RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/YEM/12/Rev.1 
31 March 2010 
 (10-1753) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of Yemen Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF YEMEN 
 
Revised Check-list of Illustrative Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Issues  
 
Revision  
 
 The following submission, dated 28 March 2010, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Republic of Yemen. 
 
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 WT/ACC/YEM/12/Rev.1 
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Commitments (by the time of accession) Status of Implementation and Progress 
1. Standstill: the introduction of new standards, 
animal health regulations and food safety regulations shall conform to SPS Agreement 
principles. Yemen, being a member to the international 
conventions: Codex Alimentarius (Codex), IPPC and OIE, is working on the application of the international 
guidelines and recommenda tions of the respective 
conventions and needs technical and financial 
assistance to this end.  The respective technical 
assistance needs are reflected in the Action Plan on the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary Measures. 
2. Establishment and operation of a single Contact 
Point for Information ("enquiry point"). Enquiry Sub-point; Unit of Phytosanitary, General 
Department for Plant Protection, Ministry of 
Agriculture and Irrigation.  
Enquiry Sub-point; Unit of Animal Health, General 
Department of Animal Health and Quarantine, 
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. 
 Enquiry Sub–point; Unit of SPS, Yemen 
Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control. 
 These points need technical assistance to ensure its 
activation. 
3. Transparency: notif ication and access to 
documentation:  
 (a) identification of authority responsible for 
 making notifications to the WTO and  ensuring transparency obligations are met 
 on an ongoing basis; SPS Unit in Ministry of Ag riculture and Irrigation. 
 (b) establish guidance or law requiring 
 publication of proposed measures at an  early stage for comment; According to the decision establishing the TBT 
enquiry point and the SPS s ubsidiary point in Yemen 
Standardization , Metrology and Quality Control; and 
the amended draft law fo r plant quarantine, the 
preparation for any SPS measure is not based on international standards  issued by international 
Agreements : OIE,IPPC, Codex Alimentarius, but is 
based on risk analysis process to provide scientific justification for that measure.  And WTO Members 
and concerned will be notified in early stage and 60 
days will be available for comments and notes prior to approval (justified, and convincing comments will be 
taken into consideration). 
 (c) provision in law or administrative 
 procedure to provide copies of proposed  measures to WTO Members; and This provision is included in the decision establishing 
the TBT enquiry point, the subsidiary SPS point in Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality 
Control, and the amended draft law for plant 
quarantine. 
 (d) require in law or administrative procedure, 
 a reasonable period of time for comment 
 from Members and the public, and 
 establishment of a process to take  comments into account without 
 discrimination. See items 3-b and 3-c above.  WT/ACC/YEM/12/Rev.1 
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  Commitments (by the time of accession) Status of Implementation and Progress 
4. Necessity: measures are applied only to the 
extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant health. Based on the Action Plan of SPS and its related 
Technical Assistance, Yemen is working to meet such 
commitment through the application of Pest Risk 
Analysis (PRA) and HACCP according to 
international standards issued by Codex, IPPC and OIE. 
5. Regulations Based on Science: regulations 
governing animal and plant health and food 
safety shall be based on scientific evidence. Yemen depends, when adopting any measure of SPS, 
on international standards issued by international 
conventions OIE, IPPC and Codex Alimentarius and/or the process of risk analysis and critical control 
points to provide the scientific justification for the 
measure, and it needs technical assistance to develop. 
6. Harmonization: to the extent possible, Members 
shall follow international standards, guidelines, and recommendations in establishing SPS 
measures. Yemen is working to apply international standards 
issued by the IPPC Code, OIE, and harmonizing its measures related to Sanitary and Phytosanitary based 
on those standards and it needs technical assistance to 
develop that. 
7. Equivalence: Members shall recognize different 
measures that achieve the same level of 
protection. See items 1, 4, 5 and 6 above. 
8. Risk Assessment: developing scientific evidence 
and conducting risk assessments to ensure that measures are based on science and applied only 
to the extent necessary to protect health. See item 5 above. 
9. Regional conditions: measures take into account 
the regional characteristic s both of the areas from 
which products originate and the areas for which 
they are destined. Yemen will take into consideration regional 
characteristics in accordance with the Action Plan on 
the Implementation of the WTO Agreement on 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and with the 
technical assistance need ed for that purpose. 
10. Non-discrimination: measures do not arbitrarily 
or unjustifiably discriminate between different members or between domestic and foreign 
suppliers. This commitment is included in the decision 
establishing the TBT enquiry point.  And the sub-point of SPS in Yemen Standard ization, Metrology and 
Quality Control and Amended Draft Law for Plant 
Quarantine, and in Law No.17/2004 regarding Organizing and Protecting Livestock and its By-law 
issued by Prime Minister Decree No.1/2006. 
11. Control, inspection and approval procedures: 
ensure that procedures , including systems for 
approval of the use of additives or for 
establishing tolerances for contaminants in foods, 
beverages or feedstuffs comply with the Agreement. See item 1 above. 
 
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