WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1112 
20 September 2011 
 (11-4524) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
OUTSTANDING REQUESTS FROM INTERNATIONAL  
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
Criteria for Observer Status 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
 1. At the June 2011 meeting of the SPS Committee, several Members indicated that recalling the 
Committee's previously adopted guidelines for the granting of observer status would be useful to 
facilitate the consideration of the outstanding requ ests from various international intergovernmental 
organizations.  Furthermore, Members expressed an in terest in considering the requests according to 
the category of organization. 
A. W
ORKING PROCEDURES OF THE COMMITTEE  
2. Paragraph 7 of the Working Procedures of the Committee (G/SPS/1, dated 4 April 1995) 
reads as follows: 
"Representatives of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codes), the Office 
international des epizooties (OIE) and the F AO Secretarial for the International Plant 
Protection Convention (IPPC) will be invited to  attend meetings as observers, pending the 
final decision by the General Council.  Representatives of other international intergovernmental organizations may be inv ited by the Committee to attend meetings as 
observers in accordance with the guidelines to be adopted by the General Council.  
Notwithstanding the above, the Committee may, as  appropriate, decide to hold restricted 
sessions with participation of Members only." 
 3. Guidelines on Observer Status for International Intergovernmental Organizations in the WTO 
were adopted by the General Council on 25 July 1996 (see the "Gener al Council Guidelines, attached 
to this note).
2 
4. In the first half of 1998, the Committee held  informal consultations with the aim of 
identifying criteria for granting observer status.  In November 1998, the Secretariat was asked to prepare a background document summarizing concerns  raised by some Members regarding the grant 
of observer status to other intergovernmental orga nizations and the criteria which had been suggested 
as most appropriate (G/SPS/W/98).  At its meeting in March 1999, the Committee agreed to apply the 
criteria identified in paragraph 7 of that document in deciding on requests for observer status, and also 
agreed that, as an interim step, such requests would be granted only on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting 
basis.  Paragraph 7 of G/SPS/W/98 reads: 
                                                      
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. 
2 WT/L/161. G/SPS/GEN/1112 
Page 2  
 
  "Suggested criteria for considering requests fo r observer status included the mandate, scope 
and area of work covered by the organizati on.  Observer status should be granted to 
organizations, which objectively contributed to  the functioning and implementation of the 
SPS Agreement.3  Another criteria identified was reciprocity." (underlined in original) 
 
B. CURRENT OBSERVER ORGANIZATIONS  
5. Since 1995, the SPS Committee has granted observer status to a total of 21 bodies as follows: 
(a) Observer status has been granted on a regular basis to: 
 
Observer Acronym Date of decision 
1. Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Mar-97 
2. FAO International Plant Protection Convention IPPC Mar-97 
3. FAO/WHO Joint Codex Alimentarius 
Commission CODEX Mar-97 
4. International Organization for Standardization ISO Mar-97 
5. International Trade Center ITC Mar-97 
6. World Organization for Animal Health OIE Mar-97 
7. United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development UNCTAD Mar-97 
8. World Health Organization WHO Mar-97 
 
(b) Observer status granted as part of a WTO reciprocity agreement/ MOU to: 
 
Observer Acronym Date of decision 
1. International Monetary Fund IMF Nov-96 
2. World Bank   Nov-96 
 
                                                      
3 The position of the European Union is devel oped in greater detail in document G/SPS/W/95, 
"International Observer Organizations", circulated on 23 November 1998. [ footnote in the original ]  G/SPS/GEN/1112 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (c) Observer status granted on an ad hoc  basis to:  
 Observer Acronym Date of  
request Date of 
decision 
1. African, Caribbean and Pacific  
Group of States  ACP  
GROUP 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
2. European Free Trade Association  EFTA 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
3. Inter-American Institute for  
Cooperation on Agriculture  IICA 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
4. Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development OECD 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
5. Regional International Agricultural 
Health Organization OIRSA 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
6. Latin American Economic System  SELA 01-Mar-99 Nov-99 
7. Economic Community for West 
African States  ECOWAS 05-Oct-09 Mar-10 
8. The Community of Sahel Saharan 
States  CEN-SAD 22-Nov-09 Mar-10 
9. The Southern African Development 
Community  SADC  21-Dec-09 Mar-10 
10. The West African Economic and 
Monetary Union    WAEMU 29-Apr-10 Jun-10 
11. The Agency for International Trade 
Information and Cooperation  AITIC 08-Apr-10 Jun-10 
 
C. INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE REQUEST S ARE OUTSTANDING AS OF 
AUGUST 2011 
6. The various organizations requesting observer status in the SPS Committee fall into several 
categories.  These include, for example, UN-affi liated organizations, various regional bodies, 
commodity-specific bodies, and international scientif ic organizations.  The outstanding requests are, 
therefore, categorized as below to facilitate Member s' consideration of requests for observer status. 
1. African regional secretariats and development bodies 
 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)  
 Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS/CEEAC)  
 Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)  
 
2. Other regional bodies 
 Gulf Cooperation Council Standa rdization Organization (GSO) 
 G/SPS/GEN/1112 
Page 4  
 
  3. Commodity-specific organizations 
 Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) 
 International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) 
 Office international de la vigne et du vin/ International Vine and Wine Office (OIV) 
 
4. International "Scientific" Organization 
 Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI)  
 
5. Other global bodies 
 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)  
 Standing Committee of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)   
(a) Organizations seeking observer status were re quested to provide complete documentation 
relevant to the criteria identified in paragraph 7 of document G/SPS/W/98, in support of their 
applications.  The information provided is contained in the following documents: 
Application received on Background information 
      
African regional secretariats and development 
bodies     
COMESA 15 February 2011 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.12 
ECCAS/CEEAC 8 January 2011 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.10 
IGAD March 2011 not yet received 
      
Other regional bodies     
GSO  6 May 2007 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3 
      
Commodity-specific organizations     
APCC 25 October 1999 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.1 
ICCO 14 July 2011 not yet received 
OIV 25 October 1999 G/SPS/GEN/121  
      
Other global bodies     
  original 13 June 2002   
CBD   renewed 11 August 2010 G/ SPS/GEN/121/Add.2/Rev.1 
CABI 11 February 2011 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.9 
CITES 14 March 2011 G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.11  G/SPS/GEN/1112 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
Attachment 1 
(WT/L/161, 25 July 1996, Annex 3, pp. 16-17) 
 
OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTER NATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS IN THE WTO1 
 
1. The purpose of observer status for international inte rgovernmental organizations (hereinafter referred to 
as "organizations") in the WTO is to enable these organizations to follow discussions therein on matters of direct 
interest to them.   
 
2. Requests for observer status shall accordingly be considered from organizations which have competence 
and a direct interest in trade policy matters, or which, pursuant to paragraph V:1 of the WTO Agreement, have 
responsibilities related to those of the WTO. 
 
3. Requests for observer status shall be made in writing to the WTO body in which such status is sought, and 
shall indicate the nature of the work of the organization and the reasons for its interest in being accorded such 
status.  Requests for observer status from organizations shall not, however, be considered for meetings of the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration or of the Dispute Settlement Body.2 
 
4. Requests for observer status shall be considered  on a case-by-case basis by each WTO body to which 
such a request is addressed, taking into  account such factors as the nature of  work of the organization concerned, 
the nature of its membership, the number of WTO Members in the organization, reciprocity with respect to access 
to proceedings, documents and other aspects of observership,  and whether the organization has been associated in 
the past with the work of the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947. 
 
5. In addition to organizations that request, and are granted, observer status, other organizations may attend 
meetings of the Ministerial Conference, the General Council or subsidiary bodies on the specific invitation of the 
Ministerial Conference, the General Council or the subsidia ry body concerned, as the case may be.  Invitations may 
also be extended, as appropriate and on a case-by-case basis,  to specific organizations to follow particular issues 
within a body in an observer capacity.  
 
6. Organizations with which the WTO has entere d into a formal arrangement for cooperation and 
consultation shall be accorded observer status in such bodies as may be de termined by that arrangement.   
 
7. Organizations accorded observer st atus in a particular WTO body sh all not automatically be accorded 
such status in other WTO bodies.  
  
8. Representatives of organizations accorded observer status may be invi ted to speak at meetings of the 
bodies to which they are observers normally after Members of that body have spoken.  The right to speak does not 
include the right to circulate papers or to make proposals, unless an organization is specifically invited to do so, nor 
to participate in decision-making. 
 
9. Observer organizations shall receive copies of th e main WTO documents series and of other documents 
series relating to the work of the subsidiary bodies which they attend as observers.  They may receive such 
additional documents as may be specified by the terms of  any formal arrangements for cooperation between them 
and the WTO. 
 
10. If for any one-year period after the date of the grant of observer status, there has been no attendance by 
the observer organization, such status shall cease.  In the case of sessions of the Minist erial Conference, this period 
shall be two years. 
__________________ 
1  These guidelines shall apply also to other organi zations referred to by name in the WTO Agreement. 
2  In the case of the IMF and the World Bank, their request s for attendance as observers to the DSB will be acted 
upon in accordance with the arrangement s to be concluded between the WTO and these two organizations 
 
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