WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.7 
29 April 2010 
 (10-2313) 
Committee in Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
Addendum  
 
 1. An application for observer status in the SPS Committee was received on 8 April 2010 from 
the Agency for International Trade Information a nd Cooperation (AITIC).  Information provided by 
AITIC was circulated in G/SPS/GE N/1009 and is summarized below. 
1. Membership 
(a) Sponsoring Members (4) 
Ireland 
Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei) 
Sweden Switzerland 
 
(b) Participating Members (61) 
                                                     
 
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. Afghanistan 
Algeria Antigua and 
  Barbuda 
Azerbaijan Barbados Benin Bhutan Bolivia 
Burundi 
Cambodia Cape Verde Central African   Republic  
Chad  
Congo, Rep. of the  Congo, Dem. Rep. of the  Cuba 
Djibouti Dominica 
Dominican Republic 
Ecuador Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Georgia 
Grenada 
Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana 
Haiti 
Honduras Jamaica Jordan Kyrgyz, Rep. 
Lao People's Dem. Rep. Madagascar 
Mali 
Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Mongolia Montenegro 
Morocco 
Mozambique Nicaragua Nigeria Rwanda  
Saint Lucia 
Samoa Senegal Seychelles G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.7 
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  Sri Lanka 
Sudan Suriname Togo Trinidad and Tobago 
Tunisia Uganda Vanuatu Yemen 
Zambia 
 
2. Another five countries are in the process of accession.  The African Intellectual Property 
Organization (OAPI) and the United Nations Indu strial Development Organization (UNIDO) hold 
observer status at AITIC's Council of Representatives. 
2. Mandate, scope and area of work 
3. AITIC was established in Geneva in 1998 as an  association and subsequently became an 
intergovernmental organization in 2004.  AITIC’s core objective is to assist the less-advantaged 
countries (i.e., resource-constrained developing countr ies and economies in transition, with a priority 
to the least-developed countries and countries without permanent representation in Geneva) to effectively participate in the WTO negotiations an d in the multilateral trading system).  AITIC 
currently has 61 Participating Members who receiv e trade-related technical assistance to better 
understand the implications of international trad e policy issues and to further engage in the 
multilateral trading system. 
4. AITIC has a mandate to: 
• assist less-advantaged countries (LACs) to have  more effective trade-led growth through 
personalised assistance and capacity-building programmes;  
• assist LACs’ participation in WTO negotiations a nd in the work of other international trade-
related organizations;  
• help LACs to become more active in the multilateral trading system and conduct more 
effective trade policies;  
• strengthen the operational capacity of LAC trade delegations in Geneva  and of non-residents 
located in their capitals, in Brussel s or in other European cities. 
 
3. Contribution to the work of the SPS Committee 
5. AITIC has been providing tailor-made technical  assistance activities on the SPS Agreement 
and the notification requirements to some of its Participating Members since 2008.  In July 2009, 
AITIC and the United Kingdom Department for Inte rnational Development (DFID) entered into 
formal agreement to collaborate on projects aimed at providing technical assistance to LDCs and non-
resident countries (without permanent representation in Geneva).  One of the purposes of this two 
year (2009 and 2010) project is to strengthen the capacity of these countries to implement the SPS Agreement.   
6. AITIC has so far organized four national workshops on SPS-related issues – in The Gambia 
(twice), Nepal and Togo.  In 2010, AITIC is scheduled  to conduct two more workshops in Africa:  (i) 
a follow-up in Togo;  and (ii) another in a country yet to be confirmed.   
7. In the national workshops mentioned above, AI TIC collaborated with SPS experts and local 
authorities to deliver tailor-made sessions.  Each wo rkshop lasted for two days and was held in the 
respective capital.  The nodal ministries of Agricultu re and/or Trade had been requested to ensure the 
participation of officials from other ministries and de partments such as health, animal welfare, trade, 
chemicals and fertilizers, food safety, small-scale industries dealing with package, business houses, 
chambers of commerce, standards, fisheries, plan t protection, customs, national committees on Codex,  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.7 
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  packaging companies, etc. for proper dissemination of  information to the different SPS stakeholders.  
The workshops also info rmed the participants of the role of the STDF and its activities. 
8. In addition, AITIC has prepared background do cuments related to the WTO SPS Agreement, 
available at http://www.acici.org/aitic/documents/docs.htm .  
9. Further information regarding AITIC's SPS activities can be found in G/SPS/GEN/1009, 
circulated on 30 March 2010. 
4. Reciprocity  
10. The WTO Secretariat has not requested observer status in AITIC.  AITIC will readily share 
all documents and reports concerni ng all SPS-related activities, includi ng the organization of technical 
assistance activities, with the WTO SPS Committee s ecretariat and other stakeholders upon request. 
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