. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/769 
13 March 2007 
 (07-1066) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
UNDUE DELAYS IN RELATION TO ARTICLE 5 
(RISK ASSESSMENT) AND INTERIM MEASURES 
 
Statement by Thailand at the Mee ting of 28 February-1 March 2007
 
 
   The following communication, received on 1 Marc h 2007, is being distributed at the request 
of the Delegation of Thailand.. 
 
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 1. As Members are encouraged to provide in formation regarding their experiences on the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement in the context of undue delays, Thailand would like to share its 
experiences accordingly. 
2. The fact of the matter is that for more than six years Thailand has suffered from actions taken 
by a Member during the course of a risk analysis without, so far, knowing how much longer it will take before the analysis is expected to be fina lized.  Thailand strongly believes that this problem 
would not have happened if a risk assessment had been undertaken as appropriate to the 
circumstances of the health risks involved, w ith comments from stakeholders as well as all other 
legitimate factors taken into account, and if the risk  assessment had been finalized within a reasonable 
period of time before implementing a measure in acco rdance with or consistent with the outcome of 
the risk assessment. 
3. But the problem occurred when a Member imposed interim measures shortly after the 
issuance of a draft IRA, without further consultati on, in which it changed SPS measures considerably.  
This taking action greatly affected intern ational trade, including from Thailand. 
4. The interim measures have been in place as if  the Member adopted the proposed measures 
under the draft IRA without prior notice and cons ultation as required by the SPS Agreement.  In 
particular, the measures imposed were not directly rela ted to the draft IRA.  It should be regarded as a 
unilateral action. 
5. This gives rise to serious concerns over the le gitimacy of such interim measures, for which 
there is no provision under the SPS Agreement.  The releva nt question in this regard is whether this is 
a provisional measure under Article 5.7 or whether it is an urgent situation. 
6. Thailand would like to emphasize in the Committee  that in both situations a Member has to 
comply with all obligations, in particular tho se relating to a scientific-basis for the measure, 
consistency, prior notice, opportunity for discussi on and comments, and those comments taken into 
account. G/SPS/GEN/769 
Page 2  
 
  7. The SPS Agreement provides that a provisional me asure may only be adopted when relevant 
scientific evidence is insufficient, however the provisional measure must be reviewed within a 
reasonable period of time.  For an urgent situation,  all of the other provisions mentioned above must 
be complied with, except that a Member is allowed to  take the measure without prior notice..  In this 
regard, Thailand has just learned that the interi m measures should not be regarded as provisional 
measures as all necessary scientific evidence is alread y available.  Neither can the interim measures 
be considered as necessary to respond to an urgent problem as there was no indication of an 
emergency situation at the time the measure was notified to WTO Members. 
8. Thailand has been waiting for many long years for the finalization of the draft IRA, while at 
the same time trade is being affected by interim measures of questionable legitimacy.  The matter is 
not likely to be resolved soon as there is now anot her revision of the draft IRA for which no one can 
predict the time frame. 
9. In conclusion, Thailand would like to explore th e views of the Committee, in particular on the 
issue of legitimacy of interim measures under the provisions of the SPS Agreement, as well as on 
possible solutions to the problem of undue delay in  relation to risk assessment.  Thailand would like 
to suggest that while a risk assessment is in pr ogress, the Members concerned may mutually agree on 
possible interim market with measures that could appropriately address the health concerns of the 
importing Member in a science-based and least trade restrictive manner. 
 
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