WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/866 
7 November 2008 
 
 (08-5410) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2008) ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
 1. The present report is being circulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures on his own responsibility.  This report provides a summary of the activities 
and decisions of the Committee as of 1 November 2008. 
2. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary  Measures (the "SPS Committee") has held 
three regular meetings in 2008:  2-3 April;  24-25 June;  and 8-9 October.
1  At the April meeting, 
Mr. Marinus Huige of the Netherlands was re-a ppointed Chairperson for the 2008-2009 period. 
3. At its meeting of 2-3 April, the Committee adopted, on an ad referendum basis, revised 
recommended procedures for transparency (G/SPS /7/Rev.3).  This decision was confirmed on 
31 May 2008.  The new procedures, inter alia , clarify the definition of the comment period, 
encourage the notification of measures conforming to international standards, request inclusion of HS 
codes in notifications, and provide links for access to  full texts of regulations and their translations.  
New notification formats were adopted, which will be  used as of 1 December 2008.  The Secretariat 
also developed a mechanism for "mentoring" to assi st officials responsible for transparency in 
developing countries, and a number of Members have  already been "matched" to provide guidance 
when requested. 
4. The Committee also adopted guidelines on th e implementation of Article 6 of the SPS 
Agreement, to facilitate the recognition of pest- and disease-free areas or areas of low pest or disease 
prevalence (G/SPS/48).  The guidelines identify the type of information normally needed for the 
recognition of "regionalization", as well as typical administrative steps in the recognition process.  
The Committee agreed to monitor the implementation of Article 6, on the basis of information 
provided by Members.  
5. In the context of the Second Review of th e Operation and Implementation of the SPS 
Agreement (G/SPS/36), the Committee considered proposals to facilitate the use of ad hoc 
consultations and negotiations to resolve trade pr oblems, and agreed to address the issue of the 
relationship between the SPS Committee and the Codex,  OIE and IPPC at a workshop to be held in 
October 2009. 
6. The Committee adopted, at its meeting in Oct ober 2008, procedures for undertaking the Third 
Review of the SPS Agreement during 2009 (G/SPS/W/228). 
7. In accordance with the transp arency provisions of the SPS Agreement, 956 notifications 
(including addenda, corrigenda, re visions, supplements and agreem ents on equivalence) were 
submitted in the period 1 January to 30 Sept ember 2008, bringing the total number of SPS 
notifications submitted since the entry into fo rce of the Agreement to 9,522 by October 2008. 
                                                      
1 The report of the April meeting is contained in G/SPS/R/49, that of the June meeting in G/SPS/R/51, 
and the report of the October mee ting will be circulated as G/SPS/R/53 . G/L/866 
Page 2  
 
  8. At each of the Committee's meetings, Members,  Observer Organizations and the Secretariat 
provided information on their respective SPS-re lated technical assistance activities, and the 
Secretariat kept the Committee informed of the work of the Standards and Trade Development 
Facility (STDF).  A special workshop on best prac tices in SPS-related technical cooperation was held 
in October 2008, in collaboration with the OECD.  More than 200 delegates participated in the 
workshop, some with assistance from the WTO Global Trust Fund or the STDF.  The workshop 
presented the results of research on good practice in  SPS-related projects identified by Members as 
having been successful, and considered how to apply the Paris Principles on Aid Effectiveness in this 
area.  SPS Committee delegates also participated  in an STDF-organized workshop on SPS-related 
capacity evaluation tools in March 2008. 
9. The issue of special and differential treatme nt was considered at each meeting of the 
Committee.  The Committee has consid ered proposals for the revision of the procedure to enhance the 
transparency of special and differential treatment
2, but has not yet reached a decision in this regard. 
10. The SPS Committee considered a wide range of  specific trade concerns, including many 
related to individual notifications.  The issues discussed included, inter alia , concerns with maximum 
levels of pesticide residues in va rious products, including pineapple and cacao and control procedures 
for residue levels;  measures taken in respon se to avian influenza and bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy (BSE) that exceed the OIE standards;   restrictions relating to foot-and-mouth disease 
(FMD);  costs of inspections;  and requirements for assessing the safety of tradit ional foods.  In total, 
during 2008, thirteen new specific trade concerns we re raised, ten previously raised concerns were 
again discussed, and four were reported to have been resolved. 
11. The Committee also continued to discuss the ef fects of commercial and private SPS standards 
on trade, and the appropriate role of the SPS Co mmittee.  At its June meeting, an informal 
information session was held with representatives  of entities involved in the development and 
certification of private standards, as well with or ganizations who have undertaken related studies.  
Members were invited to propose possible actions  by the SPS Committee in response to a series of 
questions.  On this basis, at its October meeting,  the Committee agreed to:  (1) encourage Members to 
share information regarding any relevant studies of wh ich they were aware;  (2) request the Secretariat 
to organize further information sessions with repr esentatives of private standard-setting bodies as 
appropriate;  and (3) undertake a study on the effect s of private standards for specific products based 
on documentation provided by Members. 
12. The Tenth Annual Report on the Procedure to Monitor the Process of International 
Harmonization was adopted by the Committee at its June meeting.3  
13. At the October 2008 meeting, the Comm ittee conducted a transitional review under 
Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of th e People's Republic of China.  Questions were 
submitted in advance of the meeting by the United States and, at the meeting, by the European 
Communities.4  The report of the review is contained in the document G/SPS/50. 
14. The Committee agreed to invite those organiza tions which had been granted observer status 
on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis to particip ate in each of its meetings during 2008.  The 
Committee was unable to reach any decision with rega rd to pending requests for observer status from 
the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), from the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community 
                                                      
2 The procedure is contained in G/SPS/33, and the proposed revisions in  JOB(07)/104, G/SPS/W/224 
and Rev.1. 
3 G/SPS/49. 
4 G/SPS/W/229 and G/SPS/W/231, respectively.  G/L/866 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (APCC), from the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), and from the Gulf Cooperation Council 
Standardisation Organization (GSO). 
15. The SPS Committee maintained its  close working relationship with the IPPC, the OIE and 
Codex and received regular updates on their activities.   Other observer organizations also provided 
information on their activities, including technical assistance activities. 
16. The Committee agreed to the follo wing tentative calendar for its regular meetings in 2009:  
25-26 February, 24-25 June and 14-15 October. 
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