WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/549 
3 March 2005 
 (05-0917) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 Spanish 
 
 
 
ACTIONS AIMED AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO AGREEMENT ON 
SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Information presented by the Inter-American Institute  
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA ) 
  
 The following communication, dated 2 March 2005, is being circulated at the request of the 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA). 
_______________ 
 
1. The observer organizations have a standing invitation to present reports to the WTO 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) on the activities they have undertaken to 
promote greater understanding and impl ementation of the SPS Agreement. 
I. INITIATIVE IN SPS FOR THE COUNTRIES OF THE AMERICAS  
 2. Together with the United States Department of Agriculture, and six countries that serve as a 
Steering Committee (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ch ile, Mexico and the USA), IICA continues to 
implement the Initiative in SPS for the Americas (Initiative). 
3. This Initiative, which began with the October 2002  meeting, has so far contributed to eight 
consecutive meetings, supporting the participation of the countries of the Americas and promoting 
national capacity building. 
4. A total of 34 countries are involved in the Initiative, 28 of which receive direct assistance to 
enable them to participate in SPS Committee meetings .  By the end of the seventh meeting of the SPS 
Committee, in October 2004, the Initiative had helped  159 specialists from 32 countries take part.  
These specialists were drawn from ministries of agricu lture (57 per cent), health (6 per cent) and trade 
or foreign affairs (37 per cent).  The Initiative is  designed to promote the coordinated implementation 
of the SPS Agreement by the different national instit utions involved.  It also promotes coordination 
with the private sector at the meetings held in the capitals before and after WTO/SPS Committee 
meetings.  As many as 28 of the 34 countries of th e Americas (82 per cent) now have an internal 
mechanism of some kind (be it formal or info rmal) for discussing and providing follow-up to the 
issues dealt with by the SPS Committee. 
5. For more information, contact: kevin.walker@iica.int
 (Kevin Walker); erick.bolanos@iica.int  
(Erick Bolaños); gregg.young@usda.gov  (Gregg Young); marianne.mcelroy@fas.usda.gov  
(Marianne McElroy);  or henry.schmick@usda.gov  (Henry Schmick). 
 G/SPS/GEN/549 
Page 2  
 
 II.  STRENGTHENING GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL HEALTH AND FOOD 
SAFETY SERVICES BY DEVELOPING A SHARED VISION AND JOINT ACTIONS 
 
6. IICA now has the preliminary versions of the Performance, Vision and Strategy (PVS) 
instrument for the plant health and food safety sector s.  These versions complement the animal health 
version developed with the World Organization on  Animal Health (OIE).  The instrument was 
presented to the Caribbean countries at a WTO workshop held 16-18 February 2005 in Jamaica. 
7. For more information, contact: marisa.cordero@iica.int (Marisa Cordero) or 
kevin.walker@iica.int (Kevin Walker). 
III. ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD-SETTING 
ORGANIZATIONS 
 
8. To support the training processes and the dissemi nation of the International Standard for 
Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) #15 of the Intern ational Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), IICA 
helped organize and carry out a workshop on the re gulations governing the wood packaging materials 
used in international trade, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2004. 
9. For more information, contact: mlfonalleras@iica.org.ar
 (Lourdes Fonalleras) or 
cvgelderen@iica.org.ar  (Carlos van Gelderen). 
10. The IICA Office in Argentina and the Secretaria t of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and 
Food (SAGPyA) of Argentina are implementing techni cal cooperation agreements with the Chair of 
the Codex Committee for Latin America and the Ca ribbean (CCLAC), and the SPS Enquiry Point in 
Argentina. 
11. Assistance is being provided in identifying regional needs and sources of cooperation for 
capacity building, and the technical evaluation of  documents, standards proposed under the aegis of 
international organizations, and no tifications.  Support is also being provided with research on 
specific subjects, the preparation of technical jus tifications and the design of surveys on national and 
regional needs. 
12. IICA took part, as an international observer organization, in the 14th Meeting of the CCLAC 
held 29 November - 3 December 2004, in Buenos Air es.  During the meeting, IICA suggested further 
cooperation efforts to achieve greater interaction among, and participation by, the national enquiry 
points, and capacity building. 
13. For more information, contact: mlfonalleras@iica.org.ar  (Lourdes Fonalleras) or 
tim.obrien@iica.int (Tim O’Brien). 
IV. SUPPORT FOR WTO TRAINING WORKSHOPS 
 
14. To support the training workshops that the WTO implements in the region of the Americas, 
IICA took part in a workshop held 16-18 February 2005 in Jamaica.  A similar event is scheduled for 
Nicaragua in May 2005.  
15. For more information, contact:  erick.bolanos@iica.int  (Erick Bolaños). 
V. ACTIVITIES IN THE CARIBBEAN 
 
16. IICA supported and made presentations for a nati onal quarantine course held in Saint Lucia, 
where over 40 persons from the public and private sector were sensitized or trained in quarantine  G/SPS/GEN/549 
 Page 3 
 
 
 services.  All activities were coordinated with the Mi nistry of Agriculture's Deputy Director, and the 
plant protection and quarantine services, veterinary services, office of standards, private sector associations and chambers of commerce.  An SPS cons ultation was held in Saint Lucia for more than 
35 persons from the public and private sectors. 
17. A workshop on the SPS and TBT Agreements and their implications for trade, entitled 
"Where we are and where we want to go", was he ld in Grenada for twenty participants from the 
public and private sectors.  Activities were coordinate d with the Ministry of Agriculture and the office 
of standards.  As a result of this workshop, a follow-up meeting was requested and is planned to 
further discuss recommendations and generate a strategic plan of action. 
18. In Jamaica, a national strategy for good ag ricultural practices (GAP) was introduced by the 
national agricultural health and food safety commit tee.  This is an initiative to follow up on the 
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) programme from last year.  The purpose is to elaborate on what the private sector has been doing in  the area of GAP and to outline a strategy for a 
national food safety programme.  This is an OECS ongoing activity. 
19. For more information, contact:  aeverton.ambrose@iica.int
 (Everton Ambrose). 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety 
http://agriheatlh.ws  
htpp://www.iica.int  
 
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