RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/R/46 
2 January 2008 
 (08-0006) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
SUMMARY OF THE MEETING OF 18-19 OCTOBER 2007 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
Table of Contents
 
 
Page   
I.
 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA.............................................................................................3  
II. ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS.................................................................................................3  
III. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS ...........................................................................................4  
(a) New issues ..................................................................................................................... .............4  
(b) Issues previous ly raised ....................................................................................................... .......7  
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received.......................................................................10  
(d) Information on resolution of issues...........................................................................................1 0 
IV. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS........................................................10  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................11  
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ................13  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................13  
(b) Other matters relating to special  and differential treatment......................................................14  
VI. EQUIVALENCE.................................................................................................................... .15 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences .....................................................................15  
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations....................................................................15  
VII. ARTICLE  6 - PEST OR DISEASE FREE AREA ..............................................................15  
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting ....................................................................................15  
(b) Information from Members on their Experiences.....................................................................17  
(c) Information from relevant  observer organizations....................................................................17  
VIII.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CO-OPERATION ......................................................17  
(a) Information from the Secretariat............................................................................................... 17 
(b) Information from Members....................................................................................................... 20 
                                                      
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. G/SPS/R/46 
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  (c)
 Information from observers ..................................................................................................... .21 
IX. OTHER ISSUES ARISING FROM THE REVIEW OF THE OPERATION OF 
THE SPS AGREEMENT.......................................................................................................23  
(a) Use of ad hoc consultations .................................................................................................... ..23 
(b) Relationship between the SPS Committ ee and Codex, IPPC and OIE.....................................24  
X. MONITORING THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS..................................25  
(a) New issues ..................................................................................................................... ...........25  
(b) Issues previous ly raised ....................................................................................................... .....25  
XI. CONCERNS WITH COMMERCIAL  AND PRIVATE STANDARDS............................26  
XII. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL 
OF THE ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.............................30  
XIII.  MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................................................................33  
XIV.  OBSERVERS – REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS ..................................................35  
XV. CHAIRPERSON'S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN 
GOODS .......................................................................................................................... ..........35  
XVI.  OTHER BUSINESS................................................................................................................3 5 
XVII.  DATE AND AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING..................................................................36  
  G/SPS/R/46 
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I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary M easures (the "Committee") held its fortieth 
meeting on 18-19 October 2007.  The proposed agenda for the meeting was adopted with amendments 
(WTO/AIR/3085). 
II. ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS 
Australia - Reform of Import Risk Analysis (IRA)  Processes 
 
2. The representative of Australia recalled that they  had provided details of  planned changes to 
Australia's IRA processes to the Committee in Februa ry 2007.  The new arrangements had come into 
effect on 5 September 2007.  Among the many chang es, the legislation now set specific timeframes 
for completion of IRA's within either 24 months or 30 months, depending on the complexity of the 
science.  All new IRAs would be progressed under th e new arrangements, but those IRAs already well 
underway would be finalized under the previous IRA processes.  The legislation was accompanied by 
the release of a new updated IRA handbook that pr ovided detailed information regarding the new 
processes. Further information on the new arrange ments could be accessed at the following website: 
www.biosecurityaustralia.gov.au.  
Australia – Update on the outbreak of Equine Influenza in Queensland and New South Wales 
 
3. The representative of Australia reported Australia 's first ever outbreak of Equine Influenza 
(EI) in August 2007.  The outbreak was contained to  specific geographical areas in the States of New 
South Wales and Queensland only.  The authorities were continuing their efforts to control and 
eradicate this disease.  Australia had notified th is outbreak and subsequent updates to the OIE, 
ProMED and relevant trading partne rs.   The Australian Animal Health Laboratory had isolated the EI 
virus in Australia and had determ ined its genetic sequence.  Info rmation was freely available on the 
Outbreak website (www.outbreak.gov.au).  As a r esult of this incident, Australia had implemented 
interim measures for the importation of horses whic h were detailed on the Biosecurity Australia 
website (www.daff.gov.au/ba).  In addition, oversea s veterinary authorities were being contacted to 
discuss the revised certification requirements prior to imports recommencing.  
China – Information on further measures to reinforce food safety 
 
4. The representative of China reported that in r esponse to some countries' concerns, as well as 
media coverage on Chinese food safety, the Chinese Government adopted five specific measures to 
strengthen product quality and food safety.  The specific measures were pragmatic, scientific and 
thorough and thus would ensure product quality and safety.  To date, 444 enterprises had been 
"blacklisted" by China's Ministry  of Commerce and the foreign trade rights of those enterprises had 
been expropriated according to law.  China w ould not shy away from the problem nor cover up 
products of inferior quality;  all efforts would be made to solve th e problem in an honest manner.  
Members should adopt an objective and reasonable attitude towards food safety problems arising in 
the course of international trade.  In late N ovember, the Chinese Government, together with the 
WHO, would hold an international high-level foru m on food safety with an emphasis on strengthening 
communication and cooperation to ensure food safety.  China hoped that WTO Members could continuously strengthen cooperati on in the area of food safety, share management experiences and 
learn from each other to meet the global challenges of protecting consumer health.  G/SPS/R/46 
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  United States – Recent actions with respect to BSE 
 
5. The representative of the United States informed  Members of some recent changes in their 
regulations relating to bovine  spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) , notified in G/SPS/N/USA/1668 and 
G/SPS/N/USA/828/Add.5.  These regulatory changes reflected the US commitment to aligning its 
BSE measures with the OIE standards and the rele vant science related to BSE, and to normalizing 
trade with countries that instituted appropriate safeg uards to prevent the spread of BSE.  The United 
States urged all Members to bring their BSE-related trade measures in line with the provisions of the 
OIE Code in order to minimize unnecessary disruptions to trade in beef, cattle, and cattle products. At 
present, Canada was the only country recognized as a minimal risk region for the introduction of BSE 
into the United States. 
Paraguay –Information on exports of cucu rbits (squash and melons) to Argentina  
 
6. The representative of Paraguay reported on a work plan for the export of cucurbits to 
Argentina.  The specific surveillance measures guar anteed the export of fruits that did not pose 
quarantine risks with regard to the pest Anastrepha grandis .  This action was taken to ensure equality 
of criteria used in the procedures and in the impl ementation of risk mitigation measures in line with 
the principles of non-discrimination, harmonization, equivalence, transparency and confidentiality.  
Paraguay –Information on ex ports of palms to Spain 
 
7. The representative of Paraguay informed the Co mmittee on the export of palms to Spain in 
compliance with the Directive EC 2000/29 and th e complementary Spanish standard established for 
the export of this product to the EC territory .  Because of nursery surveillance along with the 
laboratory analysis of samples, Paraguay had been able to export many different species of palms to 
Spain.  
Paraguay –Information on the pesticide registration system 
 8. The representative of Paraguay reported on the implementation of the new standard for the 
registration of pesticides which was notified in document G/SPS/N/PRY/14.  SENAVE (Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas) was currently receiving requests from 
laboratories in the region in order to accredit and provide technical in formation required by 
enterprises in accordance with th e standards and specifications of FAO and COSAVE (Comité de 
Sanidad Vegetal del Cono Sur).  
III. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS 
(a) New issues 
EC import restrictions on cooked poultry products – Concerns of China 
 9. The representative of China raised the con cern that since July 2004, the European 
Communities had suspended the importation of c ooked poultry meat from China because of the 
presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Ch ina.  The OIE guidelines on AI explicitly stated 
that heat treatment de-activated the virus and that  restrictive measures associated with AI should not 
be applied to cooked poultry meat.  The EC Health  Commissioner had agreed to lift the prohibition of 
cooked poultry meat from China into the European Communities, and China requested that this be 
done as soon as possible in accordance with OIE guidelines and the SPS agreement.  
10. The representative of the European Communiti es responded that the prohibition in question 
had been in place since January 2002 and related not only to avian influen za but also to certain  G/SPS/R/46 
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  hygiene concerns.  These issues had now been resolved  and the ban should be lifted within a matter of 
weeks.  
US import restrictions on cooked poultry products – Concerns of China 
 
11. The representative of China stated that the OIE had explicitly pointed out in the Avian 
Influenza Guideline that restrictiv e measures associated with avian influenza should not be applied to 
cooked poultry meat that had been subjected to heat treatment to destroy the virus.  Nonetheless the 
United States prohibited the importation of such cooked poultry meat processed from poultry 
originated in China.  Although the United States admitted that there was no technical problem for the importation of such cooked poultry meat and it was only a matter of legal procedure, the US Congress 
had passed in August the Agriculture Appropriations  Bill for Fiscal Year 2008, of which section 731 
prohibited the importation of such products from Chin a.  China questioned the scientific justification 
behind such a decision, how this section took into  consideration the SPS principle of minimizing 
negative effect on trade and the principle of risk  assessment.  China hoped that the United States 
would abolish section 731 and lift the ban as soon as possible. 
12. The United States wishes to note that the Agri culture Appropriations bill has not yet passed 
Congress, and is subject to potentially substantial cha nge before it is signed into law by the President. 
Import restrictions applied to beef and beef products  on the basis of the presence of Blue Tongue – 
Concerns of the European Communities 
13. The representative of the European Communiti es stated that certain WTO Members were 
imposing unjustified import restric tions that went beyond the recomme ndations of the international 
standard-setting organizations on the basis of the presence of Blue Tongue disease.  The OIE 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code contained clear  recommendations regarding Blue Tongue disease.  
While WTO Members might review the input conditions  for live ruminants or genetic material in the 
light of the recent outbreaks in a limited number of EC member States, there was no scientific basis for imposing additional import restrictions on beef and beef products.  According to the OIE these 
products did not pose a risk from a Blue Tongue perspective. The European Communities was not 
aware of any scientific justification and urged Members not to impose import restrictions.   
China's avian influenza restrictions  – Concerns of the United States 
 
14. The representative of the United States observed that China prohibited imports of poultry and 
poultry products from seven US states (Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia, Nebraska and Virginia) which had experien ced cases of low-pathogenic avian influenza.  
For some of these states, the cases have been completely eradicated for more than two or three years.   
The prohibition extended even to heat-treated products , a process that inactivated the AI virus.  There 
was no scientific justification for the restrictions Ch ina had imposed, which were  inconsistent with the 
provision of the OIE's AI guidelines.  The United States had provided China with extensive 
information of the AI status of these states, and urged China to lift its import restrictions immediately, 
and to align its measures with the provisions of the OIE guidelines.  
15. The representative of China responded that the ban on poultry products from these states was 
based on risk analysis and on the principle of region alization of the OIE.  Since the beginning of the 
year, AI had appeared in three other states and Ch ina was concerned with the spreading tendency of 
low-pathogenic strains of AI in the United States.  Regarding the four states where AI had already 
been eliminated, China was conducting a risk anal ysis based on the information provided by the 
United States.  China had notified the United Stat es on 15 August that according to the relevant 
Chinese regulations, poultry products coming either dir ectly or indirectly from areas with AI were not 
allowed to enter China.  Regarding heat-treated products, China invited the United States to provide G/SPS/R/46 
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  relevant technical information, including pro cessing techniques and flow charts of cooked poultry 
meat,  so that China could undertake a risk analysis. 
Chile's requirements for quarantine treatm ent of aircraft – Concerns of Argentina  
16. The representative of Argentina stated that in April 2007, Chile notified the quarantine 
treatment of aircraft landing in Chile from area s with high levels of pests (G/SPS/N/CHL/253).  
Fumigation with pesticides and insecticides was requi red every time the aircraft required cleaning.  
This treatment could prevent the export of live bees  from Argentina via any aircraft which landed in 
Chile.  Argentina had conveyed their concerns to  the Chilean focal point and they had held 
consultations.  The representative stressed the need to ensure that these measures did not unduly affect 
Argentine exports,  and more specifically, that the live bees were not killed by the fumigation.   
17. The representative of Chile clarified that th e measure in question corresponded to the 
updating of a law that had been in place since 2006,  and that the amendments proposed were an 
attempt to facilitate rather than hinder trade.  A procedural manual had been developed that included 
clear technical specifications to ensure proper fu migation of the aircraft.  Regarding benign insects 
such as bees, the concentrations of insecticides would be  far less than what was specified in the past.  
Although there was no obligation to notify this measure, Chile had chosen to demonstrate 
implementation of the principles of transparency by going beyond what was required.  The measure 
had not yet entered into force and Chile was reviewing comments received from other countries.  Chile would have preferred to see this issue a ddressed bilaterally, and informal meetings with 
Argentina had proceeded positively.  
China's varietal restrictions on US apples – Concerns of the United States 
18. The representative of the United States stated that China currently limited imports of US 
apples to just two varieties:  Golden Delicious a nd Red Delicious.  Seven years ago, the United States 
had requested that China allow access for all varieti es of apples.  Extensive scientific information had 
been provided to Chinese officials in support of th is request.  China recently  requested information 
related to fire blight and indicated that its import r estrictions on additional varieties of US apples were 
primarily related to concerns over fire blight.  The issue of varietal restrictions on imported fruit and 
fire blight restrictions on mature, symptomless a pples had been addressed by WTO dispute settlement 
panels.  The United States urged China to review the findings of these panels and to adjust its 
restrictions on US apples appropriately.  
19. The representative of China noted that in 1995 ,  the two fire blight resistant varieties 
mentioned by the United States were allowed to be im ported into China.  In 2006, a request was made 
to China for other varieties.  These new varieties were  not fire blight resistant, so China had to deal 
with this request on the basis of risk analysis.  China had taken note of the WTO dispute settlement 
case relating to fire blight;  however, it still believe d mature apples had the potential to serve as a 
pathway for the disease.  An experiment recently ca rried out by Japan had also shown that mature 
apples could serve as a pathway for the disease.  Sh e asked the United States  to provide additional 
technical material relevant to fire blight and othe r apple pests as soon as possible in order to complete 
the market access process.  China would handle th is matter on a scientific basis and had recently 
organized a group of experts to speed up the application review process.  At present no varieties of Chinese apples were allowed into the United States because the risk analysis had not yet been 
completed by the United States.  Therefore, China al so urged the United States to complete the risk 
analysis that had been ongoing for some time.   G/SPS/R/46 
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  (b) Issues previously raised 
US restrictions on wooden Christmas trees – Concerns of China (STC no 241) 
 
20. The representative of China reiterated that si nce 2005, when the United States suspended 
handicrafts that contain wooden logs, limbs, bran ches, or twigs greater than one centimetre in 
diameter and with intact bark, the trade of these products had not resumed.  Trade affected by this 
measure already amounted to over 1 million do llars.  All products exported from China were 
fumigated with methyl bromide or were heat-treat ed to eliminate the risk of pests.  The wooden 
Christmas tree which was found by the United States  to have pest insects was a single violation and a 
problem of exceptional incidence rather than a problem with the heat treatment or fumigation 
methods.  US experts had found a satisfactory treatme nt supervision system in China in February 
2006.  The suspension of all imports based on one case was not in line with the WTO principle of 
least trade restrictive.  On the other hand, in 200 6 and 2007, China intercepted more than ten types of 
pests from US imports and yet China has not taken any measures nor suspended the importation of US wooden products.  The United States and China ha d reached an agreement on the framework for the 
inspection management measures on wood handicrafts  exported to the United States after technical 
meetings were held in Beijing in April 2007.  Ch ina requested that the Un ited States consider the 
IPPC guidelines in wood packaging and the SPS Agreemen t requirement of least trade restriction, and 
resume the importation of these products on the basis of scientific analysis.  
21. The representative of the United States recalled th at the United States began intercepting large 
numbers of live pests on imported Chinese wooden handicrafts in mid-2004, with more than 400 
interceptions of the brown fir beetle over a two-year  period.  Quarantine pests had even been detected 
on products that had reportedly, according to the cer tification by Chinese officials, been fumigated or 
heat-treated.  At the time, the United States activ ely sought input of Chinese quarantine officials to 
develop a plan of action to address this problem, bu t did not receive any response.  Therefore, on 
1 April 2005 the importation of the handicrafts were suspended to prevent the introduction of 
dangerous forest pests.  The restrictions did not apply to products which had been treated and had the 
bark removed.  Prior introduction of forest pest s from China, including the Asian long horned beetle 
and the emerald ash borer, had serious environm ental and economic conse quences in the United 
States.  The United States was in the final stages of the risk asse ssment analysis and hoped that this 
assessment would be available for public comment in  the near future.  The United States had been 
very transparent regarding this issue and had maintained significant dialogue with the Chinese 
officials.  The United States had also provided significant funding to support training for Chinese port 
personnel on appropriate treatments for exported Ch inese wooden handicrafts.  The United States was 
committed to continuing their dialogue with Chinese officials in order to reach a solution on this 
issue.  
Indonesia's lack of recognition of p est-free areas – Concerns of the United States (Decree 37) (STC 
no 243)  
22. The representative of the United States provided an update on concerns firs t raised in October 
2006, regarding Indonesia’s Decree 37.  These concer ns had been only partially resolved.  While 
exports of apples, pears and cherries had resumed, Indonesia required treatment for pests that did not 
exist in the exporting regions, or which could not b ecome established in the Indonesian territory.  The 
United States was still waiting for Indonesia to provid e a written response to the information that the 
United States had presented during and after a tec hnical meeting in May 2007, and trusted that 
Indonesia would continue the technical discussions to resolve the issue.  
23. The representative of Indonesia noted that they had provided clarifications regarding this 
issue in previous Committee meetings.  The United States and Indonesia had held a bilateral meeting G/SPS/R/46 
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  just previous to this meeting and had seriously discu ssed this issue.  Indonesia had agreed to follow up 
with further communication with the United States. 
Australia's import restriction on prawns and praw n products - Concerns of Thailand (STC no 85) 
24. The representative of Thailand informed the Co mmittee of the current situation regarding 
Australia's interim measures on the importation of pr awn and prawn products that came into force on 
30 September 2007.  Thailand and Australia had been undertaking t echnical discussions within the 
ASEAN SPS expert group and through  bilateral trade negotiations.  Some progress had been made on 
important issues but there were further issues rema ining to be discussed.  Thailand hoped to find a 
mutually acceptable solution on the pr awn issue in the near future.  
25. The representative of China stated that her count ry shared the concerns expressed by Thailand 
regarding the restrictions on these products.  China requested to be kept informed of the progress 
these two countries made bilaterally.  
26. The representative of Australia responded that Australia's revised interim quarantine measures 
for prawns and prawn products ha d become effective on 1 October 2007 and it had been notified as an 
addendum to the notification on the release of the re vised draft Import Risk Analysis (IRA) report in 
November 2006 (G/SPS/N/AUS/204/Add.1).  In additi on, Australia's trading partners as well as 
existing import permit holders were c ontacted in advance to inform them of the implementation of the 
measures.  The representative noted that the revi sed interim measures followed a very detailed 
scientific risk analysis conducted by Biosecurity Australia and were deemed necessary to achieve an 
appropriate level of protection.  More than 50 su bmissions were carefully considered in which a 
number of technical issues required discussion with some of the stakeholders.  On 
20 September 2007, Australia had accepted Thailand' s proposal on alternative cooking parameters for 
prawns.  Australia was willing to consider simi lar proposals from other exporting countries as well as 
to discuss equivalent measures such as zoning and compartmentalization.  
India's export certificate requirements for dairy products – Concerns of the United States  
 
27. The representative of the United States expr essed concern that India maintained more 
stringent maximum residue levels (MRLs) on im ported dairy products than it did for domestic 
products, raising serious questions regarding India's adherence to its  international obligations.  In 
October 2006, the United States proposed a health certif icate attesting that US milk and milk products 
were fit for human consumption.  However, India had refused to accept the certificate, highlighting 
concerns regarding US action levels  for dairy products.  Bilateral t echnical meeting had been held in 
May 2006 to discuss the issue and the United St ates submitted various supporting documents as 
requested by the Indian experts., but no response was received.  Additionally, the United States had 
requested bilateral health discussions with the I ndian technical experts, but no response had been 
received.  The United States urged India to reconsid er its October 2006 certifica tion proposal and also 
requested India to formally and comprehensively r espond to the proposal and subsequent requests.   
28. The representative of India informed the Committ ee that a health protocol for dairy products 
had been in place in India since 2006 and that it applie d to all dairy products being exported to India. 
Various dairy products from the United States we re currently being imported as per the existing 
protocol.  The sanitary certification for India pro scribed limits of contaminants in accordance with 
Codex standards, and India's standa rds for contaminants in domestic da iry products were also in line 
with Codex standards for the majority of contam inants and even higher for some.  The additional 
information provided on the USDA Agricultural Mark eting Service's (AMS) Pesticide Data Program 
and on the test results of pesticides in milk sa mples were being currently examined by technical 
experts.  Regarding the US proposed certificate, India had analyzed the action level of certain contaminants cited in the US  document and found that  they were less strict than the Codex standards.   G/SPS/R/46 
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  In a recent high level meeting, it was decided that the United States would send a team of technical 
experts to India.  During a bilateral meeting, just prior to the SPS Committee meeting, the United 
States had asked for certain clarifications.  This  request would be conveyed to India's technical 
experts in capital.  
India's avian influenza restrictions – Co ncerns of the United States (STC no 185) 
 29. The representative of the United States reiterated her country's concern  regarding India's ban 
on imports of US poultry, swine and their products  due to detections of low-pathogenic avian 
influenza (AI) in wild birds in the United States.  In June, the United States had noted that this 
prohibition went beyond the OIE guidelines and that I ndia had not provided scientific justification for 
this prohibition.  India had made two notifications  related to AI (G/SPS/N/IND/46/Add.3 and Add.4).  
The Add.3 document extended AI-related import prohi bition to include pig bristles.  Prohibiting the 
import of these products was not scientifically jus tified nor in compliance with the OIE guidelines 
based on the AI status of a country, region or zone.  The United States requested that India remove all 
import restrictions on US origin live pigs and porci ne products.  India's Add.4 extended for a further 
six months the emergency measures it had put in place in August 2006.  The US representative 
expressed concerns with regard to India's conti nued emergency measures related to AI.  She urged 
India to put in place permanent measures for trade in poultry products and AI, and to ensure that these 
measures were consistent with the provisions of the OIE Code chap ter on AI.  India's measures should 
distinguish between highly-pathogenic and low-pathoge nic strains of AI, and allow for the application 
of regionalization. 
30. The representative of the European Communities stated that the Eur opean Communities had 
problems similar to those mentioned by the United States.  India failed to recognize the difference 
between high and low pathogenic influenza as well as the AI-related differences between wild birds 
and domestic animals. The European Communities encouraged India to follow the recommendations 
from the OIE. 
31. The representative of India stressed the dangers related to AI and how widespread the virus 
had been.  He recalled that India had an outbreak  in 2006 which had been successfully contained in 
due time.  For this reason the country was extrem ely cautious to safeguard its animal and human 
health, particularly in view of the family run poultry industry in India and because AI was known to 
reoccur in countries where outbreaks had previously taken place.  India restricted imports from countries reporting AI.  The United States was curr ently positive for low pathogenic AI in poultry 
(LPNAIH5).  India's import restrictions due to outb reaks of AI in the United States were clarified in 
detail to the United States during the last trade polic y forum meeting held in New Deli.  He contested 
the claim that India's regulations were not based on science by observing that the presence of LPAI in 
poultry was a notifiable disease according to the OIE as per the list of diseases in Article 2.1.3 of the 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code.  Furthermore, as noted by USDA's factsheet on AI, LPAI had a high 
potential to mutate into highly pathogenic AI;  a vi ew that India shared.  Nonetheless, India regularly 
reviewed its trade regulations in the light of new developments on AI.  Regarding the concerns with 
pork products, there were numerous scientific reports that pigs could be easily infected by many 
human and AI viruses and, therefore, could provide  an environment favourable for viral replication 
and genetic re-assortment.  The fast mutating nature of the AI virus, along with the possibility that the 
virus could re-combine with other subtypes, made pi g and pig products a risk.  With regard to wild 
birds, the representative indicated that consultations with experts had taken place and that the Indian 
authorities were of the view that wild birds could no t be ignored with respect to AI.  The US and EC 
concerns would be reported back to India's technical experts for review. 
32. The representative of the OIE clarified the reco mmendations of the OIE and how they should 
be put in practice.  The listing of diseases such  as high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and low 
pathogenic notifiable avian influenza (LPNAI) was first and foremost for disease reporting purposes G/SPS/R/46 
Page 10  
 
  and related to the question of  transparency.  Findings of AI in wild birds and of LPNAI should not 
lead to import bans.  She emphasized that there ne eded to be a distinction drawn between reporting 
and the imposition of measures.  The representative reiterated that there was no scientific basis for 
restrictions on pigs and pig produc ts in relation to AI, whether it be high or low pathogenic strains, 
and this point was clear in the OIE terrestrial code.  OIE was concerned that the imposition of 
measures that were not scientifically based worsen ed the risks for spread  of disease because countries 
were discouraged from proper reporting if they believe d that the reporting would lead to unjustifiable 
measures.  I was of utmost importance that countries report their diseases. 
El Salvador's measures affecting poultry and eggs – Concerns of the United States  
 
33. The representative of the United States provided an update on the discussions with El 
Salvador regarding certain aspects of its import re quirements for imported poultry and eggs.  As was 
indicated in June, the United States believed the m easures to be inconsistent  with the SPS Agreement 
obligation to base measures on science.  El Salva dor had agreed to visit the United States for 
discussions and site visits related to this measure .  The United States looked forward to providing the 
Committee with a report from El Salvador's visit at a future meeting.  
34. The representative of El Salvador clarified that  the measure referred to a standard that El 
Salvador notified in 1999 as G/SPS/N/SLV/21.  In the past year, El Salvador had held bilateral 
meetings with US technical experts and made progress in the sense that restrictions on certain products such as day-old chicks and fertile eggs had been lifted.  El Salvador had extended the 
certification for those products that were free of sa lmonella.  He also clarified that there were no 
prohibitions on pre-cooked products because the heat  de-activated the virus.  He reiterated El 
Salvador's availability and willingness to continue to meet with the t echnical exports in order to come 
up with solutions which would allow the tw o countries to have free-flowing trade.  
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received 
35. No issue was raised under this agenda item. 
(d) Information on resolution of issues 
European Communities – China's import restrictions on products of animal origin due to alleged 
dioxin contamination (STC no 63)  
 
36. The representative of the European Communiti es reported on the resolution of the specific 
trade concern related to China's import restrictions on some products of animal origin from some EC 
member States due to alleged dioxin contamination.  Import restrictions were originally introduced 
because of an isolated incident which affected a limited number of agriculture products and for which 
prompt corrective action was taken.  Consultations  between the EC authorities and China's AQSIQ, at 
both the bilateral and multilateral level, had been  successful in finally putting an end to these 
restrictions. 
IV. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS 
37. The Chairman drew attention to the most recent list of national notification authorities 
contained in G/SPS/NNA/12 and the most recent list of national enquiry points contained in 
G/SPS/ENQ/22.  The notifications received since the last meeting of the SPS Committee were summarized, on a monthly basis, in G/SPS/GEN/793, G/SPS/GEN/795, G/SPS/GEN/798 and G/SPS/GEN/800.   G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 11 
 
 
  (a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
38. The workshop on transparency took place on M onday, 15 October, a nd in the morning of 
Tuesday, 16 October, and followed the programme that was distributed in G/SPS/GEN/794/Rev.1. 
39. The Secretariat had presented two background docu ments during the workshop:  an Overview 
Regarding the Implementation of Transparency Provisions (G/SPS/GEN/804) and a Compilation of 
Proposals Regarding the Revision of the Recommended Procedures for the Implementation of the 
Transparency Provisions (G/SPS/W/215).  In additio n, the Secretariat had launched and had presented 
new SPS Information Management System, both at  the plenary level and during hands-on sessions. 
Three delegations - China, New Zealand, and the European Communities - had introduced their 
papers submitted since the last meeti ng of the Committee (G/SPS/W/212, W/214 and 
G/SPS/GEN/803, respectively).  There had also been  a presentation from Chile with respect to the 
operation of their Enquiry Point and National Notification Authority. 
40. The Chairman stated that thanks to various funding arrangements and special projects, there 
was a high level of participation from developing countries and LDCs.  The lively discussions that 
had taken place, especially during the breakout sess ions, not only identifie d common concerns but 
also had pointed to possible solutions regarding the implementation of transparency provisions. 
41. As in the past, a number of institutional and national challenges had been identified, 
including:  
(a) awareness at the political level and among the public at large; 
(b) coordination among different Ministries; 
(c) mobilizing the relevant private sector representatives; 
(d) the not always fulfilled promise of regional/inter-governmental cooperation; 
(e) managing the inflow of notifications;  and 
(f) sustainability of efforts. 
42. There had been some discussion regarding the Compilation of Proposals contained in 
G/SPS/W/215, in particular with respect to the de finition of the comment period, the notification of 
measures conforming to international standards, the identification of HS codes in notifications, and 
access to full texts of regulations and their translations.  However, it had been felt that more discussion and reflection were nece ssary before revising the Reco mmended Procedures contained in 
G/SPS/7/Rev.2. 
43. With respect to the New Zealand proposal regarding the establishment of a mentoring 
mechanism,  there had been an extensive discussion on the procedures that could be followed and the 
Secretariat had agreed to develop a proposed mechan ism for facilitating the mentoring.  At the same 
time, a number of delegations had stressed that this mechanism should complement and not substitute 
for other bilateral, regional or multilateral efforts.   
44. The recommendations arising from the workshop had included the following: 
(a) The Secretariat to revise G/SPS/W/215 in light of discussions held during the 
workshop and any further suggestions from Me mbers.  Such suggestions should be 
submitted by 15 November.  The revised pr oposal would be considered by the 
Committee at its next meeting. G/SPS/R/46 
Page 12  
 
  (b) The Secretariat to prepare a basic documen t explaining transparency obligations and 
laying out some of the steps with respect to transparency obligations and intervals 
between various steps.  The same pape r should underline concrete benefits of 
transparency and of the SPS Agreement as a whole. 
(c) The Secretariat to develop a mechanism for implementing the "mentoring" proposal 
contained in New Zealand's submission. 
(d) The Secretariat to prepare more regular updates on the level of implementation of 
transparency provisions, similar to what was done in G/SPS/GEN/804. 
(e) The Secretariat to undertake further training and dissemination on the SPS 
Information Management System, which could serve as a vehicule for identifying 
notifications of interest and preparing ne wsletters/alerts at the national level. 
(f) The development of a practical step-by-step procedural manual by interested 
delegations, namely Australia and New Z ealand, which would be distributed for 
consideration by other Members.  The finalized manual would be posted on the 
WTO website for access by all interested parties. 
45. The above recommendations could be further acco mpanied by efforts at the national level, 
including the following: 
(a) Awareness-raising activities at the national level. It was noted that technical 
assistance activities offered by the WTO Secretariat could serve as a good opportunity to raise the profile of SPS issues; 
(b) More proactive involvement in the iden tification of technical assistance needs; 
(c) Using international standards as a point of departure for national legislation;  and 
(d) Consideration of the development of websit es at the national and/or regional level, 
and of how to assist Members in this regard. 
In addition, benefits could be ga ined from further information excha nge at the regional level and use 
of appropriate regional entities.  
 
46. The FAO Portal had also been identified as a useful source of information on SPS matters. 
47. The Chairman observed that the transparency  workshop had been very useful.  Now the 
Committee's task was to follow-up on its discussions at various levels, and he suggested that the 
Committee hold informal meeting before the next SPS Committee meeting. 
48. The representative of New Zealand stressed that Australia and New Zealand welcomed any 
contributions to the step-by-step manual.  She rec ognized the need for a manual that was applicable to 
a wide audience.  Australia and New Zealand woul d develop a draft for circulation at least eight 
weeks prior to the next Committee meeting, so that other Members could comment and submit 
proposals for changes. 
49. In response to a suggestion to include data on the number of notifications that indicated the 
level of deviation from international standards, the Secretariat noted that often this was not provided, 
but to the extent the information was available, it could be included in future overview reports on 
transparency provisions.  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 13 
 
 
  50. The Secretariat provided a brief update on the new SPS information management system 
(IMS).  A more detailed presentation had been give n at the workshop and in hand-on demonstration 
sessions.  The public version of the SPS-IMS had been successfully launched on 15 October 2007, 
and Members were invited to make use of the syst em and provide feedback so that the Secretariat 
could make appropriate changes. 
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
51. The Chairman reported that at an informal meeting held on 16 October, the Committee had 
first considered the proposals tabled by Egypt at its  last meeting.  In opening the discussion, the 
representative of Egypt had stated that his aim wa s to make the special and differential treatment 
obligations more precise, effective and operational as envisaged in pa ragraph 44 of the Doha Decision 
on Implementation Related Issues and Concerns.  Th e proposals had not been meant to undermine the 
provision of any existing S&D or technical assistan ce.  Furthermore, modifying the text of the 
Agreement was not the primary intention, and Egypt had suggested that other alternatives, such as an 
authoritative interpretation or decision of the Gene ral Council, could be used to bring clarity and 
predictability to S&D provisions, including th ose contained in the SPS Agreement.   
52. Referring to the proposed language for Article 10.1 presented in document JOB (07)/99, the 
representative of Egypt had noted that what was bei ng sought was an obligation of result rather than 
the current obligation of conduct.  The process of taking into account the needs of developing countries should not be confused with the outcome of that process.  Technical assistance, while 
useful, could not substitute for S&D. 
53. New Zealand had stressed the difficulties for Members to identify the special needs of 
developing countries and take these into account when preparing their SPS measures.  They had suggested that further attention be given to th e question of understanding the needs of developing 
countries and of how these could be taken into account  – a suggestion that had been shared by other 
Members.  Several Members had stressed their reluctance to tamper with the delicate balance of rights 
and obligations in the SPS Agreement by modifyin g the text.  Egypt had noted that the call for 
comments prior to the drafting of new legislati on, as described by the European Communities in 
paragraph 14 of G/SPS/GEN/803, was one example of how the special needs of developing countries could be taken into account. 
54. With regard to revision of the procedure for transparency of S&D treatment, the 
representative of Egypt had noted that the Secretariat's proposed revisions to the recommended 
notification procedures captured many of Egypt' s proposed amendments to the G/SPS/33 procedure 
with regard to transparency, which had been presen ted in JOB (07)/104.  However, Egypt's proposal 
also sought to increase predictability of the special an d differential treatment aspects of the procedure.   
55. In the ensuing discussion, Members had focused on the level of obligation implied through 
the use of the terms "should" or "shall", "could" or "should".  The Secretary had recalled that the 
Committee was not in a position to change the le gal obligations contained in the SPS Agreement 
through a Committee Decision, but could develop non-binding recommended procedures.  Egypt and 
Kenya had stressed that the use of the term  "shall", even in a document which contained 
recommendations, was essential to underline the importance of following the procedures.   
56. Other delegations had felt that by using the more compulsory terminology proposed they 
would be limiting the range of solutions which c ould be found when an exporting Member identified 
significant difficulties with a measure.  Furthermore, they had maintained that the provision of 
technical assistance could not be considered a ma ndatory requirement.  One Member had suggested G/SPS/R/46 
Page 14  
 
  that before revising the G/SPS/33 procedure it was necessary to understand the reasons for its non-use 
- in particular in relation to the difficulties faced  by developing and least developed country Members 
in screening incoming notifications.  This view had not been shared by Egypt or Kenya.  Egypt had noted that in spite of the Committee's recommendation that Members provide at least 60 days for comments on notifications, the Secretariat's analysis of recent notifications indicated that the average 
comment period was only 40 days.  Apparently ne ither developing nor deve loped country Members 
had been following the procedures recommended in G/SPS/33. 
57. Recalling the negotiating history of the G/SPS/33 pr ocedure, the Secretariat had observed that 
the use of the term "could" in relation to possi ble solutions to concerns identified had been a 
deliberate choice of the Committee.  The Secretariat had noted that there had been the concern that 
Members should not be required to find solutions to problems for which, technically or scientifically, 
a solution was not feasible. 
58. Turning to proposals made to the Special  Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTDSS) relating to Article 10.3 of  the SPS Agreement, Egypt had outlined its 
intention to improve the clarity and reliability of this provision as it related to the granting of time-
limited exemptions.  In Egypt's view, there was also an important element in this Article which related 
to the provision of technical assistance.   
59. New Zealand had noted that its "compromise" CTDSS proposal on Article 10.3 specified that 
the Committee should decide on a requ est for a time-limited exempti on no later than at the third 
meeting of the Committee following the tabling of an initial request.   
60. Commenting on the proposals, one Member had fe lt it was important not to repeat discussions 
on-going in another Committee.  Other Members had highlighted the importance of sharing 
information on matters which could impact on the SPS Committee's future work.  In this context, the 
Secretary had recalled that currently there was no established process by which the Committee could 
judge a request for a time-limited ex emption under Article 10.3.   
61. Discussion had also briefly turned to the Doha Implementation Decision on longer time 
frames for phasing in measures on products of e xport interest to developing country Members 
(Article 10.2) and how that decisi on should be considered in relation to the transparency obligations 
of Members.  The Secretariat had offered to prep are a brief explanatory document to help focus 
discussion of the relationship between these timeframes.   
62. In reply to a request from a Member for in formation on the Aid for Trade initiative, the 
Secretariat had provided an overview of on-goin g technical assistance initiatives in which the WTO 
Secretariat was involved.  These included Aid for Trade, the Enhanced Integrated Framework, the 
Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) , JITAP, co-operation with UNIDO and the WTO's 
own technical assistance programme.  The Secretar iat had concluded its ove rview by outlining plans 
to compile a compendium of sources of SPS-related technical assistance.   
63. The Chairman suggested that the Committee consid er this item at an informal meeting prior 
to the regular meeting in March 2008.   
(b) Other matters relating to special and differential treatment 
64. No member raised any other matter relating to this item. 
65. The Chairman noted that he would provide a brief, factual report to the General Council 
regarding the Committee's consideration of the S&D proposals and other issues relating to S&D, 
subsequently circulated as G/SPS/46.  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 15 
 
 
  VI. EQUIVALENCE 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences 
66. The representative of Panama drew attention to  a notification of rec ognition of equivalence 
(G/SPS/N/EQV/PAN/1) in which Panama granted equivalence to US sanitary and phytosanitary 
systems and other related regulatory systems with regard to poultry and bovine products, and some 
dairy products.  Before evaluating e quivalence, Panama carried out a field study in which it visited the 
institutions of the USDA, analyzed the entire customs system and carried out visits to laboratories in 
Atlanta.  After this evaluation, Panama decided to recognize the equivalence of the US system, and 
noted that Panama's previous approach of certifyi ng individual plants was complicated and did not 
allow sufficient attention to alerts.  Panama's legislation permitted the authorities to recognize 
equivalence following the conceptu al guidelines of the WTO.   
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
67. The representative of the IPPC stated that in  the IPPC the focus was on equivalence of 
measures.  This was a tool much used in the IPPC  and its members had not presented any concerns in 
this regard.  In 2005, ISPM #24 was approved whic h provided guidelines for the determination and 
recognition of the equivalence of phytosanitary me asures.  In 2006, the Commission on Phytosanitary 
Measures adopted revised ISPM #1, which referred to  the phytosanitary principles and the application 
of phytosanitary measures in international trade.  ISPM #1 specified that the contracting parties 
should recognize alternative phytosanitary measure s proposed by exporting contracting parties as 
equivalent when those measures were demonstrated  to achieve the appropriate level of protection 
determined by the importing party. 
68. The representative of Codex reported that th e Codex Committee on Food Import and Export 
Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICs) had b een developing an appendix to the guidelines on 
the judgment of equivalence of san itary measures associated with f ood inspection and certification.  A 
draft document would be considered  and hopefully finalized by the Committee during the meeting in  
November 2007.  All working papers, including the draft on the Import/Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems, could be found on the Codex website. 
69. The representative of OIE drew attention to  a report on its activities (G/SPS/GEN/801).  One 
of the topics in the report related to the approach  for the export of livestock commodities.  While the 
OIE was not working specifically on equivalence at this time, it was looking closely at how commodities could be exported regardless of the dis ease status of the country or zone.  This put the 
concept of equivalence into practical applicati on.  As a first step, the OIE was conducting as 
assessment of boneless beef and whether this type  of product as a commodity could be traded under 
certain conditions irrespective of the disease status of a country and zone.  
VII. ARTICLE  6 - PEST OR DISEASE FREE AREA 
(a) Chairman's report on informal meeting 
70. The Chairman recalled that in the previous m eeting the delegate from  New Zealand reported 
that a group of 14 Members had been working, th rough informal consultations, to seek certainty and 
clarity on the processes of recognition of regi onalization, addressing procedures on information 
requirements and suggested timeframes on the commencement and completion of those.   
71. The delegate of New Zealand had reported that  good progress had been made in the informal 
consultations since the last Committee meeting.  Ho wever, no concrete draft text had been finalized G/SPS/R/46 
Page 16  
 
  for consideration by the Committee.  New Zealand had also indicated that the ad hoc group would 
hold final informal consultations on the margins of  the next Committee meeting in March next year. 
72. While commending the good progress reported, the Chairman had stated that if no 
compromise were reached by the ad hoc group befo re the next Committee meeting in March 2008, the 
consultations on regionaliza tion would be brought back to the Committee to discuss ways to proceed 
with this matter. 
73. The representative of OIE had reported on recent work on regionalization.  The "Report on 
OIE Activities to the 40
th Meeting of the WTO SPS Committee " (G/SPS/GEN/801) highlighted the 
concepts of "zoning" and "compartmentalization" a nd how they could be applied to facilitate trade. 
74. OIE also had clarified that their work comp rised the steps necessary to define a zone or 
compartment.  Besides the existing chapters on Zo ning and Compartmentalization in the Terrestrial 
Animal Health Code, reference had been made to  the Checklist on the Practical Application of 
Compartmentalization for Avian influenza and Newcastle Disease, distributed at the OIE General Session in May 2007.  In additio n, OIE had reported that the draft of General Guidelines on 
Compartmentalization had been distributed to Members for eventual adoption in May 2008. 
75. One Member had inquired why OIE's work on regionalization focused on foot and mouth 
disease (FMD), avian influenza, Newcastle disease a nd classical swine fever, while trade concerns 
also involved other animal diseases.  OIE's represe ntative had clarified that the work undertaken 
followed the mandates given by its members. 
76. One Member had raised the concern that desp ite the work to implement the concepts of 
zoning and compartmentalization, it did not ensu re that importing countries would indeed accept 
products on this basis.  The Secretariat had clarif ied that the reason for agreeing on guidelines for the 
recognition of regionalization was to make the proce ss more predictable and, therefore, address some 
of the problems related to market access opportunities. 
77. Lastly, IPPC had reported on their work on re gionalization, stressing ISPM 29 on Recognition 
of Pest Free Areas and Areas of Low Pest Pr evalence, presented to the Committee in June 
(G/SPS/GEN/782).  IPPC had also reported that it would be creating an open-ended working group 
for elaborating an ISPM on international recognition of regionalization related to phytosanitary risks. 
78. In commenting on the Chairman's report, the representative of the United States expressed 
appreciation to the delegate of New Zealand for the excellent work on facilitating the discussions on 
regionalization in the small group.  His leadership  had been a critical element in the Committee's 
ability to bridge gaps on this issue.  The United States also commended their partners in the small 
group discussions for their willingness to work togeth er and find creative solutions, since meaningful 
strides had been made.  
79. The representative of the European Comm unities thanked the working group for the 
discussions on this issue and the progress that had been  achieved.  She noted that it was important to 
make real and concrete progress.  One ongoing co ncern was that these discussions, though very 
valuable, might delay Members giving effect to  the regionalization provisions in the various 
international standard setting bodies.  The Eur opean Communities already applied the concept of 
regionalization extensively yet very frequently found  itself victim of other Members' reluctance to 
extend regionalization to the European Communiti es and, therefore, found the situation quite 
unbalanced. Lastly, he urged Members to make a re al effort to bring these discussions to a successful 
conclusion.  
80. The representative of the OIE clarified that th e administrative steps for establishing and for 
recognition of a zone or compartment were covered in Chapter 1.3.5 of the Terrestrial Animal Health  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 17 
 
 
  Code.  She also specified that if countries were not able to reach an agreement, they could seek 
mediation on a voluntary basis from the OIE.  
81. The Chairman indicated that the Committee should take up this issue during the March 
meeting.  Whether the Committee would not need to take up this item in an informal meeting would 
be decided in due time. 
(b) Information from Members on their Experiences 
82. In the context of regionalization and also bearing in mind the recommendations made by the 
European Communities, the represen tative of Morocco stated that his country had set up a number of 
groups on the basis of different sectors of breedin g and animal husbandry co mprised of experts, 
academia and professionals.  Morocco had published a law regarding sanitary measures which came 
into effect in 2002, and their legislation was in th e forefront when it came to agriculture.  Animal 
husbandry was used as a pilot fo r the regionalization process. 
(c) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
83. The representative of the IPPC reported that  the second meeting of the International 
Phytosanitary Commission had adopted ISPN #29 on  the recognition of pest-free areas and areas of 
low pest prevalence.  This standard described th e procedure for the bilateral recognition of pest-free 
areas.  Next year the IPPC would put in place an  open-ended working group which would undertake a 
feasibility study on the internati onal recognition of pest-free areas. 
84. The representative of the OIE indicated that the Terrestrial Animal Health Standards 
Commission had largely finalized the idea of a di sease containment zone.  This accepted a limited 
incursion of a disease into a country or zone  that was previously free, and the aim of this concept was 
to minimize the trade disrupting effects of a di sease incursion. Within that zone, the country 
controlled and managed the incursion, while outside the containment zone trade could continue.  This 
was an example of a particular application of regionalization.   
85. The representative of OIRSA reported that his or ganization had held three separate seminars 
to work on the stamping out of porcine fever in Costa Rica, Honduras and neighbouring countries.  
This was an important initiative within the fra mework of the regionalization endeavour.  
VIII.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CO-OPERATION 
(a) Information from the Secretariat 
86. The Secretariat informed th e Committee of updates to the document G/SPS/GEN/797, 
circulated on 5 September 2007, which described WTO Technical Assistance Activities covering the SPS Agreement in the current year and early 2008.  The Technical Assistance Activities held since the 
last SPS Committee meeting in June had been: 
(a) Regional Short Trade Policy Course for Fr ench-speaking countries, in Cameroon, 
20 July; 
(b) National seminar in Indonesia, 24-25 July; 
(c) WTO/Inter-American Development Bank Wo rkshop on the SPS Agreement for the 
Caribbean in Kingston, Jamaica, 31 July–2 August; 
(d) National SPS/TBT seminar in El Sa lvador, 26-27 September;  and 
(e)
 42nd Trade Policy Course in Geneva, 3-4 October. G/SPS/R/46 
Page 18  
 
  87. Upcoming technical assistance activities included:  
(a) National SPS/TBT seminar in Nicaragua, week 13-15 November; 
(b) National seminar in Yemen, 20-21 November; 
(c) WTO Regional Workshop on the SPS Agreement for English-speaking countries, 
covering COMESA Members, to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, 10-12 December; 
(d) National seminar in Costa Rica, week of 21 January; 
(e) National SPS/TBT seminar in Belize, week of 28 January; 
(f) National Seminar in Rwanda, da tes to be confirmed;  and 
(g) eTraining Course on Introduction to Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, in 
English, from 5 November until 14 December. 
88. More general training on the SPS Ag reement would be provided during: 
(a) The regional Trade Policy Course for Latin American Countries in Chile, 
9 November;  and 
(b) The 12th Introduction Course for Least-dev eloped Countries in Geneva, November 
2007. 
89. The Secretariat also informed  the Committee about the 3rd Specialized Course in which 
participants were to attend classes during the two weeks following the SPS Committee meeting.  
Further information on SPS technical assistance pr ovided by the WTO could be obtained on the WTO 
website, or by contacting Robs on Fernandes for additional clarification and assistance. 
90. The representative of Indonesia expressed his gove rnment's appreciation to the Secretariat for 
their technical assistance and cooperation in the national seminar on SPS measures, which was held in 
Jakarta on 24-25 July 2007.  He also informed th e Committee that the impact of national seminars 
was very positive, especially to improve a comm on understanding between the various stakeholders.  
91. The Secretariat gave a report on the Standards and Trade Facility (STDF).  Noting that one of 
the tasks of the Facility was to look at the coordination of SPS-related technical assistance, to get an idea of the impact it was always useful to recei ve positive feedback as provided by Indonesia.   
92. The Secretariat gave updates on th e recent work of the STDF as it related to the Aid for Trade 
initiative.  Aid-for-Trade was a process that was first begun during the Hong Kong Ministerial 
conference to address the supply-side constraints th at developing country Members and in particular 
least developed countries (LDC) faced in profiting from trade liberalization opportunities.  The idea 
behind Aid for Trade was to stimulate the further mo bilization of trade-related technical assistance for 
developing and least-developed countries.  
93. The Secretariat reported that the STDF had been invited to organize side events at the three 
regional Aid-for-Trade conferences which were join tly held by the WTO, the Asian Development 
Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank.  In preparation for 
the events, the STDF commissioned research on the demand-side constraints in three case study regions: Central America, East Africa and a sub region of the greater Mekong Delta: Cambodia, Laos, 
Vietnam.  Research work also looked at the provi sion of technical assistance to each one of those 
regions, that is, the supply side of technical assistance. 
94. The Secretariat reported that some of th e common themes arising from the research and 
discussion at each of the regional workshops included:  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 19 
 
 
  (a) The fact that a number of capacity evaluations had been undertaken in each of the 
regions but that there was no one, comprehensive plan shared among donors or beneficiaries about where SPS needs were most eagerly felt.   
(b) The lack of political awareness of the im portance of SPS, which raised questions 
domestically and also in the minds of donors about the sustainability of projects 
after external funding ended.   
(c) The complexity of compliance with SPS requirements and the additional 
complications with private standards.   
(d) The substantial growth that had occurred in the provision of technical assistance 
over the last 5 years.   
(e) Non-tariff requirements were perhaps the main market access issue, even more 
significant than tariffs.   
(f) The preference of donors was the provision of training, information and soft 
infrastructure projects.  Hard infrastruct ure projects were more uncommon, perhaps 
due to the lack of political sensitivity and the concerns over the sustainability in the 
long run.   
(g) The difficulty of obtaining information on what was being provided in the way of 
technical assistance and the difficulty of obtai ning this information at the national, 
regional and global level.   
(h) Future provision of technical assistance w ould continue to grow  in the forthcoming 
period, but the question was how to ensure that the supply of technical assistance 
met the needs.   
95. One of the aims of the regional case-studies was to determine and prioritize needs and 
develop a worksheet of technical assistance requirement s, and to also look at the supply side response 
under the umbrella of the Aid-for-Trade agenda.  If these case studies were su ccessful, the goal was to 
expand the concept into other regions in 2008 and 2009.   
96. Another initiative in which STDF was involved was the joint World Bank and United Nations 
Industrial Development Organizati on (UNIDO) seminar which would take place at the WTO on 15-
16 November.  This seminar, among other things, woul d be looking at the issue of investment in 
laboratories for food safety and animal health.  In 2008, there would likely be two STDF-related 
meetings: one looking at the presentation and practice of capacity evaluation tools in the SPS area and the other on the margins of the SPS Committee in October 2008 to present results of the three Aid-
for-Trade related case studies and conclusions on best practices.   
97. Additionally, STDF planned a compendium of information on SPS-related technical 
assistance provided.  The Secretariat stressed that STDF was also a funding mechanism which 
regularly invited applications for funding.  The next deadline for applications would be 
25 January 2008for consideration by the Working Gr oup at a 3 April 2008 meeting.  The next meeting 
of the STDF Working Group and Policy Committee w ould take place on 7-9 November.  Lastly, the 
STDF secretariat requested a meeting with the Ce ntral American delegates after the SPS Committee 
meeting.  
98. The representative of the European Communitie s stated that resources directed to SPS 
technical assistance had increased considerably in the last few years.  He encouraged Members to G/SPS/R/46 
Page 20  
 
  make best use of these resources, noting that the European Communities had decided to allocate 
22 billion euros over a six-year period for development funding.  The European Communities was the world’s largest importer of food and food products, ye t repeatedly found itself in situations where SPS 
issues were not identified as priorities in EC-spo nsored aid programmes.  The EC representative 
encouraged delegates to contact colleagues in releva nt ministries to insist that SPS be given a high 
priority, otherwise funds would not be av ailable when problems were encountered. 
99. The Chairman observed that the EC comments were related to the recommendations of the 
Transparency workshop regarding the need for more political awareness in relation to SPS.  
(b) Information from Members 
100. The representative of the European Communiti es provided information on the training of 
senior administrators of ACP countries.  The Eur opean Communities would provide a summary of the 
seminars planned for 2008 as described in the pape r which had been provided in the room.  Contact 
information was provided for those developing count ry delegates interested in attending.  He 
reiterated the need for developing countries to expr ess their interests and needs.  The process could be 
initiated by simply sending an email to the contact point.  Lastly, the European Communities 
expressed gratitude for the input from the relevant international organizations in the seminars and 
thanked the Belgium authorities for the use their fa cilities and for arranging visits to private sector 
facilities.  
101. The representative of Jamaica expressed her count ry's gratitude to the European Communities 
for an excellent seminar.  Classroom lectures were supported by a practical part of the course where 
delegates visited laboratories, fish markets, food markets, a seaport, etc.  She also thanked the 
Belgium officials for their kind welcome.  
102. The representative of Paraguay informed Member s that with the support from the Brazilian  
Ministry of Agriculture, EMBRAPA and the Univer sity of Sao Paulo, phytosanitary services of the 
region had worked together to create an internship  program for technicians from plant health services 
of the region (SENAVE).  The internship would relate  to the following topics:  identification of fruit 
flies and their economic importance;  inspection of  mango packaging, control and monitoring of fruit 
flies Ceratitis capitata  and Anastrepha grandis;  and the production of bananas tolerant to black fly. 
103. The representative of Côte d’Ivoire stated that  some African countries wanted to thank the 
SPS Committee for all of the efforts being made in technical assistance.  African and developing 
countries were very interested in SPS measures beca use they were essential to trade.  Developing 
countries faced constraints in training, infrastructure, equipment, etc.  Côte d’Ivoire urged Members to 
continue their support for developing count ry participation in Committee meetings. 
104. The representative of Australia reported on its SPS technical assistance since June 2006.  This 
information was outlined in G/SPS/GEN/717/Add.1.  The assistance amounted to over 31 million dollars and in many cases the organizations provi ding the assistance also made substantial in-kind 
contributions to the projects.  Assistance was give n to 36 individual Members, observers and other 
countries, mainly in the Asia Pacific region, but also  in Africa and the Middle East.   Most assistance 
was directed to individual countries but assistance was also provided to groups of countries or regional organizations such as the Pacific Islands Countries and Territories, the Association of South 
East Asian Nations, Codex member countries, and the APEC group.  Th e aims of Australia's technical 
assistance were to enhance the capacity of countri es to implement their own science-based SPS risk 
assessment processes and to assist developing countries to adjust to and comply with SPS measures in 
their export markets.  Australia encouraged Member s, and particularly developing countries, to 
provide more detailed advice on thei r specific technical assistance needs and requirements to facilitate 
targeted assistance.    G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 21 
 
 
  105. The representative of Senegal observed that so me of developing countries were having 
problems with regards to SPS measures related to fruit flies, which now restricted the export of many 
products, including mangos and other fruits, to the Eu ropean Communities and the United States.  He 
acknowledged that FAO was working on this prob lem and that many Members were organizing 
themselves with various funding contributions, but s uggested that the WTO should also do something 
in this regard.  
106. The Secretariat clarified that WTO staff members were not experts in phytosanitary, animal 
health, and food safety areas and that the techni cal assistance provided directly by the WTO 
Secretariat consisted of training officials rega rding their rights and obligations under WTO 
agreements.  LDC Members had the right to request  three national seminars each year on various 
WTO agreements, and developing country Members had the right to two national seminars.  The 
Secretariat invited countries to respond to the qu estionnaire contained in G/SPS/W/113 on  technical 
assistance needs.  The more detailed and specific th e description of needs, the easier it was to find 
donors or organizations willing to give assistance.  A nother alternative was to raise these particular 
needs in the SPS Committee.  Countries could also submit proposals for projects to address specific 
SPS-related needs to the STDF.  The Secretariat urge d Members to directly contact the delegates of 
countries who offered assistance to see what  kind of assistance they provided.  
107. The representative of Chile thanked the Secretar iat for their willingness to participate in a 
video conference.  Unfortunately, because of logisti cal reasons, this could not be done.  This was, 
however, a good way to provide training and the Secretariat's willingness to be involved was 
appreciated. 
108. The representative of Haiti shared their experien ce regarding fruit flies.  In July, they had a 
problem regarding mangos similar to that of Senega l.  Haiti had made a request for assistance to the 
US Department of Agriculture, which provided direct assistance and the problem was being resolved.  He thanked USDA for their help. 
(c) Information from observers 
109. The representative of Codex highlighted the cap acity building manual developed by FAO and 
WHO which assisted countries in enhancing their ca pacity within Codex.  This manual. developed 
with the cooperation of Canada, had been translat ed into various languages and could be downloaded 
from the FAO website.  It could be utilized at the na tional level to learn the basics on risk analysis and 
how to develop comments and contribute to the Code x process.  The manual had been used in several 
regional workshops, the most recent being the re gional workshop held in Poland with cooperation 
from Switzerland.  FAO was also developing e-l earning modules which were now being internally 
tested and would go online shortly.   
110. The representative of Codex also commented on the Codex trust fund that was created in 
2003 and had been operational since 2004.  The fund allowed LDCs and other developing countries to 
attend Codex meetings.  He encourag ed all eligible countries to contact the trust fund and apply.  One 
concern was that there was a significant funding ga p for scheduled activities in 2008.  Codex only had 
30-50 per cent of necessary funds compared to commitmen ts so far.  If more funds were not provided, 
Codex would be obliged to significantly reduce its activities for next year.  He called on donor countries, and especially bilateral donor agencies, to contribute to the trust fund. 
111. The representative of the OIE noted that the S ecretariat had already made reference to the 
OIE participation in a number of technical assist ance activities.  With regard to the consultative 
workshop to be held in Geneva on investment in veterinary laboratories, the OIE saw this as an 
important area of infrastructure because it underpinned the capacity of a country to conduct 
surveillance, to report its disease status and to co mply with its obligations of reporting diseases.  OIE G/SPS/R/46 
Page 22  
 
  was developing a winning project where OIE referen ce laboratories entered into an arrangement to 
work with a laboratory in a developing country to  help them improve their capacity to perform 
diagnostic protocols and surveillance.  The repres entative reinforced the importance of adequate 
laboratory performance and welcomed the workshop to be held at the WTO.  
112. The representative of the IPPC reported that in April, the IPPC had a workshop in the Kyrgyz 
Republic which was on international standards fo r phytosanitary measures for the Commonwealth of 
Independent States (CIS) and Russian speaking countries of Europe.  In May, IPPC had a workshop on phytosanitary capacity evaluation, international standards and pest-risk analysis in Kenya.  
Another specialist workshop was held in Kenya on the phytosanitary capacity evaluation tool, doing an assessment of the tool to see how appropriate it w as.  In August, a mission went to Tanzania to 
identify specific priority activities under the one Unite d Nations system of deliv ery of which Tanzania 
was a pilot country.  Last month, IPPC held a sub regional workshop in Ghana on pest risk analysis for English speaking countries of West Africa.  A second workshop was scheduled for November-
December for the francophone countries.  
113. The representative of Benin stated that these workshops should go into more depth and 
develop a strategy of intervention.  A lot of tool s had been developed but there was little data on the 
level of use of these instruments in countries.  There was a need to have assessments to determine 
which ones worked in order to achieve change.  Various  delegations must work together on this issue.  
He expressed his country's satisfaction in seeing that  through the WTO, the three sisters were getting 
involved.  The representative hoped that the various  bodies could help the developing countries with 
regard to becoming more effective in taking action, especially in light of the pest problems faced. 
114. The Secretariat stated that the idea behind ho lding a meeting on capacity assessment tools for 
SPS was to determine which tools were useful an d share experiences with these tools.  Through the 
workshops held so far in Septembe r and October, there had been strong involvement, but there was a 
need to bring the topics to the political level in the future.   
115. The representative of the ITC stated that her organization had recently completed the 
implementation of two Asia Trust Fund (ATF) projects in the fishery sector in Indonesia and Malaysia 
in June and September 2007, respectively.  The one -year projects helped the countries address some 
of the urgent deficiencies along the fishery supply chain highlighted by the latest EC Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) missions regarding fish expor ts to the European Comm unities.  In addition, 
ITC had recently been appointed as th e supervisory agency of a STDF pr oject in the fisheries sector in 
Yemen.  The overall objective of the project was to  enable the Yemeni Seafood Exporters Association 
(YSEA) to develop the capacity of its members to  better meet SPS requirements and thereby improve 
the quality and safety of seafood products from Yemen. 
116. The representative of IICA summarized the activitie s that had recently occurred and that were 
planned for the near future.  Detailed info rmation on these activities was contained in 
G/SPS/GEN/808.  He reported on the continuity of the Initiative of the Americas, which facilitated the 
participation of 26 member countries at this meet ing and hoped that the initiative would continue 
throughout 2008.  Furthermore, the introduction of a new project for institutional strengthening, with 
funding from the STDF, would complement the effort s of the Initiative of the Americas and would be 
applied to 28 IICA member countries.  He thanked the STDF for the trust vested in IICA in order to 
carry out this far-reaching project.  He also summa rized several training activities described in the 
referenced document. 
117. The representative of OIRSA st ated that information on their activities could be found in 
G/SPS/GEN/806.  He highlighted some of the assi stance activities, incl uding workshops on SPS 
related topics.  He also thanked the Spanish Minist ry of Agriculture for thei r invaluable cooperation  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 23 
 
 
  with OIRSA members and the USDA for their help in the coordination of several seminars related to 
avian influenza.  
IX. OTHER ISSUES ARISING FROM THE RE VIEW OF THE OPERATION OF THE 
SPS AGREEMENT 
(a) Use of ad hoc consultations 
118. The Secretariat briefly reported that the NAMA negotiations on an "horizontal" mechanism 
for the resolution of NTB trade problems continued.  Informal meetings were held earlier in the week, 
however, questions regarding the scope of such a mechanism remained open. 
119. The Chairman recalled that the discussions at th e last meeting had been rich, but it was not 
clear how the Committee wished to proceed on this  issue.  Two key questions were posed by the 
Chair:  should the Committee decide on concrete  actions, such as adopting procedures for using 
"Good Offices", to formalize the procedures for rais ing specific trade concerns? Or did the Committee 
consider that the background information provided by the Secretariat and the discussion of this had 
sufficiently clarified current practices so that th ere was no need for specific action and consideration 
of the issue was finalized?  
120. The representative of the European Commun ities raised some question regarding the 
alternative dispute resolution mechanism.  He understand that the mandate for the mechanism in 
question had its origins in the Doha Declaration itsel f and was quite specific in that it related to non-
agricultural products.  Regarding the question of  whether it could be expanded to agricultural 
products, the representative wanted clarification as to  whether such a decision would be a ministerial 
decision or taken by the Secretariat?  What imp lications would this mechanism have on the existing 
dispute resolution mechanisms provided for in the SPS Agreement itself:  would it complement them 
or replace them? 
121. The representative of Chile recalled that during the Review, it had been determined that the 
alternative dispute resolution mechanism was one of  the issues in which the Committee could advance 
the implementation of the Agreement.  There were many options currently being used informally and 
in parallel with the Committee meetings.  In certa in instances, countries had resorted to the Good 
Offices of the Chair.  The objective had been to  formulate dispute resolution mechanisms as an 
alternative to using a formal process.  Chile ha d submitted a document regard ing this matter and the 
document prepared by the Secretariat reflected some  of the issues that Chile had raised during the 
review of the Agreement.  
122. The representative of Argentina noted that they shared many of the concerns of Chile.  His 
country was very interested in advancing the issue of alternative mechanisms.  Regarding the specific 
trade concerns, although there was no detailed proce ss, the Committee had a very important practice 
that was clear enough.  Where it wa s not clear was with regard to the Good Offices of the Chairman.  
This was a valuable alternativ e that the Committee should further explore so it could be better 
utilized.  The Committee was lacki ng experience regarding this tool and therefore, the discussions 
should perhaps focus on to what extent a more deta iled procedure could help Members make greater 
use of this alternative. 
123. The representative of Brazil supported the comme nts made by Chile and Argentina.  The 
representative of New Zealand agreed with Chile and Argentina that the Good Office of the Chair 
were a useful mechanism that the Committee should explore to see how Members could better use it.  
New Zealand was unsure whether elaborating a proce dure would help in this regard.  He suggested 
that in the next convening Airgramme, the Secretaria t could add a simple reference to draw Members 
attention to the availability of the Good Offices of the Chair.  G/SPS/R/46 
Page 24  
 
  124. The Chairman stressed that he was always av ailable in regard providing Good Offices.  
125. The representative of Japan supported New Zeal and's intervention.  The proposed procedure 
under discussion in the NAMA negotiating group was very similar to the existing Good Office procedure, although more prescriptive.  From this  viewpoint, Japan believed that the Committee could 
make better use of Good Offices.  He noted that  disputes related to the SPS Agreement usually 
included several scientific and technical issues and th erefore they might be more effectively resolved 
through technical assistance activities and the exper tise of international sta ndard-setting bodies rather 
than through dispute settlement procedures. 
126. The Secretariat clarified that NAMA was th e negotiating group on market access for non-
agricultural products so one would normally expect  that the proposed mechanism would not cover 
agriculture products.  However, a number of the exam ples that were given in the early discussions of 
the horizontal mechanism to help resolve trade di sputes included agricultural products and others 
clearly were in the SPS realm.  Therefore, it was not completely clear whether the mechanism would 
exclude agricultural products. Even  if the discussions in NAMA excluded agricultural products, that 
did not necessarily exclude SPS measures because SPS measures could apply to non-agricultural 
products such as wood pallets, cosmetics, etc.  D ecisions would be made by Ministers, either as a 
Ministerial Decision or as part of the conclusions of the Doha Development Agenda.  The question of 
whether the adopted measures would complement or replace existing SPS mechanisms remained open 
but the current texts tended to complement rather than replace established mechanisms.  In terms of 
the comments regarding Good Offices, the Secretaria t had explained how the process had worked in 
the past in the background document.  It had been qu ite some time since it had been used.  It was up 
to Members to determine whether the process required further clarification or variation.  
127. Given that many Members showed interest in the Good Offices of the Chair, the Chairman 
suggested this issue be kept on the agenda and that  Members provide input in writing before the next 
meeting.  
(b) Relationship between the SPS Comm ittee and Codex, IPPC and OIE 
128. The Chairman observed that the Secretariat had presented document G/SPS/GEN/775 at the 
last meeting of the Committee, but that at the e nd of the discussions it had remained unclear what was 
the will of the Committee regarding further work on this matter.  
129. The representative of New Zealand recalled that in document G/SPS/W/206, New Zealand 
had posed a number of questions that could guide th e Committee's consideration of this issue.  The 
Secretariat's background document in paragraph 6 had also noted that other Members had suggested 
that it would be useful to get the three sisters to describe their respective mandates and for this 
Committee to discuss the optimal process for co llaboration and communication with these 
organizations.  He noted that perhaps the ques tions in the New Zealand paper, as well as the 
suggestions in the Secretariat paper, could form a basis for discussions on this issue at the next 
meeting.  
130. The representative of Chile supported New Zealand's contributions, along with the 
suggestions in the Secretariat document regarding th e relationship with the three sisters.  Several 
countries made efforts to assist in the increased use of intern ational standards, however, no 
monitoring procedure existed.  Chile believed that all measures should be notified whether or not they 
differed from the international standards.  With  the use of the new SPS Information Management 
System, there would be an even greater m onitoring capability.  Codex was attempting some 
monitoring through the regional committees, but it was important to determine whether the other two 
sisters could do so as well.  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 25 
 
 
  131. Regarding the monitoring of the use of standards, the representative of IPPC stated  that most 
IPPC standards were concept standards.  At this ti me, IPPC did not have specific standards, except for 
ISPM and the irradiation standards that were due to be adopted in 2008.  These specific standards 
could be monitored.  Many of the contracting parties might never use some of the standards due to resource constraints.  The IPPC had looked at putting in place a possible compliance mechanism to 
identify which standards countries were having diffi culty in applying to ascertain where there was a 
need for international workshops.  
132. The representative of Codex stated that they had finally abandoned the monitoring system on 
the use of Codex standards.  The system had in creasingly fallen out of use by members, and only 
'standards' and not other texts in the form of gui delines were being monitored.  Given that in the 
context of the WTO there were no distinctions betw een standards and other related texts, along with 
its increasing disuse, Codex decided to abandon the sy stem.  Codex had decided to keep monitoring 
on the agenda of all regional coordinating committees;   however, the core role of Codex was to set 
standards and not to oversee their use. 
133. The representative of the OIE stated that their position was similar to Codex.  OIE had put 
most emphasis on ensuring compliance with the obligati on of countries to report diseases.  In the last 
few years, the OIE had initiated contact with nati onal delegates and activel y sought out confirmation 
of informal rumours of disease outbreaks.  OIE had also improved their links with members through the nomination of focal points.  The OIE recently ask ed members to identify focal points in a number 
of key areas such as disease reporting, aquatic animal  health, wildlife problems, use of veterinary 
products, and animal welfare.  This made it easier for the OIE to determine what members were doing 
in regard to the standards.  Monitoring of compliance was not possible given the OIE's current 
resources, and OIE members had recently been asked  to increase their contribution so the OIE was not 
planning another increase in the near future. 
134. The representative of Chile recalled that Ar ticle 12.4 stated the Committee should set up 
procedures for monitoring the use of internati onal harmonization.  The Codex Commission had 
abandoned the Codex monitoring system with the e xpectation that this SPS procedure would identify 
whether the Codex standards were being used or not .  This issue was very important for SPS-related 
trade and Members had to know whether these standards were being applied.  
135. The representative of IPPC observed that the most important of the IPPC standards were the 
principles relating to international trade.  In this st andard, the contracting par ties were required to take 
into account technical justification, transparency, non-discrimination, etc.  A country which 
implemented all of these would have a pretty robust import/export system.   
136. The Chairman observed that in the light of th e discussions, it was appropriate to look at the 
questions raised by New Zealand and in the S ecretariat document (G/SPS/GEN/775).  The Committee 
should structure a discussion around these questions.  He invited Members to submit specific questions in writing before the next meeting.  
X. MONITORING THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
(a) New issues 
137. No Member raised any new issue under this agenda item.   
(b) Issues previously raised 
138. There was no discussion under this agenda item. G/SPS/R/46 
Page 26  
 
  XI. CONCERNS WITH COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE STANDARDS 
139. The Chairman recalled the rich discussions on th e issue of private SPS standards and the two 
separate information sessions that had been held w ith the participation of some of the private 
standard-creating associations.  Now the time had come for the Committee to give some thought as to 
how it wished to proceed with this issue.  Sugg estions by Members at the June meeting included 
keeping the item on the agenda for the SPS Committ ee, and discussing the impact on market access as 
well as the legal aspects in conjunction with the TB T Committee.  Other suggestions were that the 
issues related to private standards were best di scussed in broad forums such as UNCTAD or the WTO 
Committee on Trade and Development.  Some Memb ers were of the opinion that the Committee's 
objective could be information sharing and enlight enment of the impacts these standards have on 
trade.  The Chairman identified two questions th at could guide the Committee's discussion:  (a) was 
the SPS Committee the best or an appropriate forum fo r addressing private standards;  (b) if so, what 
should be the focus of the work of the SPS Committee? 
140. In relation to the first question, the Chairman clarified that SPS was only one aspect of private 
standards, which often also covere d environmental and social issues.  Therefore, it was important to 
keep in mind that this Committee only had a manda te on SPS-related issues.  The Chairman expressed 
his opinion that discussing private standards in general terms would not be very fruitful.  Some had argued that private standards went beyond the work  of the SPS Committee and should be addressed in 
a broader forum as a development issue.  Within the WTO, private standards had recently only been 
brought up within the SPS Committee.  The Chair of the TBT Committee had asked Members whether they wanted to discuss the issue, but at th e time there was not much interest to do so.  The 
Chairman expressed his view that this could be an indication that the SPS element of private standard 
schemes was perceived as more problematic than other elements.   
141. Regarding the second question, there was the i ssue of whether the Committee should try to 
decide upon the legal implications of Article 13.   A study commissioned by the Department for 
International Development (DFID) in the Unite d Kingdom had been circulated as G/SPS/GEN/802, 
and the Committee could choose to discuss this issu e on the basis of this study.  The Chairman 
suggested that it would be better to focus on wh ere the Committee could be helpful in solving 
problems related to private standards.  As suggested  in the fax from the Chairman, he thought it would 
be most useful if the Committee could proceed on the basis of specific experiences and examples 
from Members regarding problems they faced with private SPS standards.   
142. The representative of Kenya expressed appreciation for Members who wanted to keep this 
matter on the agenda.  Regarding the issue of wh ether the national authorities had a say on the 
application of these standards in their respective countries, from the supply side of the chain, those 
who set standards tended to keep the national author ities out of the process of inspections and auditing 
in horticulture production.  So the national author ities were not normally involved in overseeing the 
regulations pertaining to private standards.  Alt hough these standards claimed to be voluntary, in 
practice they were in fact not voluntary.  These st andards had positive and ne gative aspects.  But from 
the supply side, the negative c onsequences regarding the displacement of small holders outweighed 
the positive ones.  Increased proliferation of these standards was the greatest challenge that the 
developing world faced.  If private requirements coul d be consolidated into one, then there would be 
prospects for harmonization which would facilitate the process given that producers would only have 
to adapt to a single standard rather than  three or four different standards.   
143. The representative of Egypt clarified that the discussion taking place regarding private 
standards was not intended to challenge or even to re ject these standards.  There was a need for more 
orientation and more understanding on how private st andards were developed and applied, who were 
the stakeholders involved in the private standards, et c.  It could not be denied that there was an SPS 
aspect in these private standards, although the SPS Ag reement might not cover the issue completely.   G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 27 
 
 
  Regarding how to proceed, he noted the SPS Co mmittee had not yet decided whether the SPS 
Agreement was fully applicable and therefore priv ate standards should not be raised under specific 
trade concerns.  Trying to solve this issue by considering individual cases did not look at the full 
picture.  It was clear that Members would most lik ely disagree on the legal linkage of SPS and these 
private standards.  The representative of Egypt thanked the United Kingdom for the study.  It 
contained many ideas worth consideration and require d further discussion.  He highlighted some of 
the primary concerns listed on page 5, paragraph 2.  Egypt did not want to limit the discussion to the 
development side in forums such as CTD and UNCTAD, and believed th at the SPS Committee should 
be one of the forums where this issue was discussed.  
144. The representatives of Australia, Belize, St  Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and 
St Lucia, thanked the United Kingdom for providing the study on the relationship between private 
standards and the SPS Agreement (G/SPS/GEN/802), a lthough several noted that they needed more 
time to examine the report. 
145. The representative of Australia also thanked the Chair for his opening remarks and stressed 
that private standards should remain voluntary.  Although Article 13 referre d to non-governmental 
entities, Australia did not consider this reason for the Committee to intervene in the development of 
private sector standards nor should the SPS Committ ee expand its mandate in this area.  Those 
Members who wished to keep this item on the ag enda should table proposals for other Members to 
consider.  Such proposals would need to be specifi c about what elements of private standards fell 
within the scope of the SPS Agreement, what provi sions of the SPS Agreement might apply, and what 
solutions or under what mandate the SPS Co mmittee should act to address these concerns.  
146. The representative of Belize expressed concern that  private standards on agricultural products 
acted as non-tariff barriers to trade.  To the exte nt that they contained SPS components, they were 
covered by the SPS Agreement as referred to in Article 1.1.  She agreed with Kenya that 
harmonization would make compliance easier.  In  addition, Belize was concerned with the 
transparency component of the elaboration of th ese standards.  Belize supported continued Committee 
discussions of this issue.  
147. The representative of China st ated that her authorities had sought input from their business 
community on this issue.  There were three main concerns identified.  First, the standards from the 
standard-setting bodies changed over tim e and as a result, there was a n eed to follow the principles of 
predictability and transparency.  The second issue w as that the private standard-setting bodies relied 
on dozens of certifying bodies to issue certifications  and sometimes there was a lack of consistency 
among the certifying bodies.  The third point was that there was a need for training and demonstration 
activities so that farmers could  understand the requi rements of the private standards.  The business 
community hoped that by maintaining dialogue with  private standard setting organizations through 
the SPS Committee, private standard bodies could be en couraged to make some efforts in the above 
areas.  
148. The representative of Zambia agreed that priv ate standards posed a challenge to exporting 
countries, and that the item should remain on the agenda.  The SPS Committee should reach a 
conclusion in terms of what falls under TBT and what falls under SPS. 
149. The representative of the European Communities pointed out that the Committee's discussion 
on this issue to date had sensitized the standard- setting bodies to the impact of their measures on 
developing countries.  They had received a clear me ssage that they had to take into account these 
needs.  It appeared that the priv ate standard-setting organizations were  making a real effort to work on 
this issue, not for altruistic reasons but because they realized that failure to do so would create 
problems for them.  Hopefully the Committee would be  able to judge the succes s of their efforts over 
time.  Private standards did not replace official  EC standards and import requirements.  For the G/SPS/R/46 
Page 28  
 
  discussion to be more useful in the future, there ne eded to be a more specific focus on what products, 
which markets, and what measures created problems. 
150. The representative of Japan agreed with the ope ning statement of the Chairman and the need 
for discussions to be more focused on specific cases in order to make discussion fruitful. 
151. The  representative of St. Vincent and th e Grenadines supported keeping the matter of 
commercial and private standards on the agenda.  There were certain areas where Members could 
bring more specifics to the table. 
152. The representative of Senegal noted that private standards were becoming ever more 
demanding.  Many standards from the three sister organizations already posed problems for developing countries, now private standards creat ed numerous problems because often they were 
specific to certain countries or certain markets.  Senegal suggested that the Committee look at some of 
these standards domain-by-domain to see if they could be integrated into the SPS Agreement.  
Continuing a very general discussion was not useful. 
153. The representative of Canada stated that they ag reed that private standards could pose  costs 
and challenges to producers in developing countri es.  However, Canada believed that private 
standards went beyond SPS measures since they were not government measures, but private 
commercial measures that responded to consumer demands, concerns with particular production 
methods, as well as social and environmental issues.   Canada agreed that private standard-setting 
bodies should be encouraged to involve producers from both developing and developed countries in 
the standard setting processes and develop progr ammes to assist developing country producers 
through their  certification processes.  Canada's  understanding was that the SPS Agreement covered 
government mandated measures and was not intended to  be applied to private standards.  If the SPS 
Committee were going to continue looking at privat e standards, there was a need for more specific 
questions and not a general discussion.  
154. The representative of Cuba agreed that this  item be maintained on the agenda so the 
Committee could continue this rich debate.  
155. The representative of Chile endorsed the questions posed by the Chairman as to whether this 
was the appropriate forum for the issue and the questi on regarding the legal study of the issue.  Chile 
believed that the Committee should continue discussi ng this issue, especially the consequences and 
the impact it had today and would have in the fu ture.  A legal study regarding the WTO framework 
would be useful, as there could be trade barriers because of these standard s and the Committee must 
be able to distinguish between the aspects that we re outside of its mandate and those which could be 
examined by this Committee.  
156. The representative of Uruguay shared the view th at the issue should remain on the agenda.  
The debate on the issue might give a clearer view  on how to proceed and developing countries found 
it very difficult to follow an issue such as this one when it was being discussed in various different 
fora.  Giving specific examples of issues was a good way to proceed. 
157. The representative of the United States shared the views expressed by Australia and Canada, 
including the understanding of the Committee's limi ted jurisdiction and the sense that the Committee's 
information sharing efforts had been beneficial in increasing Member's common knowledge.  US exporters had also experienced so me of the same problems described  by many Members.  The United 
States was willing to discuss the relevance of pr ivate standards within the SPS Committee, on the 
basis of specific proposals submitted by Members.  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 29 
 
 
  158. The representatives of Barbados, Bolivia, Banglad esh and Zimbabwe all supported proposals 
that the item be kept on the agenda and that speci fic examples of cases where private standards had 
affected markets should be identified during the next meeting. 
159. The representative of Mauritania stated that it w as very important that this issue be discussed 
in future meetings so that the Committee coul d establish the difference between voluntary and 
mandatory standards.  He appreciated the EC cl arification that private standards were always 
secondary to the official requirements for imported products.  There was a need for more information 
so technical assistance could be more effective in this area.  Technical assistance, however, should be 
directed towards the mandatory standards first, w ith lesser concern for volunt ary private standards.  
160. The representative of Peru also shared the view that this item should remain on the 
Committee's agenda.  Articles 1.1 and 13 of the Agreement required Members to ensure that non-
governmental entities and regional organizations opera ting in their territories respected the provisions 
of the SPS Agreement.  Developing countries we re doing everything they could to respect SPS 
standards, but private standards went beyond their capacity to comply.  
161. The representative of Paraguay stated that his country was concerned with private standards 
that were not in line with ISO, which were incr easing at a rapid pace.  Many of these standards were 
stricter than those of Codex and therefore they were obstacles to trade and created confusion among consumers.  Paraguay believed that this item should be maintained on the agenda.  
162. The representative of Ecuador also requested that this item remain on the agenda.  The 
Committee could work on harmonization and transparen cy, for example.  Obtaining specific examples 
was difficult because many producers did not want to  share information for fear of losing market 
share.  Therefore Ecuador suggested that exampl es of a more global nature  could be considered. 
163. The representative of El Salvador suggested th at it was necessary to seek a legal opinion to 
define the issue.  Annex A of the SPS Agreement clearly made no distinction between private and 
official SPS measures.  El Salvador agreed that private standards be maintained on the agenda.  
164. The representative of Niger supported Senegal’s position.  Official standards were vetted 
through official focal points and perhaps there could be a private focal point or contact point 
regarding private standards. 
165. The representative of Argentina expressed the vi ew that some of the private standards were 
within the SPS realm, particularly those related to food safety.  These standards could possibly be 
covered by Articles 1 or 13, and therefore Arge ntina believed that the Committee should continue 
discussing the issue.  This issue could be addr essed through a global systematic debate of the 
relationship between these standards and the relevant  articles, or through consideration of specific 
cases.  Argentina considered that the method of co ncrete examples could be an appropriate way of 
dealing with the issue.   
166. The representative of Saint Lucia expressed thei r desire to keep private standards on the 
agenda.  There should be further analysis to find ways and means of dealing with private standards 
that were not scientifically based or not necessary.  Developing countries should come up with 
quantifiable evidence to inform the discussion and allow some resolution. 
167. The representative of Senegal gave an example regarding fruit and vegetable exports from his 
country.  Two or three EC member States required cer tification of those products in the framework of 
EurepGap, which required good agricultural practic es, traceability and the codification of products 
even before they left Senegal.  These requireme nts had become a real barrier to trade.   G/SPS/R/46 
Page 30  
 
  168. The representative of Egypt noted that examin ation of specific examples would not provide a 
basis for the Committee to resolve issues with regard to the SPS Agreement.  He also referred to 
paragraph 15 in document G/SPS/GEN/746, a ba ckground note from the Secretariat on private 
standards, which stated that Article 1.1 of the Agreement applied to all SPS measures which may directly or indirectly affect international trad e without explicitly limiting this application to SPS 
measures taken by governmental authorities.  In addition, the definition of an SPS measure in 
Annex A.1 and the accompanying illustrative list of SPS measures did not explicitly limit these to 
governmental measures.  As to whether Members should present studies and evidence to prove that 
private standards were under the umbrella of the SPS Agreement, he suggested that the burden of 
proof should rather be on the other parties.  Me mbers should come up with evidence to prove that 
private standards were not under the umbrella of the SPS Agreement.  
169. The Chairman noted that this issue would be  kept on the agenda given the overwhelming 
interest expressed by Members.  Even if the le gal scope of the SPS Agreement was not clear on this 
issue, the Committee still provided a useful forum for discussions.  The Chai rman requested Members 
to bring specific examples and specific proposals to  the table to focus the discussions at the next 
meeting.  
170. The representative of Egypt, commenting on th e Chairman's recommendations, stated that 
specific examples already existed in studies by UNC TAD, OECD, etc.  These specific cases would 
not help solve the whole issue.  What was require d was a determination of whether these issues could 
be solved under the SPS Agreement. 
171. The representative of Senegal stated that there w as a need to assist Members with this issue or 
else developing countries, and especially LDCs, w ould no longer be able to export anything.  
172. The Chairman noted that there was no agreemen t on the scope of Article 13.  However, the 
Committee could try to influence the private standa rd-setting bodies.  If Members provided examples 
of specific problems this could facilitate discussion of  the scope of Article 13.  Members were also 
welcome to submit proposals on the legal framework  issue for discussion at the next meeting.  
XII. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF 
THE ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
173. The Chairman recalled that in accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of 
the People's Republic of China, the SPS Committee w as to undertake an annual review for eight years 
of the implementation by China of the SPS Agr eement.  He opened the floor for comments or 
questions from Members. 
174. The representative of the United States recalled th at in its submission for the 2007 transitional 
review (G/SPS/GEN/213), the United States had presen ted a comprehensive account of its concerns.  
These related to China's:  (1) sanitary regulations applied to US products with the stated purpose of 
preventing the introduction of BSE, avian influenza, food-borne pathogens and residues;  (2) varietal 
restrictions on apples;  (3) lack of transparency;  and (4) implementation of national treatment 
obligations.  A few of the concerns that had par ticular importance since they had been going on for 
many years.  The first concern related to China's continued imposition of BSE-related restrictions on 
imports of beef and beef products from the US that  far exceeded those recommended by the OIE.  In 
May 2007, the OIE classified the United States as a controlled risk for BSE.  The OIE recognized that 
trade in beef and beef products from cattle of all ages from a "controlled risk" country was safe, 
provided that certain slaughter and beef processing  conditions were met, including the removal of 
specified risk materials (SRMs).  The United States  requested China to explain why it had failed to 
base its measures on OIE guidelines regarding the impor t of US beef and beef products, in accordance  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 31 
 
 
  with Articles 2 and 5 of the SPS Agreement, and to pr ovide a copy of its risk assessment if China had 
performed one. 
175. The United States was also concerned that China imposed additional BSE-related import 
restrictions on US protein-free tallow, a product which was recognized by the OIE as safe to trade regardless of the BSE status of the exporting region.  On this issue, China w as requested to explain its 
failure to base its measures on OIE guidelines. 
176. Another important concern of the United Stat es regarded China's de-listing of US poultry 
establishments based on a zero-tolerance requirement  for certain pathogens, such as salmonella on 
raw meat and poultry products, incons istent with the Codex standards.  China appeared to mistakenly 
apply Codex standards for ready-to-eat products to  raw products.  This requirement was unnecessarily 
trade restrictive within the meaning of Article 5 of the SPS Agreement  Furthermore, it seemed that 
China did not enforce this zero-tolerance requireme nt to domestically produced meat and poultry 
products.  The representative of the United States as ked China to explain if and how it applied its 
zero-tolerance requirement to its e quivalent domestic products, and if th is were not the case, requested 
China to review its domestic enforcement to en sure conformity with Article 2.3 of the SPS 
Agreement.  
177. Finally, the representative of the United Stat es highlighted concerns regarding residue 
standards.  China had de-listed several US por k establishments due to its ban on ractopamine, a 
swine-feed ingredient.  This restriction was based  on a blanket ban of drugs called beta-agonists.  
However, the United States was unaware of any risk assessment conducted by China to evaluate 
ractopamine.  Codex had established a draft standard (MRL) for ractopamine based on 
recommendations from the FAO/WHO Joint Expert  Committee on Food Additives.  The draft 
standard for ractopamine would be considered fo r final approval at the July 2008 meeting of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission.  In this context, the United States asked China to explain how it had taken Codex recommendations into account in the development of its ban on ractopamine and 
asked whether China had completed a risk assessment.  
178. The representative of the European Commun ities welcomed further improvements in the 
relationship between China and the European Communities including improvements in bilateral 
consultations between the Chinese authorities and EC member States.  The European Communities 
also welcomed recent Chinese efforts to improve food safety and to increase pre-export testing of consignments.  However, the European Communitie s regretted that the notification process, which 
had started well, is now dramatica lly slowing down despite China's in crease in legislative activity in 
the SPS area.  Furthermore, China had not yet aligned its animal health legislation to the OIE 
guidelines, although adherence to OIE was a fundamental requirement for WTO Members. 
179. The European Communities also encouraged China to improve its national information 
network, in other words, the flow of inform ation between the competent national and regional 
services in order to avoid inconsistency in SPS measures or procedures.   
180. The European Communities welcomed China's notification G/SPS/N/CHN/100, which 
brought important changes to the existing rule for exports to China of cosmetic products.  In particular, the proposed change modified the ma nagement measures for cosmetics imported from 
BSE-infected areas in accordance with the reco mmendations of OIE.  However, the European 
Communities was otherwise concerned about China' s interpretation of OIE guidelines on BSE.  The 
OIE issued a list of bovine products which could be safely traded, regardless of the BSE status of a 
country, among which was de-boned skeletal muscle meat from cattle 30 months of age or less.  
Despite these guidelines, EC beef and bovine meat products were still banned by China.  In addition 
bovine semen and embryos were subject to rest rictions in China in contradiction to the 
recommendations of OIE. G/SPS/R/46 
Page 32  
 
  181. The European Communities also highlighted the currently limited access to the Chinese 
market for food products, due largel y to imposition of restrictive SPS standards.  The enforcement of 
food controls in China placed reliance on end-product testing, that often created a significant barrier 
to trade.  
182. Lastly, the representative of the European Co mmunities indicated that compliance with the 
Chinese plant regulatory import system was unjustif iably difficult in that many of the import 
requirements went beyond the IPPC  recommenda tions.  However, recent communication flow 
between the European Communities and the Chinese authorities had improved considerably and that 
the European Communities welcomed the positive attit ude shown by China in this regard and looked 
forward to more efficient, rapid Chinese procedures.  
183. The representative of China thanked the Unite d States and the European Communities for 
their comments and questions.  She stated that th e competent authorities had been actively engaging 
in dialogues with their counterparts in the United States and the European Co mmunities in the spirit 
of finding mutually satisfying solutions to issues of  interest to all sides.  Issues identified in the 
submissions had also appeared on the agendas of bilateral talks.   
184. Some of the issues had already been covere d in the Committee meeting.  She commented 
therefore on some of the other issues.  According to the relevant OIE guidelines, controlled BSE risk countries should trace and supervise relevant cattle relating to BSE cases, and such cattle should be 
destroyed.  However, complete tracing of cattle rela ted to BSE cases had not been fully realized in the 
United States, and in some cases, the related farms we re not even found.  Again, according to relevant 
OIE guidelines, feed bans should be effectively enfo rced, and ruminants should not be fed with meat, 
bone meal and tallow derived from ruminants.  Unfo rtunately, the United States did not seem to have 
a policy in place to ensure these requirements were met.  As the United States recognized in their 
submission, China had agreed to resume import of US boneless beef from animals up to 30 months of age in July 2006, and then had agreed this year the resumption of bone-in beef from animals up to 30 months of age.  These decisions were in lin e with relevant OIE guidelines.  The competent 
authorities were not convinced that it was safe for China to import other US beef.  China hoped that 
the US Government would strictly follow the feed  ban recommended by the OIE, establish a complete 
tracing system for cattle, and ensure the security and traceability of beef exported to the Chinese 
market.  China encouraged the Unite d States to work with Chinese aut horities to first resume trade in 
beef from animals up to 30 months of age.  
185. As to protein-free tallow, the representativ e of China recalled that the OIE guidelines 
indicated that only protein-free bovine tallow, of which the content of infusible impurity was less than 
0.15 per cent, could be traded freely, and any bovi ne products containing SRM should not be traded.  
China permitted protein- free tallow meeting its regu lations as well as the international standard to 
enter its market. 
186. China was revising its sampling plans and microbiological criteria for food-borne pathogens, 
which would be identical to those of Internati onal Commission on Microbiological Specifications for 
Foods (ICMSF), and completed in 2008.  Once these new criteria were established, China would 
conduct a review and set the maximum microbiologi cal limits in food commodities accordingly.  
Regarding residue standards, China did not a llow ractopamine, a beta-agonist, as a swine-feed 
ingredient due to its cumulative nature.  Consump tion of meat from swine treated by ractopamine 
could cause side-effects to the human heart and ne rvous system.  For this reason, the use of 
ractopamine was forbidden in over 160 countries and regions. 
187. The representative of China noted that transparency was an im portant principle in the SPS 
Agreement and the Committee was well aware of what  China had done in the past six years to 
contribute to the transparency discussions and fulf il its obligations under the SPS agreement.  China  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 33 
 
 
  had a mechanism to ensure that SPS measures falling in to the criteria of those to be notified under the 
SPS Agreement were notified.  Among the 21 measur es identified by the United States some were 
notified a long time ago, some were established fo r domestic management onl y, and others were 
meant to intensify quality and safety of products for export and so were actually trade facilitating 
measures.  China's understanding of transparency un der SPS was that they notified what they found 
necessary to notify instead of all measures.  Notifying measures complying with international 
standards which had no significant trade effect incre ased the burdens to trading partners, especially 
developing country Members.  Yesterday, Chin a submitted three new SPS notifications to the 
Secretariat for circulation, and again it managed to provide a 60-day comment period starting from the 
date of circulation by the Secretariat. 
188. The representative of China emphasized that treat ment of products produced domestically or 
imported is the same.  There was always the po ssibility for an exporter or importer to lodge a 
complaint and or ask for re-inspection of the goods if these were found by Chinese port inspection and quarantine authorities to be non compliant.  
189. The Chairman informed the Committee that he  would make a short factual report of the 
transitional review to the Council for Trade of  Goods, subsequently circulated as G/SPS/47. 
XIII.  MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS 
190. The representative of OIE drew attention to their report in document G/SPS/GEN/801.  In 
addition to important topics such as export of liv estock commodities and the development of the 
zoning concept, she highlighted that the report c ontained an update on the recent discussions from the 
Terrestrial Health Standards Commission.  Th e OIE would be convening two international 
conferences in conjunction with Codex:  one on an imal welfare in October 2008 in Cairo and the 
other on animal identification and traceability at the beginning of 2009.  The third part of the report 
contained a statement from the Director General of the OIE where the role of veterinary services, the 
control of animal diseases and the improvement  of animal production were presented as a key 
economic factor for development, especially for de veloping countries and LDCs.  The OIE urged the 
international community and international donors to i nvest in veterinary services.  She commented on 
OIE's use of the PVS tool, which was a tool to help direct and focus the attention of donors and of veterinary services globally to help strength en this essential element of infrastructure. 
191. The representative of the European Communities thanked the OIE for the update and stated 
that the European Communities considered the PV S tool to be very constructive for upgrading 
veterinary capacity in developing countries.  Th e challenge was find the necessary resources to carry 
out the investment in upgrading infrastructure.  The European Communities was actively looking to 
mobilize the necessary financial resources to assi st the OIE in promoting this initiative.  
192. The representative of the IPPC brought to the Committee's attention IPPC's work plan 
described in G/SPS/GEN/805, which gave an update on the international standard-setting programme, 
as well as the five year business plan for the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures.  The first 
section of this document gave a basic overview of  the IPPC while the second explained the IPPC's 
strategic direction based on seven five-year goals.  Given that there was shortfall in resources, the 
representative stressed the final part of plan wh ich looked at the resource requirements.  Seven 
regional workshops on draft ISPMs had good feedb ack but were a little disappointing in that the 
original concept was that they would be part of the standard setting process and not a capacity 
building or technical assistance workshop.  Therefore,  the IPPC would like to encourage Members to 
come to these workshops prepared  with feedback from their own country on how the draft standards 
needed to be modified, if at all.  The represen tative also mentioned a possible compliance mechanism 
for the IPPC.  The IPPC would take the approach that rather than be a punitive or enforcement G/SPS/R/46 
Page 34  
 
  mechanism, it would be used to ascertain those ar eas in which there were difficulties in understanding 
or applying a particular standard and therefore to be able to direct the development of workshops as 
required.  Lastly, it was noted that the IPPC operational  plan for 2008 had almost been completed.   
193. The representative of Codex highlighted thei r report contained in G/SPS/GEN/809.  The 
representative reported on the major outcomes of the 30
th session of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission that took place in early July.  The do cument listed over 40 new st andards adopted by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission.  Among standards that were approved by the Commission were the 
working principles for risk analysis in food safet y for application by governments;  the revised 
document on the guidelines for design, production, i ssuance and use of generic official certificates;  
and the  principles and guidelines for the conduct  of microbiological risk assessment.  The 
Commission also adopted a second medium term strategic plan for the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.  Codex currently had 174 member co untries and one member organization, and it had 
been in consultation with Bosnia-Herzegovina wh ich was sending an instrument of accession.  The 
31st Session would be held June 2008 in Geneva and it was hoped there could be synergy between the 
Codex session and the SPS Committee m eeting.  Codex in collaboration with OECD was creating a 
new international database that would cover the approved genetically  modified plants in member 
countries.  
194. The representative of the European Communities noted the importance of the three sister 
organizations to the SPS Committee and their offi cial recognition under the SPS Agreement.  He 
encouraged developed countries to continue to find the resources necessary to enable the participation 
of developing countries at the meeti ngs of these standard-setting bodies. 
195. The representative of Senegal thanked Codex for all of the standards they had developed and 
which were now references for most  developing countries.  The main problem was the utilization of 
these standards, and the need for follow up training on Codex standards.  The IPPC, for example, had 
follow-up activities with workshops on implementation of standards, and something similar would be 
helpful with respect to Codex. 
196. The representative of Australia reiterated th e European Communities' comments regarding the 
need for funding of the th ree sisters.  She noted that the eval uation of the IPPC that was finalized 
earlier this year discussed the important role that IPPC plays in developing phytosanitary standards.  
In particular the evaluation highlighted the need  for sufficient funding from the FAO to adequately 
resource the IPPC Secretariat as well as support expe rts from developing countries to participate in 
standard-setting processes.  Australia urged SPS Co mmittee delegates to rein force the importance of 
the IPPC to their representatives participating in th e FAO Conference so as to ensure that the IPPC 
received sufficient funding for 2008 and 2009.   
197. The representative of OIRSA informed  the Committee that during its 44th extraordinary 
meeting held in May 2007, the International Regi onal Council for Plant and Animal Health approved 
a new organizational structure and strategy for th e support of the agro-food chain.  As a result, it 
would be possible for OIRSA activities in the areas of food safety as well as plant and animal health 
to have a more direct impact on the producti on sector by strengthening its competitiveness.   
198. The representative of ISO highlighted a successful open session held during the 30th General 
Assembly in September in Geneva, entitled Internati onal Standards and Public Policies.  It addressed 
the complementary role of the international sta ndards in supporting public policies and technical 
regulations in such areas as the environment, h ealth, safety and security.  He also announced the 
recent publication of an information document geared toward regulators entitled "Using and 
Referencing ISO and IEC Standards for Technical Regulations", which was available for free on the 
ISO website.  G/SPS/R/46 
 Page 35 
 
 
  XIV.  OBSERVERS – REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
199. The Committee agreed to invite those organiza tions which had been granted observer status 
on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis to participate in its next meeting.  The Committee also decided to invite all observer organizations to  participate in its next informal meetings. 
200. The Committee was unable to reach any decision with regard to the requests for observer 
status from the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), from the Asian and Pacific Coconut 
Community (APCC), and from the Convention on Biodive rsity (CBD), and agreed to revert to this 
matter at its next meeting. 
201. The Chairman informed the Committee that a request for observer status had been received 
from the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardisation Or ganization (GSO).  Information provided by the 
GSO was available in document (G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.3) .  The representative of Egypt stated that 
they were not in a position to consider a decision on  this request pending consultations with the Arab 
group.  It was agreed to revert to this matter at the next meeting.  
XV. CHAIRPERSON'S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 
202. The Chairman announced his intention to make a brief, factual annual report on the activities 
of the SPS Committee in 2007 for consideration by the Council for Trade in Goods.  The report was 
subsequently circulated as G/L/842. 
XVI.  OTHER BUSINESS 
Brazil – Meat exports to China
 
 203. Regarding Brazilian meat exports to China, the representative of Brazil informed Members 
that since the last session of the Committee, Brazil and China had held a bilateral meeting and they 
were  hopeful to resolve this issue through more bilateral dialogue in the near future. 
Canada – Update on avian influenza  
204. The representative of Canada gave an update on avian influenza (AI).  In September of this 
year, highly pathogenic H7N3 AI was detected on one farm in the Canadian province of  Saskatchewan.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency moved swiftly to implement movement 
controls, humanely depopulate the birds on the affect ed farm, and clean and disinfect the premises.  A 
surveillance program had been implemented.  To da te there had been no additional occurrences of the 
disease.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's acti ons were consistent with OIE recommendations 
and guidelines.  Canada was pleased that many Members had quickly applied the concept of regionalization consistent with OI E guidelines and Article 6 of the SPS Agreement.  For example, the 
United States, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Chile, Turkey, Thailand, Jamaica, Guatemala, 
Philippines, Croatia and Russia had regionalized to  the province of Saskatchewan.  The European 
Communities had regionalized to the 10 km restricted  area.  Other Members had not as yet applied the 
concept of regionalization but instead had placed bans on poultry and poultr y products from all of 
Canada.  Canada requested that these c ountries re-evaluate their restrictions. 
205. The representative of the European  Communities noted that Canada had done an excellent job 
in respecting its OIE obligations in first detecti ng the outbreak and then ta king the necessary control 
and eradication measures.  In recognition of this work, the European Commun ities was pleased to be 
able to regionalize Canada as quickly as possible.  It was disappointing that other Members seemed to 
have problems in acting promptly to recognize Ca nada's actions.  Practical on the ground measures 
were the real measure of how committed Members we re to key concepts such as regionalization.  G/SPS/R/46 
Page 36  
 
  XVII.  DATE AND AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING 
206. The next meeting of the Committee is tentativel y scheduled for 2-3 April 2008, with informal 
meetings scheduled for 30 March and 1 April 2008.  The relevant deadlines for submitting items for 
the agenda are as follows: 
(i) For providing specific comments or sugg estions on the Recommended Procedures 
on Transparency (G/SPS/W/215 ):  Thursday, 15 November 2007;
 
(ii) For identifying new issues for consideration under the monitoring procedure, and for 
requesting that items be put on the agenda :  Thursday, 20 March 2008;  
(iii) For the distribution of the airgramme:  Friday, 21 March 2008.  
__________