern through helpful bilatera l meetings.  China had invited three delegations 
from Japan for inspection, and had provided all rele vant and requested information.  Six Chinese 
enterprises had been approved by Japan to export straw and forage.  The representative of China 
expressed hope that the dozen enterprises still waiting for approval from Japan would soon be 
approved. 
47. The representative of Japan noted that there were  two factors that had to be considered:  the 
control measures and the compliance with control me asures.  Japanese authorities were particularly 
concerned with  how to ensure compliance when ther e had been a history of poor compliance.  On the 
basis of on-site visits, Japan had scheduled expert consultations which had resulted in some lifting of 
the suspensions.  Japan hoped to be able to lif t the suspension soon for other Chinese exporters. 
Panama - Inspection regime for certain agricultu ral products (no. 226, G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.7) 
48. The representative of Costa Rica recalled his c ountry's concerns that Panama's inspection 
regime required double certification of certain produ cts.  Panama had established a new regulation, 
and on the basis of an analysis of this, Costa Rica concluded that its concerns had been  resolved. 
49. The representative of Panama welcomed the assessment by Costa Rica, with which his 
authorities agreed.  G/SPS/R/45 
Page 12  
 
  V. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS 
50. The Chairman drew attention to the most recent list of national notification authorities 
contained in G/SPS/NNA/11/Add.1 and the most recent  list of national enquir y points contained in 
G/SPS/ENQ/21/Add.1.  The notifications received si nce the last meeting of the SPS Committee were 
summarized, on a monthly basis, in G/SPS/GEN/770, G/SPS/GEN/772, G/SPS/GEN/776 and 
G/SPS/GEN/780.  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
51. The Chairman reported that the informal mee ting held on 26 June focused on three specific 
issues:  (i) consideration of the Revised Secretaria t Note regarding the repl ies to the transparency 
questionnaire (G/SPS/GEN/751/Rev.1);  (ii) consideration of the draft programme for the 
transparency workshop to be held in October 2007 (G/SPS/W/210);  and (iii)  consideration of the 
transparency enhancement proposal by Canada (G/SPS/GEN/778). 
52. After an introduction by the Secretariat of th e Revised Secretariat Note and the draft 
programme of the transparency workshop,  one Memb er had proposed that the programme also focus 
on how to best structure an Enquiry Point.  This Member had also indicated the intention to propose 
changes to the notification format. 
53. The Secretariat had indicated that the works hop and the subsequent meeting of the Committee 
would be the appropriate forum to discuss proposed changes to the notification format and suggested 
that any proposal on this issue be submitted by mid-September to allow enough time for 
consideration.  The Secretariat had also invite d suggestions for speakers and called on Members to 
verify that the contact information for their Enqui ry Point and National Notification Authority were 
correct as these entities would be receiving le tters from the WTO announcing the workshop. 
54. The Secretariat was asked to revise the programme in light of the comments received.  
55. The Secretariat had also provided an update  on the SPS Information Management System.  
The internal Secretariat version of the system wa s now operational and the pu blic version would be 
available as of September 2007.  In the meantime , a pilot version of the public version would be 
accessible as of mid-July.  The Secretariat had invited interested delegations to provide their email 
addresses so that they could be alerted once th e pilot version was available for previewing. 
56. Canada had introduced its transparency e nhancement proposal (G/SPS/GEN/778), suggesting 
a revision to the Recommended Procedures for Impl ementing the Transparency  Obligations of the 
SPS Agreement (G/SPS/7/Rev.2).  Cana da had proposed that Members notify all regulations that are 
based on, conform to, or are substantially the same as the content of international standards, if they 
are expected to have a significant effect on trade.  Canada underlined the fact that the mere act of 
changing an SPS measure affected trade and that the S ecretariat Note on the analysis of the replies to 
the transparency questionnaire al so showed that a significant portion of Members supported such a 
proposal. 
57. Several delegations had supporte d the Canadian proposal.  The arguments put forth in favour 
of this proposal included the following:  
(a) The guiding principle on notifications needed  to be the potential impact of new or 
changed measures on trade;   G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 13 
 
 
  (b) Transparency was a surveillance mechan ism and provided predictability.  For 
example, the numerous notifications on th e implementation of ISPM 15 had been 
very useful;  
(c) The proposal would facilitate industry co mpliance and improve communications;  
(d) It was particularly difficult to determine how a proposed measure would deviate from 
some of the more general standards develope d, for example, by the IPPC.  This issue 
was also linked to monitoring the use of international standards.  
58. Several Members had also called for granting a reasonable period of time for the entry into 
force of a new regulation conforming to intern ational standards to allow time for necessary 
adjustments by exporters.   
59. One Member had indicated that the Canadian pr oposal contradicted pa ragraph 5 of Annex B 
on notification procedures, which specifically referre d to cases where an international standard did not 
exist or the content of a proposed regulation was not substantially the same as the content of an 
international standard.  They had legal concerns about modifying the text of the Agreement through 
this proposal. 
60. Another Member had pointed out the potentia l increased burden on developing countries, 
which were already having difficulties in filtering and commenting on notifications.  Considering the 
administrative burden of the proposal and with a vi ew to maintaining coherence, a Member inquired 
about similar notification procedures at the re levant international standard-setting bodies. 
61. The Secretariat had clarified that the SPS Committee could not change the SPS Agreement; 
that could only be done by the Ministerial Conf erence, most likely thro ugh a recommendation from 
the SPS Committee. What the SPS Committee could do was to enhance the implementation of the 
Agreement.  Earlier decisions of the Committee with  this objective in mind had included the adoption 
of notification procedures on submission of addend a, on equivalence arrangements and on S&D.  As 
in these cases, the proposed change to procedures woul d not be obligatory, but a recommendation.  As 
none of the sister organizations had any notificatio n procedures on the use of their standards, they 
would welcome having more information through the WTO procedures.   
62. In light of the different positions on if and how the Recommended Procedures could be 
modified along the lines of the Canadian proposal, the Committee had invited Canada to work with 
the concerned delegation to come up with a common proposal for revising the recommended procedures on transparency contained in G/SPS/7/Rev.2 in time for the October meeting. 
63. New Zealand had announced that they would be  submitting two papers for discussion at the 
transparency workshop: one on setting up a ment oring system between Enquiry Points and 
Notification Authorities, and another proposing th e development of a manual to assist with the 
establishment and maintenance of enquiry points and notification authorities.  
64. In the discussions following the Ch airman's oral report, the representative of the United States 
suggested that the agenda of th e special workshop include two additional issues, relating to training 
and to funding.  More specifically, it would be useful to discuss how Members could establish and 
maintain qualified adequate staffing to ensure the smooth functioning of the notifications process.  
Similarly, it would be useful to discuss how Memb ers could ensure adequate  consistent funding for 
the establishment and maintenance of the notification authority and enquiry point. G/SPS/R/45 
Page 14  
 
  (b) SPS Information Management System 
65. The Secretariat reported that the SPS Informati on Management System was now being tested 
internally, and would also be tested externally with  the assistance of interested Members.  This system 
covered SPS notifications, specific trade concer ns, all SPS documents emanating from the WTO, 
information on SPS Enquiry Points and Notification Authorities, etc.  It was comprehensive with 
respect to the work of the Committee, and should fac ilitate the work of the Secretariat, Members, and 
also interested traders.  The Secretariat was exploring the possibility of on-line submission of 
notifications by Members.  Such a system would, however, not be operational before the fall of 2008. 
66. In response to a query, the Secretariat recalled that the recommended 60-day comment period 
should be reduced or eliminated in the case of trad e-facilitating measures.  Furthermore, in the Doha 
Ministerial Conference Ministers had agreed, with reference to paragraph 2 of Annex B, that the 
implementation of trade-facilitating meas ures should not be unnecessarily delayed. 
VI. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
67. The Chairman report that at an informal meeting held on 26 June, the Committee had 
discussed two new submissions from Egypt.  The first of these papers, JOB(07)/104, dealt with 
Article 10.1 of the SPS Agreement.  The second submission, JOB(07)/99, concerned the G/SPS/33 
decision. 
68. In introducing the paper on Article 10.1, Egypt ha d stressed his country's desire to make the 
special and differential treatment obligations in  the SPS Agreement more precise, effective and 
operational, but not in such a way as to relax SPS rules or create legal loopholes.  The Committee on 
Trade and Development's analysis of special a nd differential treatment obligations across WTO 
agreements had highlighted two distinct categories of  obligations.  Firstly, there were "obligations of 
conduct".  Obligations of conduct c ould require a particular action, but had no guaranteed outcome.  
The drafting of Article 10.1 was an example of such drafting.  It required Members to take the special needs of developing countries into account, but did not specify any outcome.  Secondly, there were 
"obligations of result" which combined both cond uct and outcome.  Egypt's suggested language on 
Article 10.1 aimed at creating an "obligation of r esult" which would make Article 10.1 more precise, 
effective and operational. 
69. Several Members had indicated their support for Egypt's submission, describing this as a 
useful step forward.  The importance of Article 10.1 in striking a balance between non-tariff barriers 
and market access for developing countries was stressed, and it was noted that it was the 
responsibility of all  Members to push forward discuss ion of Article 10.1, not just developing country 
Members.   
70. One Member had suggested that the practice of special and differential treatment and 
technical assistance could be further examined in a Committee workshop.  The Chair had recalled that 
the meeting calendar for 2007 was already full, but th at the Committee might wish to consider this 
suggestion for 2008.  
71. A number of delegations had highlighted serious  difficulties with any move to re-open the 
legal text of the SPS Agreement.  Some had suggested  that an authoritative interpretative statement in 
similar vein to those adopted by the Committee on c onsistency and equivalence would be preferable.  
The key question, however, was how the proposal from Egypt would serve the objective of taking the 
needs of developing countries into account.  To tec hnical staff in regulatory ag encies, it was not clear 
how to take these needs into account.  Another Memb er had noted that although Egypt indicated that  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 15 
 
 
  the objective was not to create legal loopholes or rela x Member's SPS regimes, the text proposed by 
Egypt still appeared to be proposing an automatic exemption for developing countries.  They recalled 
that G/SPS/35 had proposed a number of ways to address Egypt's underlying concerns.  
72. Several delegations had requested further clar ity from Egypt on the proposal, including 
information on expected outcomes, in order to be tter understand the proposal.  Some Members had 
noted that the late submission of the proposal made  it hard for Members to react at the meeting.   
73. One Member had noted that the Egyptian propo sal spoke of more favourable treatment for 
developing countries, and requested clarification of this departure from the usual reference to special 
treatment.  Another concern was that positive discr imination in favour of  developing country 
suppliers could heighten an existing trend toward s targeting the developed country markets at the 
expense of fostering south-south trade.  Another Member had noted that even when fully legitimate 
SPS measures were taken, these could have impor tant negative economic impacts in developing 
countries.  A balance needed to be struck between the appropriate level of pr otection and the interests 
of developing countries.  
74. In response to these comments, Egypt had recalled its willingness to entertain solutions to the 
special and differential treatment issue which w ould not require a formal revision of the SPS 
Agreement.  However, no alternate solution had b een proposed.  Egypt did not see a link between its 
proposal and the actions identified in G/SPS/35, para graph 43.  In reply to a question, Egypt had 
noted that the special and differential treat ment obligations were a requirement on all  Members, not 
just developed country Members.  Egypt had noted that the WTO Panel in " EC - Approval and 
Marketing of Biotech Products " had ruled that Argentina had not established that the European 
Communities had failed to take its special needs as a de veloping country into account in this dispute.  
As such, there had been no outco me to the obligation "to take into account".  This case alone was 
sufficient to prove Egypt's point.   
75. Both Egypt and Cuba had stated that if it was not possible for some Members to move on the 
Category II proposals, this should be clearly indi cated, otherwise the Comm ittee risked wasting its 
time.  Furthermore, failure to move forward w ould generate frustrations.  In their view, the 
responsibility was on those resisting the Egyptian propo sal to make alternate proposals, and to share 
their experiences in the application of Article 10. 1.  Egypt had noted its concern on how to move 
forward on the issue of S&D in the Committee. 
76. Discussion of the second Egyptian proposal, relati ng to G/SPS/33, was less extensive.  
Several Members had noted that the submission had been made very close to the Committee meeting, 
which prevented any substantive discussion of Egypt's proposal.   
77. Introducing this paper, the representative of Egypt had informed the Committee that it had 
undertaken an analysis of notifications in Marc h 2007.  Of the 32 Members notifying measures that 
month: 
• 10 had provided less than 60 days for comment; 
• 8 had not specified any final date for comments; 
• 11 had provided 60 days; 
• 3 had provided more than 60 days for comment. 
78. Egypt had recalled the proposal made by China that the 60-day comment period should 
commence from the day of circulation of the notifi cation by the Secretariat to Members.  There was G/SPS/R/45 
Page 16  
 
  also some confusion as to the publication requirement.  The current phrasing of the G/SPS/33 decision 
appeared to limit developing countries' rights to  request extensions of the comment period. 
79. By way of preliminary reactions, one Memb er had noted complementarities between the 
Egyptian paper and the Secretariat analysis in document G/SPS/GEN/751/Rev.1 which noted the 
difficulties faced by developing countries in screeni ng notifications.  Others had also welcomed the 
document and suggested that the Committee reve rt back to it at its next meeting.  
80. The Secretariat had noted that Egypt's proposal highlighted an anomaly in the recommended 
transparency procedures with respect to the date of publication and the date of  adoption of measures.  
The notification format contained boxes requesting information on the proposed date of adoption and 
the date of entry into force.  However, Anne x B of the Agreement and the Doha Implementation 
Decision spoke of the date of publication and the date of entry into force.  The Secretariat had further 
highlighted typical difficulties faced by Members in  specifying the date of entry into force of a 
measure, particularly when extensive comments had been made on a draft measure and time was 
required to make amendments to take these comments into account.  
81. In conclusion, the Chairman had suggested that  the Committee revert to Egypt's proposals at 
an informal meeting prior to the next Committee meeting.  
82. In commenting on the Chairman's report, the representative of Egypt expressed concern on 
how the Committee could achieve the mandate iden tified in the Committee's Report on Special and 
Differential Treatment, in particular in paragr aph 44 of G/SPS/35.  Egypt had submitted various 
proposals in an attempt to achieve this mandate , but there had been no engagement from other 
Members.  He recalled that it was for all Members,  not only developing count ry Members, to develop 
specific recommendations for a decision to make the special and differential treatment obligations 
more precise, effective and operational.  While Egypt appreciated the Committee's willingness to consider these proposals at another informal meetin g, he noted that the process was taking too much 
time without achieving any results. 
83. The Committee agreed to hold an informal meeting on this issue prior to its next regular 
meeting.  The Chairman invited all Members to  put forward proposals and make suggestions for 
specific actions that could be taken, including with respect to capacity building 
(b) Use of G/SPS/33 
84. The Chairman recalled that, as reported, this issu e had also been considered by the Committee 
in the informal meeting on 26 June.  The representative  of Egypt  stressed that the proposal in this 
regard focussed on two issues.  One was to clarif y the link between Article 10.2 and paragraph 2 of 
Annex B.  This matter was also being considered  by the Committee on Trade and Development, and 
guidance was needed from the SPS Committee.  The othe r issue raised by Egypt was with regard to 
Article 10.4 and how to evaluate the efficacy of pa rticipation of developing  country Members in the 
three standard-setting organizations, in order to de termine how to move forward.  The representative 
of Egypt urged Members and the international orga nizations to provide feedback in this regard. 
85. The Chairman proposed that the Committee further consider Egypt's proposal at it's next 
meeting.  He encouraged Members to put forwar d suggestions for possible concrete actions for 
consideration by the Committee at an informal meeting preceding its next regular meeting.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 17 
 
 
  VII.  EQUIVALENCE 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences 
86. The representative of the United States reported that over the past years the Food Safety and 
Inspection Service (FSIS) had added several countries to  the list of countries eligible to export meat or 
poultry products to the United States.  For meat, Sl ovakia, Chile and San Marino were recently added, 
while China had been added for poultry processing.  The FSIS now proposed to add Chile to the list 
of countries eligible to export poultry and poultry products to the United States.  This would permit 
poultry processed in Chilean estab lishments that had been approved by the Chilean competent 
authority to be exported to the United States.  Th e United States was in the process of finalizing this 
rule to complete the equivalence process, a nd would publish a Final Rule when this was 
accomplished.   
87. The representative of Chile expressed appreciati on to the United States for their transparency 
in this matter, and suggested that the United Stat es submit a notification of recognition of equivalence 
when the process had been completed. 
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
88. The representative of the OIE indicated th at while the organization was not working 
specifically on guidance for equivalence, the OIE work on standards and recommendations facilitated 
the recognition of equivalence.  The standards for individual diseases, as well as the work on 
horizontal issues, including compartmentalization,  helped Members in judging whether measures 
provided equivalent in health protection. 
89. The representative of the Codex reported th at the Codex Committee on Food Import and 
Export Certification Systems had revised the Guide lines for Generic Official Certificate Formats and 
the Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Cert ificates.  This had been submitted for possible 
adoption by the Codex Commission at its meeting in July 2007.  This standard would assist Members in determining the equivalence of food safety measures.  
90. The representative of the IPPC noted that a lthough there was no specific work programme on 
equivalence, the standards developed by IPPC were  key, as they provided harmonized approaches for 
Members to make determina tions of equivalence.  
VIII.  ARTICLE  6- PEST OR DISEASE FREE AREA 
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
91. The Chairman recalled that in the previ ous meeting New Zealand had informed the 
Committee that an ad hoc group involving 14 Me mbers had been working through informal 
consultations with the objective of improving predic tability and trust in trade related to the provision 
of Article 6 on regionalization.  At the informal  meeting on 26 June, New Z ealand had reported that 
the ad hoc group had been working intensely in or der to present a proposal to the Committee in the 
near future. 
92. The IPPC had reported that the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) endorsed, in 
March 2007, the International Standard for Phyto sanitary Measures (ISPM) 29:  "Recognition of Pest 
Free Areas and Areas of Low P est Prevalence" (G/SPS/GEN/782).  Over 100 comments had been 
received on the standard, which was approved by more than 130 countries members of IPPC.  The 
IPPC had stressed that this standard provided gui dance and described procedures for the bilateral 
recognition of pest-free areas and areas of low pest pr evalence.  In addition, this new standard had G/SPS/R/45 
Page 18  
 
  provisions regarding pest-free places and pest-free produc tion sites.  However, the standard did not 
include specific timelines for recognition of procedures.  
93. The procedures in ISPM 29 include:  request fo r recognition; acknowledgement of receipt of 
the request and the accompanying information package;  description of the process;  assessment of the 
information provided;  communication of the results of assessment;  provision of official recognition.  
While IPPC's terminology did not use the terms re gionalization or compartmentalization, the concept 
of "pest-free areas" was close to the concept of z oning, while "pest free place of production" was 
similar to OIE's concept of compartmentalization.  
94. Furthermore, the IPPC had reported that the CPM had decided to carry out a study on the 
international recognition of pest-free areas.  This stud y was expected to start in the first half of 2008 
through an open-ended working group, to examine the feasibility of formal recognition of pest-free 
areas by IPPC.  
95. The representative of OIE had presented an update on activities related to disease 
regionalization (G/SPS/GEN/789).  This documen t contained relevant OIE definitions of 
zones/regions as well as definitions of compartments.  The Terrestrial Animal Health Code contains 
recommendations for zones and compartments with regard to those diseases for which the concepts 
are appropriate, such as foot and mouth disease (FMD), avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and 
classical swine fever. 
96. The OIE has procedures for official recognitio n of Member status for only four diseases:  
FMD, rinderpest, contagious bovine pleu ropneumonia (CBPP) and bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy (BSE).  Members' status for th ese diseases could be found in annexes to the OIE 
report to the SPS Committee (G/SPS/GEN/788). 
97. The OIE had produced a "Checklist on the Practical Application of Compartmentalisation for 
avian influenza and Newcastle disease" and had ci rculated a draft text on "General guidelines for 
Compartmentalisation", which would be proposed for inclusion in the Code in May 2008.  The OIE 
had also reported that important new zoning-relate d concepts in regard to FMD had been introduced, 
such as the "containment zone" in the chapter on FM D.  This refers to a mechanism for rapidly 
regaining free status in the case of an FMD incursion into a previously free country or zone.  In 
addition, some countries at the OIE had strongly endor sed the need for countries to work together in 
managing FMD. 
98. The representative of the OIE had clarified that  the concept of compartmentalization did not 
address food safety, but was limited to animal he alth.  Regionalization related to food safety was 
reflected in the Codex principles for microbiological risk analysis. 
99. Lastly, the representative of the OIE had highli ghted the importance of adequate veterinary 
infrastructure for all countries.  The OIE had been  working with the tool developed by IICA to 
identify capabilities and to help countries around the world strengthen their capacities for the 
establishment of zoning and compartmentalization.  
100. One Member had stressed the importance of regionalization and compartmentalization for 
both developed and developing coun tries, and had noted that disease outbreaks in one country could 
easily affect neighbouring countries.  It was thus im portant to invest in technical assistance with the 
aim of strengthening veterinary ser vices in developing countries.  
101. Another Member had recalled that  ISPM 29 had been adopted by consensus at the CPM, and 
that this new standard was openly discussed by ever y IPPC member.  Furthermore, in this Member's 
view, regionalization was a technical issue and shoul d be based on the work conducted at the OIE and 
IPPC.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 19 
 
 
  102. In commenting on the Chairman's oral report,  the representative of New Zealand indicated 
that while good progress had been made, in the ad ho c consultations, it had still not been possible to 
finalize a draft due to further work being needed on one remaining issue.  The ad hoc group would 
continue working on the draft in preparation for the October meeting. 
103. The Chairperson encouraged Members to conti nue working together on this issue, and if 
possible to prepare a draft for consid eration by the Committee in October. 
(b) Information from Members 
104. The representative of Chile observed that once again there were various issues relating to 
regionalization that were considered instead under Age nda items 3 and 4.  In fact, half of the issues 
raised under agenda items 3 and 4 - specifically 12 of  the 24 items - were rela ted to regionalization.  
In his view, these issues should more appropriately  have been discussed under this agenda item 
regarding the experience of Members in the recognition of pest. or disease-free areas.   
(c) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
105. The representative of IPPC stated the proposed  standard for the establishment of low pest 
prevalence for fruit-flies was not adopted at CPM 2.   It was decided that further work on the 
document was needed and as a consequence it was sen t back to the Committee for re-examination. 
Nonetheless, this standard will be sent for count ry consultations and will be proposed again for 
adoption next year. 
106. The representative of Chile stressed the impor tance of coordination among Codex, IPPC and 
the OIE,  and that compartmentalization was an area for cooperation between these organizations.  
The use of terms, such as HACCP and GAP, should be similar among the thr ee organizations.  An 
integrated, biosecurity approach required joint ac tion and close coordination between the different 
bodies.   
107. The Representative of the United States commended IPPC for its work and in particular for  
ISPM 29, particularly in light of its resource constraints.  She noted that the new standard would assist 
in the implementation of Article 6.  
108. The Representative of Codex noted that the c oncept of regionalization was introduced in the 
framework of microbiological risk management.  Pr inciple 7 stated that risk managers should take 
into account risk resulting from regional differences in hazards in the food chain and in available risk 
management options.  This standard w as expected to be adopted by the 30th session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission, in July 2008. 
109. The representative of OIE stressed the importanc e of veterinary service infrastructure and the 
OIE Performance, Vision and Strategy tool (PVS).   The PVS had initially been developed for the 
countries of the Americas, but OIE had adapted the tool to be applied on a global basis starting with 15 pilot countries.   
110. She noted that some Members had reported, under specific trade concerns, restrictions on 
trade in poultry and pork products due to avian infl uenza.  The OIE found no justification for AI-
related trade bans on pork products .  The OIE recommendation was that trade bans should not be 
introduced on the basis of findings of avian influenza in wild birds given the capacity of establishing a clear distinction between the commercial poultry sector and wild birds. 
111. The representative of India reiterated his count ry's commitment to international guidelines,  
however, in India the poultry industry was househol d based, which meant that a compartmentalization G/SPS/R/45 
Page 20  
 
  approach and demarcation between wild and commercia l birds could not be enforced.  As a result, the 
international standard could not be  strictly applied in India.   
112. The representative of the European Communitie s recalled his previous endorsement of 
compartmentalization as it allowed trade to take place from regions and countries at risk, while permitting the maintenance of high levels of biosecur ity.  He was concerned with India's reservations 
to applying the international standards with respect to importation of poultry because of avian 
influenza.  The European Communities had received an application from India to allow exports of 
poultry into the European Commun ities, accompanied with reassurance from the Indian authorities of 
the effective compartmentalization of the pou ltry sector.  However, there appeared to be  
contradictions in India's position, in that they denied imports on the grounds of the non-applicability 
of the compartmentalization concept to their own poultry sector, while at the same time asking export 
markets to accept Indian poultry on the basi s of effective compartmentalization.   
113. In response to a query, the representative of the OIE recalled that a checklist for applying 
compartmentalization in respect of avian influe nza and Newcastle disease in the poultry sector had 
been distributed at the General Session in May and would be placed on the OIE website shortly.  The 
OIE did not, however, grant formal recognition fo r freedom from these poultry diseases.  Official 
disease freedom was only granted for foot and m outh disease (FMD), rinderpest, contagious bovine 
pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). 
IX. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
(a) Information from the Secretariat 
114. The Secretariat recalled that WTO technical assistance covering SPS consisted of 3-month 
intensive Geneva-based trade policy courses, regiona l trade policy courses, and introductory courses 
for LDCs.  All of these normally included a presentati on of the SPS Agreement.  In addition, in the 
past two years the WTO had offered a specialized  2-week SPS course and its follow-up for officials 
directly responsible for SPS implementation.  Th e WTO normally organized 3 to 4 regional or sub-
regional seminars on the SPS Agreement each year, and national seminars in response to request from 
Members.   
115. Since the previous meeting, a national semina r had been held in Sri Lanka, and a regional 
SPS workshop for Southeast Asia had been held in Indi a in April.  For the rest of 2007, the TA plan 
included a regional SPS seminar for the Caribb ean, in conjunction with the Inter-American 
Development Bank, to be held in Jamaica at th e end of July, as well as a regional workshop for 
English-speaking African countries in Zambia later in  the year.  National seminars were scheduled for 
El Salvador, Nicaragua and Indonesia, and a ne w e-learning course on the SPS Agreement would be 
offered as of the fall.  SPS would also be c overed in other WTO activities, including the 42
nd Trade 
Policy Course, the regional trade policy courses in Namibia and in Chile, the introductory course for 
LDCs in November, and a special 4-week cour se for French-speaking A frica in Cameroon.   
116. The Secretariat also reported on the follow-up to the Second Specialized Trade Policy Course 
on the SPS Agreement, which had been held in Englis h, in October 2006.  Almost all participants had 
been able to come back for the follow-up session just prior to this Committee meeting, and had 
reported on their action plans to enhance the implem entation of the SPS Agreement in their respective 
countries.  The action plans included activities re lating to coordination, transparency, capacity 
building, market access and accessions.  The Thir d Specialized SPS Course was scheduled for 22 
October to 2 November 2008, immediately following  the next SPS Committee meeting.  This Third 
Specialized Course would take place in French, an d the Secretariat was tailoring the programme to 
make the coursework more relevant for African countries.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 21 
 
 
  117. Several Members expressed their gratitude to th e WTO Secretariat for the specialized course 
and the follow-up session, and expressed the hope that these courses would be continued into the 
future  The representative of Pakistan stated par ticipating in the SPS Committee meetings had been a 
great learning experience, especially in understanding how Members could avail themselves of the opportunity to resolve specific trade concerns. 
118. The representative from Zimbabwe stated that the course had been an ideal eye-opener and 
opportunity to interact with others and learn fro m  what others were doing and how they addressed 
constraints.  The ability to interact was useful in  determining that many Me mbers faced very similar 
difficulties.  The specialized course had resulted in the reactivation of a national SPS committee in 
Zimbabwe. 
119. The representative of Dominica noted how the course had helped Dominica's efforts on 
transparency.  The lack of notifications did not impl y a lack of transparency, but there were still some 
difficulties to overcome.  The representative of Ch ina expressed appreciation for the professional and 
informative manner in which the courses were conduc ted, and the fact that the knowledge acquired 
could be applied in actual situations.  
120. The representative of Egypt indicated that as part  of his action plan additional efforts would 
be placed on publishing SPS laws and decrees on a website for easier reference, and that the 
authorities would try to structure coordination w ith stakeholders at the national level. The 
representative observed that having performance-ba sed follow up and evaluation was very important, 
and that it should be applied to  other activities.  This idea was reiterated by India, with a 
recommendation that a similar programme be  developed with respect to TBT.  
121. The representative of Kenya expressed appreciati on also to the Europ ean Communities for the 
organization of similar courses.  He suggested that  the lack of awareness of the SPS Agreement in 
Africa was the reason for a lack of implementation,  but he emphasized that agriculture exporters 
could not ignore SPS problems and requirements.  
122. The Secretariat agreed with Kenya regarding the problems in understa nding the importance of 
SPS measures.  She noted that the specialized cour se was highly resource intensive but the Secretariat 
considered that it was well worth the effort. Howe ver, it was not the Secretariat who determined the 
final technical assistance work plan but rather  the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD). 
Therefore, while the Agriculture and Commodities Division would request that further SPS specialized courses be included in the technical assistance plan, it was important for Members to 
request that the courses be continued in the CTD  It was, likewise, the CTD which had agreed that 
regional seminars would be held every 2 years for each region.  
(b) Information from Members 
123. The representative of the United States drew  attention to the revision of document 
G/SPS/GEN/181/Rev.6 which reported on SPS-relate d technical assistance. The reporting period 
covered June 2005 to May 2006.   The report included 206 technical assistance and capacity building 
projects that had been provided to 76 developing countries and newly independent states, together 
with 21 regional programmes.  The representative of the United States hoped that those who had 
experienced the training could improve their oversight systems and capabilities to more fully participate in global markets.   
(c) Information from observers 
124. 
The representative of Codex reported that the Codex itself did not provide technical 
assistance, rather it was the parent organizations, FAO and WHO, who carried out these activities.  At G/SPS/R/45 
Page 22  
 
  its next session the Commission would consider a special document  describing FAO and WHO 
capacity building activities during July 2006-June 2007.   Information about activities that are carried 
out by FAO and WHO was available in ALINORM  07/30/9G/Add.1. 
125. The representative of IPPC  report that the IPPC had provided a course on pest risk assessment 
in Nairobi, as well as regional workshops on draft international standards.  These latter gave 
developing countries the possibility to consider new drafts and discuss them in an environment where 
positions could be developed.  Previously seven su ch regional workshops had been held every year, 
but this year there was only funding  for three workshops.  This was due to the fact that until April 
there had been no contributions to the TA fund. 
126. The representative of OIE recalled that the OIE had been very active in the STDF, as reported 
by the Secretariat in document G/SPS/GEN/774.  Th ree projects were being implemented by OIE: 
(a) STDF 15:  A project designed to expand SPS capacities at the national and regional 
levels. This project has been completed acco rding to the original project Terms of 
Reference.  It delivered good outcomes for a very modest budget. 
(b) STDF 14:  Used to develop the PVS tool, which had been completed and tested on a 
pilot basis in 15 countries.  It had been completed according to the original project 
Terms of Reference and was the subject of an external evaluation. 
(c) STDF 105:  A new concept project to design a demonstration project on how to apply 
compartmentalization, had been prepared  and would be submitted for approval.  
127. The representative of the Inter-American Ins titute for Cooperation and Agriculture (IICA) 
reported on some of the results from the Initiative of  the Americas programme.  The initiative was in 
its fifth year of implementation and had its origin s in Article 10.4 which provides for special and 
differential treatment to encourage and facilitate  the active participation of developing country 
Members in the relevant international organizations .  The initiative was also linked to Article 9,  
which has the objective of facilitating, through tech nical assistance, the participation of developing 
county Members in the SPS Committee.  Thirty-four countries had participated in the initiative with 
six countries providing support and 28 of them being direct beneficiaries.   On the basis of the 
information compiled in the reports, and the comme nts shared with the developing countries which 
participated actively in the SPS Committee, five funda mental variables were identified that facilitated 
and promoted active participati on at the international level: 
(a) A coordination mechanism through which the different public sector ministries are 
brought together along with the private sector in order to address topics that arise 
from the SPS Committee of the WTO.  All participating  countries have this 
mechanism, with 25 per cent having stated that their mechanism had been legally 
constituted. 
(b) Human resources dedicated to the topic:   th is defined the priority and attention given 
by personnel to provide follow-up to the SPS Committee of the WTO.  According to 
the last report, 61 per cent (17 countries) have at least one staff member whose 
primary responsibility is to monitor the SPS Agreement of the WTO.   
(c) Coordination between the capital and the Gene va mission:  this provided an indication 
of the level of interaction between the Capital and the Geneva mission.  Forty-
three per cent reported that the capital-based experts coordinate with their mission at 
the WTO on a regular basis.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 23 
 
 
  (d) Priority of the topic:  this indicates the level of support that the national authorities 
give to developing national SPS capacity.  Thirty-six per cent have an agenda on 
major topics, and follow up on them to so me degree.  Twenty-nine per cent have 
prioritized issues based on the interests of the country and have analyzed them to 
some degree. 
(e) Financial and technical resources:   this provides an indication of the financial capacity 
to develop functions, importa nt actions, and to actively participate in the SPS 
Committee of the WTO.  Only one country stated expressly that it did not have the financial resources needed to monito r the SPS Committee of the WTO and the 
activities related to transparency.   
128. The Secretariat noted that the IICA programme pr ovided a good blueprint and that a similar 
initiative was being developed for countries in the Southern African region (SADC).  
129. The representative of ITC reported that ITC and ISO had released a software-based self-
diagnostic tool on ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management Systems) which helped small businesses.  
The package came with a Handbook and a CD-Rom. in English and French, with the Spanish version 
available soon.   
(d) Best practices for SPS technical assistance 
130. The Secretariat gave an update on the STD F, details of which could be found in 
G/SPS/GEN/774.  He recalled that at the October 2007 meeting, the Secretariat had prepared an 
overview of SPS technical assistance flows which was presented in G/SPS/GEN/726. One of the 
conclusions was that there was a 3 -fold increase in SPS related assist ance since 2001, in part related 
to the increase in funds for the fight against avian influenza.   
131. During the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, the Director General had agreed to create a 
task force on aid for trade, in order to operationa lize activities in this respect.  The recommendations 
of the task force were contained in document WT/AFT/1.  The Aid for Trade initiative focused on 
assisting developing countries (DC) in exporting, cons idering their participation in global markets as 
well as supply-side constraints.  WTO's role was to shine a spotlight on issues related to trade and 
development.  Three high-level Aid for Trade ev ents were planned by the Regional Development 
Banks and the WTO for 2007, with conferences in Lima, Peru;  Manila, Philippines; and Dar es 
Salaam, Tanzania.  At each of these events, there would be a special day dedicated to the STDF and 
SPS capacity building issues.  These events w ould include the following agenda items: 
(a) Synthesis of capacity building evaluations; 
(b) Overview of what assistance had been provided;  and 
(c) Updates of  TA questionnaires to ask countries to evaluate their own needs.  
132. These meeting would be useful to develop id eas on which needs still had to be met, while 
follow-up activities would identify good practices to ensure effective SPS capacity building.  If the 
three meetings were successful, this activity coul d be extended to other regions. One idea was to 
organize a global event top disseminate info rmation on good practices, possibly in 2008. G/SPS/R/45 
Page 24  
 
  X. OTHER ISSUES ARISING FROM THE RE VIEW OF THE OPERATION OF THE 
SPS AGREEMENT 
(a) Use of ad hoc consultations 
133. The representative of the OIE explained that th e OIE dispute resolution procedure, described 
in G/SPS/GEN/731, has been used twice to date.  Th e procedure consisted of a technical consultation 
facilitated by experts selected by th e OIE in consultation with the countries that were parties to the 
dispute.  The process was useful when the problem was based on technical concerns because it brought together relevant experts from the differe nt countries and facilitated the discussion of specific 
scientific issues.  However, the process was limited to  resolving technical rather than legal concerns.  
The final reports of the outcome of the procedure we re not public unless parties to the dispute decided 
to publish them. 
134. The representative of the OIE further clarified th at the entire procedure was voluntary.  The 
context, scope and terms of refere nce were established by the parti es concerned in consultation with 
the OIE, which had the role of facilitator.  The par ties to a dispute could decide to establish a binding 
procedure if they so agreed. 
135. The representative of the IPPC presented its dis pute settlement system, which was adopted in 
1999 (G/SPS/GEN/787).  The system was limited to technical phytosanitary issues based on misinterpretations or misconceptions of standards.  Formal consultations were the only obligatory part 
of the system.  Parties could request the establishm ent on an Expert Committee after they had agreed 
on its terms of reference.  The terms of reference should include the distribution of costs, which were 
the responsibility of the parties.  The final report contained technical aspects and recommendations on 
how the dispute could be solved.  The procedure was non-binding and thus depended on the good will 
of the parties to solve the dispute.   There was no appeals procedure. 
136. Several Members asked for examples of disputes resolved by the system and about the level 
of success of the mechanism.  There were also queries as to whether the documents resulting from 
these cases were distributed to other relevant intern ational organizations, and about the possibility of 
continuing the procedure in the competent bodies of ot her international organizations, and particularly 
if the technical findings in a final IPPC report coul d be considered within the WTO dispute settlement 
system, or if the two procedures could be invoked in parallel.    
137. The representative of the IPPC clarified that the system had only been used partially to date.  
Members have requested a few Formal Consultati ons, but the Conciliation Procedure has never been 
used, maybe due to its non-binding character.  The IPPC standards reflected and built upon many of 
the concepts established in the SPS Agreement, including the requirement of sufficient scientific 
justification.  He suggested that Members coul d first seek to resolve differences through the IPPC 
technical mechanism, and if necessary make use of  the final report as a strong argument in any 
subsequent WTO dispute settlement procedure.  No thing prevented the use of both procedures at the 
same time, and it might be desirable to have a me mber of the SPS Secretariat involved in the IPPC 
process to ensure that it did not in terfere with the WTO procedure. 
138. The Secretariat recalled that Article 11.3 of the SPS Agreement stated that nothing shall 
impede the rights of Members under other internatio nal agreements, including the right to use their 
dispute settlements mechanisms.  To date only tw o disputes concerning phytosanitary requirements 
had gone through the panel process in the WTO system .  She agreed that there was nothing in the 
WTO procedure that would prevent a Member to pur sue both mechanisms at the same time, and it 
would seem that an IPPC dispute settlement fina l report could be submitted by a party to a WTO 
dispute as part of the relevant scientific evidence.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 25 
 
 
  139. The representative of the Codex recalled that  the Commission does not have any formal 
dispute settlement procedure, but Members' concer ns were considered during the elaboration of 
standards and other Codex texts.  The Codex Committee on Pesticides Residues requested that 
members provide scientific evidence to support their concerns.   
140. The representative of Cuba observed that many disputes were caused by the lack of 
international standards and asked if the outcome of concerns raised by Members could be the 
elaboration of specific standards.  The representativ e of the Codex recalled that Codex took seriously 
all concerns expressed by Members, and especially  developing countries, at the SPS Committee, and 
in its decisions on the elaboration of new standard s. However, Member should identify the need for 
additional standards in the relevant Codex Co mmittee according to the established procedures. 
141. The Secretariat presented document the G/SPS/GEN/781, which gives a broad overview of 
different ways in which the SPS Committee has fa cilitated ad hoc consulta tions among Members.  
Most commonly, Members have raised specific trad e concerns at meetings of the Committee, and 
sought bilateral resolutions.  During the Second Revi ew of the operation of the Agreement, there had 
been proposals to improve and increase the use of the mechanism, such as providing more time for 
this purpose at Committee meetings, establishing specific procedures, disseminating information 
about the resolution of concerns raised in the past and facilitating participation of developing and least 
developed country Members.  Rules and procedur es for using the "Good Offices" of the Chair had 
also been proposed.  This confidential procedure had been used on three occasions.  In addition, 
according to Article 5.8, Members could request jus tification for a measure which did not conform to 
an international standard.  This provision has b een invoked by several Members over the years, and 
some had suggested developing a procedure for its use, however no specific procedure has been 
proposed. 
142. The representatives of Cuba and of Costa Rica drew attention to the need to improve the 
mechanisms for resolving trade problems, and to en sure a clear relationship between the proposals to 
improve the use of ad hoc consultations to resolv e SPS trade concerns and the consideration by the 
NAMA negotiating group of a new horizontal mechanis m aimed at resolving trade disputes regarding 
nontariff barriers.   
143. The representative of Argentina indicated that document G/SPS/GEN/204 showed a clear 
evolution regarding the resolution of trade concerns.  He consider ed these mechanisms necessary for 
developing country Members and supported increased  use of the "Good Offices" of the Chair.  He 
considered it was fundamental to improve the le gal framework of dispute settlement mechanisms 
based on negotiating processes.  The representative of  Chile supported the idea of improving existing 
alternative conflict resolution mechanis ms based on negotiation and mediation. 
(b) Relationship between the SPS Comm ittee and Codex, IPPC and OIE 
144. The Secretariat presented document G/SPS/GEN/775 which provides an overview of the 
relationship between the SPS Committee and the thr ee international standard s-setting organizations.  
The relationship had been active and positive.  Th e standards-setting organizations had given precise 
and quick answers to issues related to the monitoring of international standards and to the need for the 
development of new standards.  There was a form al cooperation agreement between the WTO and the 
OIE, and very good working relations between th e WTO, the FAO and the WHO.  Training activities 
organized by the WTO usually involved the th ree standards-setting organizations.  All the 
organizations were represented a nd contributed actively to the work of the STDF.  Finally, the 
standards setting bodies had provided technical and scientific advice, when requested,. to the dispute 
settlement panels on SPS matters. G/SPS/R/45 
Page 26  
 
  145. The representative of IPPC indicated that the organization was considering the elaboration of 
a compliance mechanism which would include the re quirement to notify the implementation of IPPC 
standards. 
146. The representative of the OIE observed the close relationship of her organization with the 
IPPC and Codex.  With IPPC, the relationship was primarily based on common principles and on 
similar horizontal issues.  A close relationship ha d been developed with the Codex because of the 
important relationship between animal health at th e production level and food safety.  She stressed the 
necessity of developing a mechanism to jointly el aborate standards between the OIE and Codex,. the 
importance of building a strong collaboration within countries. 
147. The representative of Egypt noted that there wa s often poor coordination at the national level 
between representatives to the SPS Committee, the Codex, IPPC and OIE meetings.  He proposed the 
organization of a workshop, similar to the one in 2001, to address horizontal coordination issues 
between the three sisters and the SPS Committee.  This will increase the awareness of Members about 
international standards and raise the level of  national compliance with these requirements. 
148. The representative of Japan stressed the impor tance of elaborating guidelines which included 
technical aspects that ensured they were practical.  Concerning the use or non use of international 
standards, he pointed out the difficulty of describ ing the degree of acceptance of a standard and 
supported the transparency enhancement proposal ma de by Canada.  The Ministry of Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries of Japan had established a division with the responsibility of coordinating the 
national position on cross-sectoral issues considered by the SPS Committee, Codex, IPPC and the OIE.  National coordination became more important given the increase in cross- sectoral issues such as 
regionalization, certification and traceability, and he  proposed to share Japan’s experience in this 
regard with the Committee.  He further supported the idea of a workshop on international standard-
setting bodies and suggested that the agenda include  “standards setting procedures and participation”. 
149. The representative of New Zealand encouraged Members to consider how the SPS Committee 
could operate to ensure the avoidance of unnecessa ry duplication.  Discussions concerning technical 
versus administrative processes, operational versus high-level guidelines, and specific versus general 
issues could provide clarity with regard to the expectations of Members about the SPS Committee and 
international standards-setting bodies.  The SPS Committee could clarify potential areas of 
duplication and opportunities for collaboration.  It was also important to identify how to achieve greater consistency and coordination betw een delegations to the various bodies. 
150. The representative of Argentina highlight ed the importance of avoiding unnecessary 
duplication and recalled that Article 12 of the SPS Ag reement defines the scope and functions of the 
Committee:  "to carry up the functions necessary to  implement the provisions of the Agreement".  
One example was Argentina’s communication to the 39th meeting of the Codex on pesticides, where the Codex committee recommended that this matter be  raised at the SPS Committee.  This technical 
issue, which was a barrier to trade, needed to be  addressed effectively while avoiding duplication.   
151. The representative of Chile stressed the importa nce of coherence and c onsistency with respect 
to the work of Codex, IPPC and OIE.  The three organizations should work together on some issues 
and jointly elaborate standards.  Regarding poor coordination at the nationa l level, he referred to 
Article 14.4 on monitoring the use of interna tional standards, and proposed both increased) 
coordination between the three sister organizations and the notification of which standards were being 
used.  He supported the proposal from Canada for the notification of measures which are based on the 
relevant international standards as this provided important information re garding which standards 
were being used and which were not.  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 27 
 
 
  152. The representative of Saint Lucia suggested  formal agreements or memoranda of 
understanding between the SPS Committee and each standard-setting body and between the three 
sister organizations.  Formal agreements could be useful to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs. 
153. The Secretariat recalled that if a special work shop were included as part of the WTO’s annual 
technical assistance plan it was normally possible to secure funding to cover the costs of some 
participants from developing and least developed countries.  However, only one such special 
workshop could be organized each year, and the Co mmittee has already proposed to hold a workshop 
on technical assistance in October 2008.  Regarding th e intervention of Saint Lucia, while there were 
agreements between institutions, there were no formal agreements between the Committee and 
institutions.  As noted earlier, a formal agre ement existed between the WTO and the OIE.  A 
memorandum of understanding between the WTO,  FAO and WHO would have to address many 
issues that extended well beyond the scope of the SPS Agreement. 
XI. COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE STANDARDS 
154. The Chairman opened the discussion on this ite m by reporting on 25 June many delegates ahd 
participated in an informal information session on pr ivate standards that was jointly organized by the 
UNCTAD and WTO secretariats.  He recalled that at its March meeting, the SPS Committee had 
requested that the Secretariat organize a second information session on private standards.  Since 
UNCTAD was also planning a meeting on private standards to present the results of its case studies produced in the context of its Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market 
Access for Developing Countries, the two activities had been combined into one to allow the 
membership of both organizations to benefit from a broader range of views and presentations. 
155. During the first session, delegates had heard presentations from different private standards 
schemes:  the Global Food Safety Initiative, Eu repGAP, ISO and Tesco.  Their presentations had 
shown that there was a wide range of very differe nt private standards schemes with different scopes 
and objectives.  While some were more narrowl y focused on food safety, others included other 
objectives, including environmental and social aspects a nd animal welfare.  It had become clear that 
there were different initiatives under way to atte mpt to harmonize certain individual retailers' 
standards in the food safety area;  but as one speak er from the floor had pointed out, there might be 
further room for harmonization among these different initiatives.  Other questions and comments from 
the floor had addressed the proliferation of priv ate standards and the costs of compliance and 
certification; the inclusion of social and environmental aspects in private standards; and their effect on smallholders, especially in developing  countries, and on poverty reduction. 
156. During the second session, there had been sever al presentations of case studies, including 
UNCTAD's case studies from Uganda, Malaysia and Brazil, further case studies and analysis carried out by the OECD, and a presentation comparing na tional experiences with private standards in 
different regions.  The presentations had shown bo th challenges and opportunities for producers in 
exporting countries trying to meet private standards.   The opportunities were related to achieving and 
securing market access for high-quality produce.  Fi nding the resources for the necessary investments 
and to cover certification costs was one of the ma jor challenges, especially since many business-to-
business schemes did not result in a price premium fo r producers.  The presenters had stressed the 
importance of stakeholder dialogue, and the need fo r cooperation between private and public sector to 
achieve compliance with demanding standards.  The roles played by the government was one of the 
notable differences between national experiences identif ied by the speakers.  For example, in ASEAN 
countries and in Brazil, national GAP schemes were largely government-owned, while in Chile and in 
certain African countries, the private sector played a greater role. 
157. 
Presentations in the third session had included an overview of private standards in the context 
of the TBT Agreement, and information on FAO's wo rk on private standards.  There had also been G/SPS/R/45 
Page 28  
 
  information on the ISEAL Alliance, an initiative to develop and apply a Code of Good Practice to 
private standard setters in the social and environm ental areas.  Participants had been invited to 
comment on legal issues, including the relationshi p between private standards and the SPS and TBT 
Agreements.   
158. All of the presentations made at the sessi on had been posted on the SPS gateway of the WTO 
web site. 
159. Several comments from participants had addressed  the link between private and international 
standards, expressing concern about the effect of private standards on the objective of harmonizing 
SPS measures contained in the SPS Agreement.  In this context, a couple of participants had raised the 
biosecurity approach developed by FAO, and ha d suggested that the SPS Committee might wish to 
take this into account in its discussion on private st andards.  Other comments had focused on the lack 
of a scientific basis for certain private sector standards and on the difficulties in recognition of 
equivalent standards.  Several pa rticipants had been of the view that an international forum was 
needed to address private standards, although it w as not clear whether the appropriate forum was the 
SPS or TBT Committee, another WTO Committee,  UNCTAD's Consultative Task Force on 
Environmental Requirements and Ma rket Access for Developing Countries, or some other forum.  
Some participants had noted that in their view, th e SPS Agreement, in particular Articles 1, 13 and 
Annex A, applied to private standards, and had suggested that the Committee come up with 
recommendations on how to move discussions of th is agenda item forward, including on the legal 
dimension. 
160. In his closing remarks, the UNCTAD representative had noted that more information was 
being exchanged on the subject of private standa rds than before, and that UNCTAD was contributing 
by producing information on positive and negative effects and on how g overnments could respond 
proactively.  He had highlighted three clusters to keep in mind in the future:  developmental impacts 
of private standards, market access issues and th e relationship between private standards and WTO 
disciplines.  UNCTAD considered itself to be well- prepared to facilitate di scussion through activities 
such as this one and to provide support to its members.  UNCTAD would concentrate on the 
development and market access clusters, leaving legal issues for other fora.  
161. The Chairman noted that in his view the information session had achieved its objective of 
allowing participants to familiarize themselves w ith private standards schemes and their practical 
effects, and to serve as a forum for all participants to raise concerns.  He ha d also raised the question 
of where to go next in the Committee's discussions of  this subject, and had invited participants to 
reflect and provide ideas in the forum they deemed  appropriate, be they one of the WTO Committees 
or UNCTAD.   
162. Following the Chairman's report, several Memb ers expressed appreciation for the informal 
session on private standards.  The representative of Canada indicated that many of the issues relating to private standards would be suitably discussed in a broad forum, and encouraged UNCTAD to 
continue to lead international discussions on this  issue in collaboration with WTO, OECD, FAO and 
other organizations concerned.   
163. The representative of the United States stressed  the need to define the Committee's objective 
in discussions on private standards.  This objective c ould, for example, be information sharing or the 
analysis of the impacts of these standards on trade. 
164. The representative of Colombia observed that private standards could positive effects 
(product differentiation, increase value and better pr ices) as well as negative impacts (higher costs for 
exporters and higher restrictions in major markets).  However, ma ny private standards went beyond  G/SPS/R/45 
 Page 29 
 
 
  the provisions of the SPS and the TBT Agreements, and along with the proliferation of private 
standards, were becoming unnecessary barriers to trade.  
165. The representative of China noted the significant costs of implementation of these standards 
for enterprises, as well as the lack of  transparency of the standards. 
166. A number of Members requested that this issue be kept on the agenda of the next meeting of 
the SPS Committee.  Some suggested that further discussion was needed on the impact of private 
standards on market access, on the legal aspects an d on the connections of this issue with the SPS 
Agreement. 
167. The representative of Argentina noted that not a ll of the private standards were related to SPS 
matters and, together with the representative of Rw anda, suggested that the implications of private 
standards be discussed jointly with the TBT Committee. 
168. The Secretariat observed that the SPS Committee should focus only on those private 
standards related to SPS matters.  She recalled that the issue of private standards had been discussed 
in the TBT Committee in the past, an d if Members were interested in a joint meeting on this matter, 
they should also make the suggestion in the TBT Committee. 
169. The Committee agreed to keep th e issue of private standards on the agenda for the next SPS 
Committee meeting.  The Chairman requested Members to provide specific proposals in writing to centre the discussion at the next meeting and recalle d that the discussion should be focused on private 
standards related to SPS issues.   
XII. MONITORING THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
(a) New issues 
170. The representative of Argentina presented docum ent G/SPS/W/211, drawing attention to the 
problem faced in particular by developing c ountry Members, when importing Members establish 
national maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pestic ides which are stricter than those developed by 
Codex without scientific justification.  In contrast  to the MRLs established by Codex on the basis of 
worldwide risk assessments, a number of Members es tablished MRLs based on limited testing within 
their own territories, and which were often set at the limit of detection.  Furthermore, Members 
removed active substances from their national regi stries of permitted products for purely commercial 
reasons, without scientific justification.  Deve loping country Members lacked the scientific and 
financial resources to challenge the inconsistency of these trade-restricting measures with the SPS 
Agreement. Additional problems arose from the fact that there were no Codex standards for many of 
the active substances used by food-exporting Members.   
171. Argentina proposed that: 
(a) the SPS Committee set up appropriate mech anisms to ensure that the Codex 
Alimentarius undertook or accelerated work on establishing pesticide MRLs for substances of interest to agricultural exporti ng Members, and that it urge Members to 
provide the scientific information available to  them so as to facilitate the technical 
work; 
 (b) a mechanism be developed to monito r the establishment of national MRLs for 
substances that have Codex MRLs; G/SPS/R/45 
Page 30  
 
   (c) procedures be defined to facilitate, a nd secure the transparency of, risk assessments 
which support MRLs that are more demanding than those of the Codex; 
 (d) the SPS Committee analyze its own areas of responsibility and those of the Codex 
with a view to securing effective monito ring of the mechanisms and procedures 
established; and that 
 (e) the Committee make a recommendation to the Codex Alimentarius Commission to 
approve the decision to continue addressing this issue at its highest decision-making 
level and in the most appropriate technical fields. 
172. Many Members agreed with Argentina regard ing the problem and supported Argentina's 
proposals with respect to the application of valid sci entific principles to ensure transparency and to 
request Codex develop standards for products wh ich did not yet have MRLs.  Other Members 
observed that the proposal had been submitted only during the course of the meeting, and that they 
required more time to consider the matter.  Member s also referred to the importance of the task, and 
expressed concern at the limited resources available to  the standard-setting bodies.  They encouraged 
developing country Members to participate activel y in the standard-setting processes.  The Committee 
agreed to revert to this issue at its October 2007 meeting. 
173. The representative of Codex stressed the problem of resources and suggested that WTO 
Members raise this concern within the FAO and WHO governing bodies.  He noted that Codex MRLs 
were established on the basis of the best scientif ic advice available and that the Joint FAO/WHO 
Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) provided al l the necessary scientific expertise.  However, 
Members had to generate the necessary data and s ubmit it to the JMPR.  Argentina had raised this 
issue at the 39
th session of the Codex Committee on Pesticid e Residues.  Codex had abolished the 
procedures for countries to notify their acceptance of Codex standards, hence no information was 
available to Codex regarding the use of MRLs .  The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues had 
suggested that Argentina raise the concern at th e SPS Committee because of the relation with trade 
problems, and had agreed to request more guidance from the Codex Commission. 
(b) Issues previously raised 
174. There was no discussion under this agenda item. 
(c) Adoption of annual report 
175. The Chairman invited the Committee to adopt the ninth annual report which has been 
circulated as document G/SPS/W/209, subject to being updated to reflect the additional issue raised 
by Argentina.  The annual report was subsequently issued as G/SPS/45. 
XIII.  MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS 
176. The representative of Codex highlighted that since the last SPS Committee meeting, eight 
meetings of Codex Committees had been held.  He drew attention to the results of these meetings, 
which were summarized in document G/SPS/GEN/777.  This report also included information about 
the issues that would be considered in the followi ng sessions, and provided a list of documents that 
would be revised in the next session of the Commission in July 2007. 
177. The representative of IPPC provided an update on the IPPC standard setting work programme 
described in document G/SPS/GEN/779.  Document G/SPS/GEN/786 contained all of the decisions of the second meeting of the Commission on Phytosanit ary Measures (CPM-2).  CPM-2 had adopted a  G/SPS/R/45 
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  revised standard Framework for Pest Risk Analys is, which incorporated the discussions in the SPS 
Committee on consistency and uncertainty.  The st andard on Phytosanitary Treatment for Regulated 
Pests was also adopted.  The IPPC evaluation report was presented and discussed  at the meeting, and 
a final evaluation report which incorporated the comm ents has been prepared.  An important outcome 
of the evaluation was the recommendation that technical assistance activities of the IPPC should be 
undertaken by the appropriate FAO departments.  The evaluation report referred also to the adoption 
of the IPPC Business Plan and to the problem of financial resources. 
178. The representative of OIE stated that document G/SPS/GEN/788 provided information 
primarily on the 65th General Session of the OIE.  The OIE was continuing to develop a number of 
new concepts as foreseen in its strategic plan 2006- 2010.  An important event in the work programme 
was the establishment of an OIE Regional Animal Health Centre in Bamako.  The OIE had signed 
two formal agreements relative to animal welfare,  one with the World Society for the Protection of 
Animals, and another with the International Council  for Laboratory Animal Science.  An important 
number of disease-related standards had been am ended and adopted in May 2007, including with 
regard to foot and mouth disease (FMD), rinderpest  and avian influenza.  The "Twinning" initiative 
aimed to provide support and technical advice to la boratories and to establish relationships with OIE 
reference laboratories and collaborating centres.  It would improve developing countries' access to 
scientific advice to help them in meeting OIE standa rds.  There had also been modifications to the 
OIE Code for Diseases of Aquatic  Animals.  Document G/SPS/GEN/788 contains four annexes with 
texts and resolutions recognizing the status of Me mbers in regard to FMD, rinderpest, contagious 
bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and bovine  spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).  
179. The representative of the United States highlighted the results of the 65th OIE annual meeting 
and the development of a wide range of intern ational standards, notably those on zoning and 
compartmentalization, avian influenza and FMD.   These standards enhanced both international 
safeguards for safe trade and surveillance of anim al diseases.  The OIE had witnessed the disruption 
of trade resulting from the detection of BSE in ma ny countries.  Many Members applied trade bans 
and restrictions that did not take into account the recommendations of the OIE and were not based on 
risk analysis obligations of the SPS Agreement.  The United States noted that the OIE's International 
Committee had classified the United States as a cont rolled-risk country for BSE, and that these 
classifications should improve this situation.  Me mbers could refer to an assessment conducted by 
experts to determine which measures were appropriate  and consistent with in ternational standards.  
The representative of the United States encouraged Me mbers to align their import measures with the 
new OIE recommendations. 
180. The representative of IICA indicated that IICA had funded the participation of 26 countries to 
the SPS Committee meeting and supported the work of over 215 technical experts’ in countries.  This 
support would continue at least for the next Commi ttee meeting in October due to the importance of 
the workshop on transparency.  Since the last SPS Committee meeting, IICA had participated in a 
WTO national workshop in Ecuador regarding health and phytosanitary measures;  an international 
workshop on traceability in Costa Rica that develope d an agenda to promote the implementation of 
traceability;  a regional workshop for the Andean re gion on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP);  a 
workshop in Venezuela on the implications of th e SPS and the TBT Agreements;  and a workshop on 
the training of health authorities with the objective of developing skills and further training of officials in relation to new certification and inspection techniques.  Technical support related to the 
implementation of GAP was provided to 100 small a nd medium-sized production units in Colombia.  
Additional activities in GAP had taken place in Ecuador,  Venezuela and Argentina.  An event in Peru 
on "perspectives and strategic planning for SENAS A" was based on information sharing and the 
results of the implementation of the PVS tool for animal health services.  IICA permanently provided 
SPS-related information and the results of the standa rd-setting organizations to its members.  More 
details on the work of IICA was subsequen tly circulated in document G/SPS/GEN/785. G/SPS/R/45 
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  181. The representative of ISO thanked the SPS Committee for the opportunity to provide its 
perspective on international standards and the rela tionship between the new ISO Series 20,000 and the 
SPS Committee. 
XIV.  OBSERVERS – REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
182. The Committee agreed to invite those organiza tions which had been granted observer status 
on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis to participate in its next meeting.  The Committee also 
decided to invite all observer organizations to  participate in its next informal meetings. 
183. The Committee was unable to reach any decision with regard to the requests for observer 
status from the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), from the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), and from the Convention on Biodive rsity (CBD), and agreed to revert to this 
matter at its next meeting. 
184. The Chairman informed the Committee that a request for observer status had been received 
from the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardisation Organization.  The Secretariat recalled the procedures developed by the Comm ittee with respect to requests for observer status:  request 
information on the nature of the work of the orga nization, the nature of it membership, the number of 
WTO members involved, free access to the proc edures and documents of the organization and 
information regarding any relationship between the organization and the standard setting bodies or 
relevant to the objectives of the SPS Agreement.  The Committee requested th at the Secretariat seek 
more detailed information from the Gulf Coope ration Council Standardis ation Organization and 
agreed to revert to this request at its next meeting. 
XV. CALENDAR OF MEETINGS FOR 2008 
185. The meetings of the Committee for 2008 are tenta tively scheduled for 31 March to 5 April, 22 
to 27 June and 13 to 17 October. 
XVI.  OTHER BUSINESS 
186. There was no discussion under this agenda item. 
XVII.  DATE AND AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING 
187. The next meeting of the Committee is tentativ ely scheduled for 18-19 October 2007, with the 
special workshop on transparency scheduled fo r 15-16 October 2007, and informal meetings 
scheduled for 16-17 October 2007.  The relevant de adlines for submitting items for the agenda are as 
follows: 
(i) For proposing specific modifications to the Recommended Procedures on 
Transparency (G/SPS/7/Rev.2):  Monday, 10 September 2007
 
(ii) For identifying new issues for consideration under the monitoring procedure, AND 
for requesting that items be put on the agenda :  Friday, 5 October 2007  
(iii) For the distribution of the airgram:  Monday, 8 October 2007.  
 
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