WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/968 
20 October 2009 
 
 (09-5172) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 18  
OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF THE  
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
 
Questions from the Europe an Communities to China 
 
concerning Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
   The following communication, received on 16 Octo ber 2009, is being circulated at the request 
of the Delegation of the European Communities
. 
 
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General Comment 
 1. This is the eight annual transitional review of  the efforts of the People's Republic of China 
(hereinafter referred to as "China") to implemen t the commitments it has made in its Protocol of 
Accession to the WTO in the SPS Co mmittee.  The transitional review remains an important and 
useful mechanism, serving both the interests of China and the interests of other WTO Members to allow Members to convey to China their views, expect ations and concerns regarding China's efforts to 
comply with its WTO SPS obligations.  Therefore, th e European Communities would like to take this 
opportunity to give its comments to China. 
2. The European Communities notes with satisfa ction the increased communication between 
China and the European Communities on SPS issues.   The European Communities believes that our 
bilateral consultations are essential to build mutual trust and the better understanding indispensable to 
forging strong relationships. 
3. The European Communities acknowledges that, w ith the increase in trade this work is 
growing and encourages China to dedicate more  resources to these tasks consistent with the 
responsibilities that follow from membership in the WTO and specifically the SPS Agreement. 
4. As a general remark, the European Communities would need to point out that China has not 
yet aligned its legislation to several international st andards.  Alternatively, a scientific justification 
should be submitted to support the sanitary and phyt osanitary measures applied, as described in the 
Article 2.2 of the SPS Agreement. 
The specific EC concerns on the application of the SPS Agreement  
 
5. The European Communities would like to highlight  the currently limited market access for its 
agricultural products to China.  Among the specifi c concerns of the European Communities are in 
particular the following: G/SPS/GEN/968 
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  (a) H1N1 
6. The European Communities follow closely the de velopments of the pandemic influenza virus 
H1N1 and consider it important that governments respond appropriately and proportionately to the 
risks imposed. 
7. The European Communities has noted with great  concern that China recently has taken the 
decision to impose additional trade requirements on pigs and pig products from several EC member 
States.  These requirements take the form of additional testing and inspection for H1N1 on pork 
products exported to China as well as disinfec tion of containers.  The European Communities 
considers these measures unnecessary, unjustified, a nd disproportionate and not in line with the 
statements made by the main relevant internationa l organizations, of which China is a member, such 
as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE ), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the 
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati ons (FAO).  There is no scientific justification 
for imposing additional trade requirements on th e importation of pigs or their products.  
(b) Beef - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) 
8. With reference to China's animal health po licy, the European Communities is concerned 
about the Chinese interpretation of OIE guidelin es on BSE.  In this respect, the European 
Communities would like to remind China that OIE i ssued a list of bovine products which can be 
safely traded, regardless of the BSE status of th e exporting country.  Among these products is de-
boned skeletal muscle meat from cattle.  Moreover 25 EC  member States have been classified by the 
OIE either as "controlled risk" or "negligible risk".   Despite these OIE guidelines and classification, 
EC beef and other bovine  products are still banned. 
9. The European Communities has comprehensiv e measures in place aimed at assuring the 
highest level of consumer protection.  Among these are a strict feed ban, strict controls on specified risk materials and active surveillance.  Although th e European Communities offers the highest health 
guarantees to its trade partners, China has not allowed the trade of these products.  
10. Therefore the European Communities would like to  request China to open its market to EC 
exports of these products; or altern atively to justify, by scientific reasons, the restrictions on the 
products that under the OIE list can be safely traded , as well as for all the other products originating 
from EC member States. 
(c) Plant health standards 
11. The European Communities considers that co mpliance with the Chinese plant regulatory 
import system is unjustifiably difficult due to the f act that many of the import requirements go beyond 
the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) recommendations and the SPS Agreement. 
(d) New Chinese Food Safety Law a nd its Implementing Regulation 
12. The European Communities acknow ledges that from 1 June 2009, China has put into force 
the new Food Safety Law and the Regulation on th e Implementation of the Food Safety Law.  The 
European Communities would like to congratulate China for its initiative to create new framework 
legislation on food safety in order to assu re a high level of health protection. 
13. The European Communities would like to expr ess disappointment that China did not notify 
this new legislation and its im plementing regulation before its implementation.  The European 
Communities would like to remind China that Memb ers should allow a reasonable interval between 
the publication of a sanitary and phytosanitary regula tion and its entry into force in order to allow  G/SPS/GEN/968 
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  time for other trading partners to adapt to the Ch inese requirements and to follow the transparency 
regulations as laid down in the SPS Agreement in Article 7 and Annex B. 
14. As a general comment concerning the new Food Safety Law, the European Communities 
notes the lack of reference in the legislation to an y commitments to China's international obligations 
as a major global trader in food and lack of refere nce to international standards.  The European 
Communities would like to point out that the measur es and standards to be developed by China to 
achieve an appropriate level of pr otection should not be more trade-restrictive than necessary.  The 
EC main concerns relate to the chapters on imports and exports.  Th ere is vagueness on how different 
procedures will work in practice,  therefore the European Commun ities would ask China to confirm 
that these new developments will not delay the pr ocesses for imports and that China guarantees that 
the implementation of the new laws will not cause trade disruptions. 
15. The European Communities would like to note that it will send detailed comments on the new 
Chinese Food Safety Law and its implementing regulati on and would urge China to officially respond 
to the concerns from the European Communities. 
Other concerns 
 16. The European Communities also wish to ex press concerns on several other matters on 
principles and approaches to facilitate trade which ha ve been raised in our bilateral contacts.  We 
firmly believe that countries should work closely to gether and build working relations that facilitate 
trade flows through appropriate mechanisms.  The slow progress of negotiations of SPS protocols and 
the slow progress for inspections very seriously limit market access of EC products to China, 
especially for meat, and for fruits and vegetables.   The European Communities wishes to see progress 
on these issues.  The European Commun ities is ready to further discuss bilaterally at technical level to 
find a solution to accelerate these negotiations in orde r to avoid undue procedur al delays which for the 
moment are hampering trade in various agricultural products. 
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