WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/647 
24 March 2006 
 (06-1343) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
 
Information for the Workshop on 31 March 2006
 
 
Communication from Egypt  
  
 The following communication, received on 23 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the Delegation of Egypt. 
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1. In preparation for the Workshop on the Implementation of the SPS Agreement, Members 
were invited to submit information on their experiences or their suggestions and to identify models of 
"best practices" for the issues to be discussed. 
Issue 1
 
  What tools currently exist and how best ca n they be used to ensure the effective 
implementation of the SPS agreement at the nation al level?  Is there a need for the development 
of additional tools? 
 2. The SPS Agreement as well as other relate d organizations (OIE, IPPC and Codex 
Alimentarius) provide Members with the necessary guidelines to help them fulfil their obligations 
under the WTO, harmonize their national legislation a nd use international standards as a reference in 
developing relevant national measures. 
(a) The SPS Agreement 
3. The SPS Agreement in itself contains the signifi cant tools that a Member can depend on in 
the implementation of the Agreement at the national le vel.  As an example, Article 2 highlights some 
important points with regard to the rights and obligations of Me mbers in adopting SPS measures.  
4. Also, it is important to note that the SPS Co mmittee helps Members to  better understand the 
SPS rules and practices through the effective interacti ons that take place in the Committee with either 
Members or other related organizations.  In our view it is important for developing countries to 
participate in the meetings of the SPS Committee.   
(b) The relevant international organizations 
5. OIE, IPPC and Codex Alimentarius, as the in ternational standard-setting bodies, play an 
important role in assisting Members to fulfil th eir obligations under the SPS Agreement through the 
establishment of the reference international standard s that the Members can rely on when developing 
their national measures.  Based on this, it is important to strengthen the link between these G/SPS/GEN/647 
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  international standard-setting bo dies and developing countries as a step to help these countries to 
better comply with SPS requirements. 
Issue 2
 
  What national mechanisms can be created to  ensure that stakeholders are informed in a 
timely manner of new SPS requirements, so that  the SPS requirements of trading partners can 
be evaluated and so that the views of relevan t stakeholders can be taken into account when 
responding to SPS notifications?  In establishing such mechanisms, how can Members identify the relevant domestic stakeholders and promote e ffective interaction amount those stakeholders 
that can be sustained over time?  How can information about the SPS requirements be 
transmitted to groups outside of capital? 
 
6. The relevant stakeholders in Egypt, including the private sector, are being informed of new 
SPS requirements through two channels.  The first on e is the SPS national sub-committee at which the 
new SPS requirements are being discussed and analyzed.  The second channel is the SPS national 
enquiry point as it takes the responsibility to inform the private sector regularly of the newly adapted 
SPS requirements. 
7. Moreover, each competent authority h as established a web site, respectively www.tas.gov.eg
, 
and www.epq.gov.eg , at which it includes its laws, decrees a nd related SPS measures so as to help the 
private sector and other stakeholders to get familiar with the SPS related issues.  
8. In collaboration with relevant stakeholders , a Notification Coordination Mechanism (NCM) 
was established aiming to share SPS- related information with all re levant parties (public, private 
sector) and to support the national enqu iry point in feeding stakeholders with all the information they 
need in a timely manner.   
Issue 3  
 
 How can developing country Members most  effectively request SPS-related technical 
assistance? Can best practice in both the identifi cation and the provision of technical assistance 
be identified? How can technical assistance s upply and demand be most effectively matched, 
priority areas identified and duplication of donor efforts avoided?  
9. There is a clear and obvious gab between Member s’ expectations and the technical assistance 
they receive from other Member countries.  A numbe r of developing country Members have indicated 
that much of the assistance they have received has not had the desired effect of allowing them to maintain or achieve export opportunities within the frame of new or existing SPS requirements. 
10. This concern underlies a desire to find more effective means to ensu re the better overall 
performance of technical assistance. 
11. The core issue in technical assistance is th at Members should efficiently, effectively and 
precisely identify at the earliest possible stage th eir technical assistance needs based on a relevant 
needs assessment that covers all the SPS -related stakeholders in that country. 
12. With regard to the provision of technical assistan ce, Egypt is of the view that the provision of 
technical assistance in the SPS filed should be b ased on the real needs of the recipient countries 
(demand driven), and should not be limited to certa in types of technical assistance but vary according 
to the specified needs.  At this  stage, we may find some developing countries still need specific 
technical assistance in the fields of risk assessment , risk analysis and risk management, as well as 
effective surveillance and monitoring services.  G/SPS/GEN/647 
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  13. The provision of technical assistance should also cover areas like establishing accredited 
laboratories to accurately diagnose diseases and pests, identify toxic residues, and verify the quality of 
agricultural chemicals and veterinary products. 
 
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