WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/582 
28 June 2005 
 
 (05-2787) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
PANAMA:  CONCERNS REGARDING THE INSPECTION 
REGIME APPLYING TO IMPORTS OF 
PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN 
 
Questions Posed by Costa Rica
 
 
  The following communication, dated 27 June 2005,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Costa Rica.  
_______________ 
 
 1. The Government of Costa Rica requests the Government of Panama to provide risk 
assessment information and scientific eviden ce in support of Resolution No. DAL 005-ADM-2005 
modifying the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for importing a series of products, including 
dulce de leche  (a caramelized milk spread) and condensed m ilk.  In particular, it inquires what are the 
scientific grounds and risk assessment on which, purs uant to the Agreement on the Application of 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreemen t), Panama bases its requirement of two on-site 
plant inspections – one by Ministry of Health offi cials and another by officials of the Ministry of 
Agricultural Development (MIDA) – for authorizing imports of dulce de leche  and condensed milk. 
2. The Government of Costa Rica requests the Go vernment of Panama to explain why the 
inspection visit and authorization from the Ministry of Health are not sufficient to guarantee the safety 
of a product such as dulce de leche  and the reasons for requiring a nother visit, conducted by MIDA 
inspectors, for a product of this kind. 
3. The above requests are made having regard to th e fact that, according to the WTO Agreement 
on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Panama is under the obligation to apply 
to imports from Costa Rica a measure which, wh ile ensuring product safety, is the least trade-
restrictive.  Otherwise, such measures would constitute disguised restrictions on free trade. 
4. The Government of Costa Rica's request to th e Government of Panama is that Panama's 
Ministry of Agricultural Development should recogni ze the Panamanian Ministry of Health certificate 
as sufficient to guarantee the safety of dulce de leche  and condensed milk. 
 G/SPS/GEN/582 
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 PANAMA:  CONCERNS REGARDING INSPECTION VISITS REQUIRED FOR 
PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN FROM COSTA RICA 
 
Communication from Costa Rica
 
 
 
A. BACKGROUND  
1. In November 2004, officials of Costa Rica's  Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX) were 
contacted by a Costa Rican company, which inform ed them that it had become impossible to export 
dulce de leche  and tomato paste from Costa Rica to the Panamanian market, because the Panamanian 
customs authorities were retaining shipments of su ch products on entry, whereas the company had 
previously been exporting them without any major difficulties. 
2. The Costa Rican company's exports of the produc ts had thus far been covered by a sanitary 
permit from the Panamanian Ministry of Health, wh ich even went as far as to require an inspection 
visit to the company's plants in Costa Rica before confirming the safety of the products. 
3. The sanitary certificate from the Ministry of Health notwithstanding, as of December 2004 
the Panamanian authorities began requesting a plant or animal health licence for imports of tomato 
paste (which had not been the case so far) and a visit by Panama's Ministry of Agricultural 
Development (MIDA) to inspect the company's plants exporting dulce de leche  and other products of 
interest, such as condensed milk. 
4. In order to support the company in its dealings  with the Panamanian authorities, COMEX sent 
a note (DVI-268-4) signed by the Vice-Minister to Mr José Manuel Paredes, Panama's Vice-Minister 
for Trade and Industry, requesting that a solution be found to the problem. 
5. Subsequently, Panama's Ministry of Agricu ltural Development issued note DECA-N-1071 
dated 22 December 2004 to inform the general public of the following: 
6. "All imports of agricultural goods require a plan t or animal health licence from the Executive 
Directorate of Agricultural Quarantine prior to im portation.  Failing prior licensing, the goods may 
not be unloaded in ports or airports or cross border points, and the penalties laid down in the Law shall be applied."  The note goes on to state that "products previously listed as exempt from the plant 
or animal health import licensing requirement shall be granted a licence for a period of 90 days.  Once 
that period has elapsed, imports of such products w ill be required to comply with the legal provisions 
with respect to the country's eligibility and plant certification." 
7. On 7 January 2005, Panama's Ministry of Agricultural Development adopted Resolution 
No. DAL 005-ADM-2005, which was notified to the WTO after its entry into effect, by means of document G/SPS/N/PAN/43 dated 15 April 2005.  The Resolution establishes sanitary and 
phytosanitary requirements different from those previ ously in force for certain products, in particular 
dulce de leche  and condensed milk, which used to be im ported under sanitary authorization from the 
Ministry of Health without having to undergo an inspection visit.  It should be noted that the 
Government of Panama gave no opportunity for comments on this new provision, which was notified 
subsequently to its entry into effect without qualifying as an emergency measure, contrary to the 
transparency obligations in the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS Agreement). 
8. Essentially, the new provisions established by  the Panamanian authorities in Resolution 
No. DAL 005-ADM-2005, which apply to imports of products and by-products of animal origin, 
provide in the Preamble that "the following produc t classification by plant or animal health risk was  G/SPS/GEN/582 
 Page 3 
 
 
 made:  List A includes products that do not require a plant or animal health licence for importation 
into Panama;  List B contains pr oducts that require a plant or an imal health licence for importation 
into Panama but are exempt from regional, count ry, area and/or establishment assessment and plant 
inspection;  and other agricultural products that requ ire a plant or animal health licence and that must 
comply with requirements on regional, country, area and/or establishment assessment and approval 
and plant inspection and other requirements u nder Panamanian sanitary and phytosanitary 
legislation." 
9. Further on, the document lists a series of products  on List A and products on List B.  Tomato 
paste, the importation of which formerly necessitated no more than a certificate from Panama's Ministry of Health, was included in List B, meaning that from then on a plant or animal health 
certificate from Panama's Ministry of Agricultura l Development was required for the importation of 
tomato paste. 
10. Dulce de leche  was not included in either of the two lis ts;  consequently, although this product 
had previously not been subject to any plant or animal health requirement for importation other than the Ministry of Health certificate, the authorities began requiring not only the plant or animal health 
certificate issued by the Ministry of Agricultural Development but also an on-site plant inspection by 
agricultural inspectors.  The Costa Rican exporter of dulce de leche was thus faced with in a new 
situation, outlined as follows: 
• One of its consignments of dulce de leche  had been retained since November 2004 
because the Panamanian customs authorities were not authorizing entry. 
 
• In discussions with the Panamanian aut horities in December 2004, the exporter was 
informed that the certif icate of product safety, issued by the Panamanian Ministry of 
Health on the basis of a plant inspection vis it, was no longer sufficient to allow entry 
of the goods (as had been the case on many occasions in the past) but what was now 
required was a plant or animal health certif icate from the Ministry of Agricultural 
Development, for which it would be necessar y to request another inspection visit. 
 
• Not until January 2005 did the MIDA publish a new regulation establishing Lists A 
and B and sanitary and phytosanitary require ments different from those in force until 
then. 
 
• The MIDA notified the WTO of this new regul ation in April 1995, thus eliminating 
any possibility of submitting comments on the regulation before its entry into effect, in violation of the transparency provisions contained in the SPS Agreement. 
 
11. It should be noted that List B includes " dulces (cheesecake, pasteles y postres congelados) a 
base de leche " (milk-based confectionery such as cheesecak e, cakes and frozen desserts) among the 
products subject to a MIDA plant or animal heal th licence but exempt from the plant inspection 
requirement.  The exportation of dulce de leche , however, does require an on-site plant inspection 
visit, which prompts us to inquire what are the sci entific grounds for this change in export conditions 
to Panama and in particular why a plant inspection visit by the Ministry of Agricultural Development, 
in addition to that performed by the Minist ry of Health, is necessary in order to export dulce de leche . G/SPS/GEN/582 
Page 4  
 
 12. Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Trade sen t notes to the Panamanian trade authorities 
(DGCE-049-05 - El Ángel and DGCE-062-05 - INLATEC ), dated between 26 and 28 January 2005, 
seeking explanations for a number of difficulties encountered by Costa Ri can enterprises to the 
detriment of their exports of dulce de leche  and condensed milk to the Panamanian market.  These 
letters have failed to elicit any response from Panama so far. 
B. 
THE QUESTIONS  
• The Government of Costa Rica requests the Government of Panama to provide risk 
assessment information and scientific evidence in support of Resolution 
No. DAL 005-ADM-2005 modifying the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for importing a series of products, including dulce de leche  (a caramelized milk spread) 
and condensed milk.  In particular, it inqu ires what are the scientific grounds and risk 
assessment on which, pursuant to the Agre ement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), Panama bases its requirement of two on-site plant inspections – one by Ministry of Health officials and another by officials of 
the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) – for authorizing imports of dulce 
de leche  and condensed milk. 
 
• The Government of Costa Rica requests the Government of Panama to explain why 
the inspection visit and authorization from th e Ministry of Health are not sufficient to 
guarantee the safety of a product such as dulce de leche  and the reasons for requiring 
another visit, conducted by MIDA inspectors, for a product of this kind. 
 
• The above requests are made having regard to the fact that, according to the 
WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, 
Panama is under the obligation to apply to imports from Costa Rica  a measure which, 
while ensuring product safety, is the least trad e-restrictive.  Otherwise, such measures 
would constitute disguised restrictions on free trade. 
 
• The Government of Costa Rica requests th e Government of Panama to make the 
relevant legal and administrative modificati ons so that the new rules governing plant 
inspection are consistent with the princi ples established in the WTO SPS Agreement 
and Annex C thereto.  A measure to that effect would be, for example, for the authorities of Panama's Ministry of Agricultural Development to recognize the Panamanian Ministry of Health certificate as sufficient to guarantee the safety of dulce de leche  and condensed milk. 
 
C. 
THE GROUNDS  
D. LEGAL BASIS OF CONFORMITY WITH THE WTO AGREEMENTS  
13. The above explanations are being requested in  conformity with the rights and obligations 
assumed by Panama and Costa Rica under WTO trade rules. 
14. In particular, they are being requested in c onformity with the SPS Agreement, according to 
which: 
• The Agreement applies to all sanitary and phytosanitary measures which may, 
directly or indirectly, affect international trade (Article 1); 
  G/SPS/GEN/582 
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 • Members have the right to take sanitary measures provided that they are consistent 
with the provisions of the Agreement, are based on scientific principles, are not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence, do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably 
discriminate between Members where simila r conditions prevail, do not constitute a 
disguised restriction on international trad e and are based on international standards 
issued by the organizations recognized  in the SPS Agreement (Article 2); 
 
• Members may introduce a sanitary measure which results in a higher level of 
protection than would be achieved by meas ures based on the relevant international 
standard if there is a scientific justifica tion, or as a consequence of a risk assessment 
for the purpose of determining the appropria te level of protection, carried out in 
accordance with Article 5 of the SPS Agreement; 
 
• Members must ensure that the measures adopt ed are not more trade-restrictive than 
required to achieve their appropriate le vel of sanitary protection (Article 5); 
 
• When a Member has reason to believe that  a specific sanitary measure introduced by 
another Member is constraining its exports and the measure is not based on an international standard, it may request an e xplanation of the reasons for that measure 
and the Member maintaining the meas ure must provide one (Article 5); 
 
• Members are fully responsible for the implementation and observance of all 
obligations set forth in th e SPS Agreement (Article 13); 
 
• The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures is the regular and 
appropriate forum for consultations  on sanitary matters (Article 12). 
 
• Control, inspection and approval procedur es must be conducted without undue delay 
and in no less favourable manner for im ported products than for like domestic 
products, in accordance with Annex C of the SPS Agreement. 
 E. 
CONCLUSION  
15. In view of the above considerations, the G overnment of Costa Rica formally requests the 
authorities of Panama to comply with the provisions of the SPS Agreement and in particular Annex C, 
in such a way as to ensure that the requisite in spection procedures are conducted without undue delay, 
so that there are no disguised restrictions on trade. 
 G/SPS/GEN/582 
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WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/PAN/43 
15 April 2005 
 
 (05-1570) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
   
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  REPUBLIC OF PANAMA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agricultural Development  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Resolution No. DAL-005-ADM-2005, Panama, 7 January 2005 (attached) 
contains the list of products covered.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
 Trading partners of Panama.  
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Resolution No. DAL-
005-ADM-2005, Panama, 7 January 2005 (6 pa ges).  This Resolution establishes the 
following product classification by plant and animal health risk to national agriculture:  List A :  products that do not require a plant or  animal health permit for importation into 
Panama;  List B :  products that require a plant or animal health permit for importation into 
Panama, but which are exempt from regional, country, area and/or establishment assessment 
and plant inspection;  other agricultural products :  products that require a plant or animal 
health import permit and that must comply w ith requirements on regional, country, area 
and/or establishment assessment and approval and plant inspection and other requirements 
under Panamanian sanitary and phytosanitary legislation.  
6. Description of content:  Establishes a product classification by plant and animal health risk 
to national agriculture.  
7. Objective and rationale: [  X ] food safety,  [  X ] animal health,  [  X ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [    ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests         G/SPS/GEN/582 
 Page 7 
 
 
 8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:        
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Available in Spanish 
from the enquiry points notified by Panama.  Official Gazette No. 25, 220 of 
19 January 2005.  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Not indicated  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  19 January 2005  
12. Final date for comments:  Not applicable  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [  X ] National notification 
authority, [    ] National enquiry point, or add ress, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:        
13. Texts available from:  [    ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  Texts 
available from the enquiry points notified by Panama. 
Enquiry point of competent authority 
Dirección Nacional de Sanidad Animal 
Río Tapia, Tocumen, Panamá 
Apartado postal: 5390 Zona 5, Panamá Tel.:  (507) 266-1812 Fax:  (507) 266-2943 / (507) 220-7981 E-mail:  dinasa1@cwpanama.net
; dinasa2@cwpanama.net  
 
Dirección Nacional de Sanidad Vegetal Río Tapia, Tocumen, Panamá Tel./Fax:  (507) 220-7979 and (507) 220-0733 Apartado postal:  5390 Zona 5, Panamá  
Authority designated to handle comments and responsible for notifications 
Dirección Nacional de Negociaciones Comerciales Internacionales Avenida Ricardo J. Alfaro, Edison Playa, Piso N
o 2 
Apartado postal: 378, Zona 3, Panamá Tel.:  (507) 360-0690/0600/0700, Ext. 2308-2355 
Fax:  (507) 360-0691 
E-mail:  smoreno@mici.gob.pa
 
 
 
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