. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/863 
7 July 2008 
 (08-3251) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO SPS AGREEMENT THROUGH 
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS 
 
Communication by Chile to the Meeting of the Committee of 24 and 25 June 2008
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 27 June 2008, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Chile.  
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 1. In order to enhance implementation of the WTO SPS Agreement, alongside the Agreement 
Chile has concluded a number of bilateral agreem ents of different kinds, some as sanitary and 
phytosanitary chapters within the free trade agreements (FTAs) and the association agreements, others 
as sanitary and phytosanitary annex es to the economic complementar ity agreements, subsequently 
signing agreements at the institutional level through the agencies or services in charge of sanitary and 
phytosanitary matters. 
2. In the sanitary and phytosanitary area, the bilate ral agreements are a supplementary means of 
improving implementation, since trade is conducted b ilaterally, as are the study or analysis of the 
sanitary conditions of the different parties and the functioning of their health services. 
3. The texts of these agreements are simple, in th at they are based on the WTO SPS Agreement.  
Generally speaking, the three ar eas in which, by their nature, these texts supplement the 
WTO Agreement are administration, in some cases dispute settlement, for which the FTAs have their 
own procedures, and technical cooperation. 
4. In most cases, for the purposes of administering these bilateral agreements the parties have 
opted to establish committees made up of represen tatives of both sides, to examine any areas which 
have given rise to delays or divergences.  The committee members also report on any major progress 
in the implementation of the agreement. 
5. In the end, there is a difference among the agreem ents with the different countries precisely as 
regards the way the three mentioned components ope rate (administration, cooperation and dispute 
settlement).  There are some cas es in which no committee has been established, and in the dispute 
settlement area there are cases which would be refe rred to the WTO rather than the corresponding 
FTA dispute settlement body. 
6. In 1966, when the WTO SPS Agreement was still new, Chile and a number of other countries 
circulated a document in the Committee notifying the bilateral agreements which existed at the time.  
Most of them were at the institutional level, a nd many of them became part of an FTA or an 
association agreement. G/SPS/GEN/863 
Page 2  
 
  7. On that occasion, the following agreements  were notified as havi ng been concluded and 
processed at the governmental level: 
(a) Free trade agreements:  Panama, Japan, China, United States, Canada, Mexico, 
Korea, Central America, EFTA; 
(b) Association agreements:  European Union;  P4 (New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, 
Darussalam and Chile); 
(c) Complementarity agreements:  Argentina,  Bolivia, MERCOSUR, Peru, Venezuela; 
(d) Partial scope agreement:  India; 
(e) Agreement at the government level still pe nding (negotiation or internal processing 
within the countries):  Australia, Co lombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, Turkey. 
8. Details of the texts of the above-mentioned ag reements can be found on the web site of the 
General Directorate for International Ec onomic Affairs of Chile:  www.direcon.cl
. 
9. There are a number of additional agreements at the institutional level:  Algeria, Australia, 
Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Morocco, Nicaragua, Domi nican Republic, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Uruguay and 
Vietnam. 
10. Further details can be found on the web site of  the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG):  
www.sag.gob.cl . 
 
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