WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1021 
15 June 2010 
 (10-3250) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures   
  
 
 
DRAFT PROGRAMME FOR TRANSPARENCY WORKSHOP 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 1. The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization is organizing a special workshop on the 
transparency provisions of the Agreement on the A pplication of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(SPS Agreement), to be held in Geneva, Sw itzerland.  The workshop will begin on Monday, 
18 October and will continue on Fr iday, 22 October 2010.  The SPS Committee's informal and regular 
meetings will be held  on 19-21 October 2010. 
2. The objective of the workshop is to enhan ce the implementation and benefits of the 
transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement, in pa rticular by sharing experiences on how to operate 
an effective SPS National Notification Authority and Enquiry Point.    
3. Representatives of Members, Observers and Observer Organizations are all invited to 
participate in the transparency wo rkshop as well as in the meetings of the SPS Committee.  Given the 
focus of this workshop, the Secretariat encourages in particular the participation of officials from 
Members' SPS Enquiry Points and Notification Authorities. 
4. The WTO, with the financial assistance of th e Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund 
(DDAGTF), will sponsor the participation of 50 government officials from developing and least-
developed country Members and Observers.  Inter ested officials are invited to consult document 
G/SPS/GEN/997 titled "WTO SPS Technical Activities in 2010: General Information, Selection 
Processes and Application Form."  The d eadline for applications is 9 July 2010
.   
5. During the selection process, the Secretariat will give  priority to officials directly responsible 
for the work of either the SPS Enquiry Point or th e Notification Authority.  Exceptions will be made 
for candidates from Observer countries on the basis of evidence that the candidate has, or will have, 
responsibilities in this area in the context of the country's accession to the WTO.   
6. The draft workshop programme contained in th e Annex was prepared taking into account the 
past two transparency workshops he ld in October 2003 and October 2007,2 as well as the Committee's 
discussions on this topic. 
                                                      
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. 
2 For the reports of these workshops, s ee G/SPS/R/32 and G/SPS/R/47, respectively. G/SPS/GEN/1021 
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  7. The 2007 workshop concluded with a number of recommendations to the SPS Committee 
and/or the Secretariat on which significant progress has been made:   
(a) The SPS Committee adopted the revised R ecommended Procedures for Implementing 
the Transparency Obligations of the SPS Agreement (G/SPS/7/Rev.3) in May 2008
3, 
based on inputs from the 2007 workshop. 
(b) The Secretariat circulated a document re garding the timeframes related to the 
introduction of new SPS measures in  February 2008 (G/SPS/GEN/819). 
(c) Based on a proposal from New Zealand, th e Secretariat has been facilitating a 
mentoring mechanism among Enquiry Points and Notification Authorities since the summer of 2008 (G/SPS/W/217).  
(d) The Secretariat has been providing annual updates on the level of implementation of 
transparency provisions (G/SPS/GEN/804 and its Revisions). 
(e) The Secretariat has been further developing and providing training on the SPS 
Information Management System (SPS IMS) during SPS Committee meetings and technical assistance and outreach activities.
4  The SPS IMS could serve as a vehicle 
for identifying notifications of interest a nd preparing newsletters/alerts at the national 
level.   
(f) The Secretariat is working on developing an online mechanism for submission of SPS 
notifications.  It is expected that this f acility will be operational by the October 2010 
transparency workshop. 
(g) The Enquiry Point of New Zealand, with the assistance of Australia and the WTO 
Secretariat, has prepared a step-by-step procedural manual for Enquiry Points and 
Notification Authorities.  This manual is ava ilable in English, French and Spanish, in 
hard copy and in pdf format through the WTO's SPS gateway.5 
8. In addition to the above, the 2007 workshop iden tified the following actions which could be 
taken at the national/regional level to complement these efforts: 
(a) Awareness-raising activities at the national level; 
(b) More proactive involvement in the iden tification of technical assistance needs; 
(c) Using international standards as a point of  departure for national legislation and 
participating actively in the work of th e international standard-setting bodies; 
(d) Consideration of the development of we bsites at the national or regional level; 
(e) Further information exchange and sh aring of best practices at the 
bilateral/plurilateral/regional level and u se of appropriate regional entities;  and 
(f) More active use of the FAO International Portal.   
                                                      
3 The Recommended Procedures to ok effect on 1 December 2008. 
4 http://spsims.wto.org . 
5 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e /sps_e/transparency_toolkit_e.htm .  G/SPS/GEN/1021 
 Page 3 
 
 
  9. In an effort to ensure that this third works hop adds value, Members and Observers are invited 
to provide suggestions for the programme by Friday, 2 July .  In addition, delegations interested in 
sharing their experiences in implementing and benefiting from the transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement, including in the areas referred to in pa ragraph 8, are strongly encouraged to contact the 
Secretariat by Friday, 2 July to arrange for a brief intervention during the workshop.   
10. For further enquiries on the workshop, please cont act Ms. Serra Ayral (tel: +41 22 739 5465;  
fax:  +41 22 739 5760;  e-mail:  serra.ayral@wto .org) or Mr. Robson Fernandes (tel:  +41 22 739 
6437;  fax:  +41 22 739-5760,  e-mail:  robson.fernandes@wto.org). G/SPS/GEN/1021 
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  ANNEX 
 
DRAFT PROGRAMME FOR TRANSPARENCY WORKSHOP
 
 
Monday, 18 October 2010 
 
10.00 – 10.15   Opening remarks by the Chair  10.15 – 10.45  Session I:  Introduction
 
   Speaker(s):  WTO Secretariat 
    
• Orientation remarks for funded participants 
• Overview of transparency provisions in the SPS Agreement and of 
relevant Committee/ Ministerial Decisions  
• Presentation of Members' level of implementation of transparency 
provisions and decisions 
• Indication of existing WTO reference materials/tools 
 
10.45 – 11.05 Session II:  The SPS Information Management System  
Speaker:  WTO Secretariat 
 
 11.05 – 11.20 Session III:  STDF update on initiatives to improve the functioning of 
Enquiry Points / Notification Authorities   
  Speaker:  STDF Secretariat 
 
 11.20 – 12.50 Session IV:  Sharing of experiences  
  Speaker(s):  Representatives of Members / Observers    Interventions on the following possible topics:     
• How to raise awareness on the ec onomic benefits of a transparent 
system? 
• How to facilitate and regularize preparation of notification? 
• How to best take advantage of  incoming notifications? 
• How to establish a sustainable coordination mechanism at the national 
level involving public and private stakeholders? 
• How to devise an effective technical assistance project to improve the 
functioning of Enquiry Points/Notification Authorities? 
• How to benefit from regional initiatives? 
 
 12.50 – 13.00  Session V:  Setting the stage for the four breakout sessions of the afternoon
 
   Speaker:  WTO Secretariat   13.00 – 15.00 Lunch break 
 15.00 – 17.00 Session VI:  Breakout sessions with four groups
 (two in English, one in 
French, and one in Spanish) 
     
• Participants to come up with recommendations for action in light of the 
topics covered in the morning based on a list of questions to be used by 
the facilitators of each group. 
  G/SPS/GEN/1021 
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  17.00 – 18.00 Session VII:  Reporting on breakout sessions by rapporteurs followed by 
general discussion  
 
Tuesday, 19 October 
 10.00 – 18.00 Participation in informal meeting(s) of SPS Committee  
 
Wednesday, 20 October 
 
10.00 – 18.00 Participation in SPS Committee meetings 
 
    Thursday, 21 October 
 
10.00 – 18.00 Participation in SPS Committee meetings  
Friday, 22 October 
 
10.00 – 11.30 Session VIII:  Practical session on how to prepare notifications
 
  Facilitators:  WTO Secretariat; Aust ralia and New Zealand Contact Points 
 
• Why should Members notify? 
• What should be notified and when? 
• Who should notify? 
• What format should be used? 
• Who should it be sent to? 
• Who could be consulted with questions? 
• How does the on-line submission facility work? 
 
11.30 – 11.45  Break  11.45 – 13.00 Session IX:  Practical session on how to react to notifications
 
  Facilitators:  WTO Secretariat; Aust ralia and New Zealand Contact Points 
 
• How does the SPS IMS work? 
• Who should track incoming notifications? 
• How could notifications of interest be identified? 
• With whom should they be shared? 
• How could comments be collected? 
• How should they be shared with the notifying Member? 
 
13.00 – 15.00 Lunch break  15.00 – 16.30 Session X:  Wrap-up and identification of follow-up actions
 
  Facilitators:  WTO Secretariat 
 
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