WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/851 
18 June 2008 
 (08-2874) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
SPS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES IN 2008 
 
Information from the Secretariat
1 
  
 The following information describes the SPS t echnical assistance activities undertaken and 
planned by the WTO Secretariat for 2008, based on the "Biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2008-2009" (WT/COMTD/W/160).
2 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. Regional Seminars 
 
Date Region Venue Organized by Other 
participating 
organizations 
22-24 February 2008 Latin America Paraguay WTO – 
IDB/INTAL Codex, IPPC 
and OIE 
Early November 
2008 
(TBC) Pacific Fiji WTO Codex, IPPC 
and OIE 
Week 17 November 
2008 Arab and Middle East 
countries Qatar WTO Codex, IPPC 
and OIE 
Early December 2008 Africa (English-
speaking) TBC WTO Codex, IPPC 
and OIE 
 
 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 The venues and dates for planned activities are subject to changes.  Tables have been updated to 
reflect more recently available info rmation.  Additional information, including draft programmes, eligible 
countries/customs territories, participan ts' requirements, are available at:  
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/d evel_e/train_e/course_details_e.htm. G/SPS/GEN/851 
Page 2  
 
  2. National Seminars
3 
 
Date Venue Organized by Other 
participating 
organizations 
30 January – 1 February 
2008 Costa Rica WTO - 
11-13 March 2008 Belize (SPS/TBT) WTO - 
17-18 April 2008 Cape Verde 
(SPS/Agriculture) WTO - 
12-14 May 2008 Chile WTO - 
26 May 2008 Burkina Faso (SPS/TBT) WTO - 
11-12 June 2008 Laos (SPS/TBT) WTO - 
Week 7 July 2008 Rwanda (SPS/TBT) WTO - 
31 July – 1 August 2008 Indonesia WTO - 
Week 10 November 
2008 India WTO - 
December 2008 China WTO - 
TBC Fiji (SPS/TBT) WTO - 
TBC  Lebanon WTO - 
TBC Mozambique WTO - 
TBC  Turkey WTO - 
TBC Zimbabwe WTO - 
 
 3.  Geneva-based Specialized Courses 
 
Date Activity Venue Organized by 
19 – 20 June 2008 Follow-up 3rd Specialized Course 
on SPS (held in 2007) Geneva WTO 
29 September – 
17 October 2008 4th  Specialized Course on SPS 
(English) Geneva WTO 
 
 
                                                      
3 The delivery of national activities in 2008 depends on Members' requests, on the resources of the 
Secretariat to undertake them and on whether the request could be addressed through a regional activity.  G/SPS/GEN/851 
 Page 3 
 
 
  4. Geneva-based Topic-specific Symposium  
 
Date Activity Venue Organized by 
31 March 2008 STDF Workshop on SPS Capacity 
Evaluation Tools Geneva WTO (STDF)4 
26 June 2008 STDF Information Session on Private 
Standards Geneva WTO (STDF)5 
6 October 2008 Special Workshop on Good Practices and 
SPS related Technical Cooperation, held 
back-to-back with the SPS Committee 
Meeting Geneva WTO 
 
 5. Geneva-based Trade Policy Courses covering, inter alia,  the SPS Agreement 
 
Date Name of course (language) Organized by 
January-April 2008 43rd Trade Policy Course (English) WTO (ITTC) 
January-April 2008 44th Trade Policy Course (English) WTO (ITTC) 
April-July 2008 45th Trade Policy Course (Spanish) WTO (ITTC) 
September -
December 2008 46th Trade Policy Course (French) WTO (ITTC) 
 
 6.  Regional Trade Policy Courses covering, inter alia,  the SPS Agreement 
 
Date Region Venue Organized by 
January – April 
2008 Caribbean Jamaica WTO (ITTC) 
March – May 
2008 Asia and Pacific Singapore WTO (ITTC) 
September -
December 2008 Africa (French-speaking) TBC WTO (ITTC) 
TBC Africa (English-speaking) TBC WTO (ITTC) 
 
 
                                                      
4 This event was organized by the Standards and Tr ade Development Facility (S TDF).  Theref ore, it is 
not included in the general WTO "Biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2008-2009" 
(WT/COMTD/W/160) aforementioned. 
5 This event was organized by the Standards and Tr ade Development Facility (S TDF).  Theref ore, it is 
not included in the general WTO "Biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2008-2009" 
(WT/COMTD/W/160) aforementioned. G/SPS/GEN/851 
Page 4  
 
  7. Geneva-based Introduction Courses covering, inter alia,  the SPS Agreement 
 
Date Activity Venue Organized by 
June 2008 13th Introduction course for Least-
Developed countries (English) Geneva WTO 
TBC 14th Introduction course for Least-
Developed countries (French) Geneva WTO 
 
 
8. eTraining: Online Courses 
 
Date Name of course (language) Organized by 
February – April 
2008 Introduction to Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(English) WTO (ITTC) 
May – June 2008 Introduction to Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(English) WTO (ITTC) 
September – 
October 2008 Introduction to Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(Spanish and French) WTO (ITTC) 
 
 
__________