WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1148 
26 March 2012 
 (12-1576) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original: Spanish 
  
 
ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL 
ORGANIZATION FOR PLANT AND ANIMAL HEALTH (OIRSA) 
RELATING TO THE WTO AGREEMENT ON THE 
APPLICATION OF SANITARY AND  
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Report to the 53rd Meeting of the Committ ee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
27-29 March 2012 
 
Reporting Period:  October 2011-March 2012 
 
  The following communication, received on 23 March 2012, is being circulated at the request of OIRSA. 
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1. Training, technical assistance and dissemination activities relating to agricultural health 
and trade 
1. A specialized national workshop on food safety was held in Honduras, with the participation 
of Codex Alimentarius officials, staff of the Food Safety Division of the National Agricultural Health 
Service (SENASA), members of the National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and 
quarantine officials.  2. A refresher course on agricultural quarantine was organized in Honduras for technical experts 
from the Agricultural Protection Service (SEPA).  
3. Support was provided for the participation of coordinators of regiona l Palmaceae programmes 
and official technicians in the workshop on bana na and palm quarantine pests held in Tabasco, 
Mexico.  4. A bi-national seminar on quarantine pests of Solanaceae was organized in Panama for 
technical staff from the Panamanian and Nicaraguan Ministries of Agriculture. 
 5. In coordination with the production sector a nd experts from Brazil, a regional seminar on the 
main phytosanitary problems affecting pineapple crops, in particular Fusarium guttiforme , was held in 
Panama for representatives of the relevant authorities of the Ministries and Secretariats of Agriculture 
of OIRSA member countries. 
 6. In Costa Rica, a meeting was held with the Costa Rican company DOLE and Ministry of 
Agriculture officials, with a view to working toge ther to implement phytosanitary measures to prevent 
the entry of pineapple fusariosis and to establish monitoring strategies. 
 G/SPS/GEN/1148 
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  7. Five training events on poultry management and health were held in El Salvador and 
Nicaragua for small-scale producers.  8. Support was provided for the participation of  nine fishery product inspectors from OIRSA 
member countries in a training course in Spai n on fishery product safety in the context of the 
cooperation agreement signed with the Secretariat of Maritime Affairs of Spain's Ministry of 
Agriculture, Food and the Environment (MAGRAMA).  9. A regional training course was held on tools for designing disease control and eradication 
programmes for officials of the Epidemiological Surveillance Departments of the Ministries of 
Agriculture in the region. 
 10. Consultancy services were provided on th e basic guidelines to be followed by OIRSA 
member countries in order to obtain internati onal recognition of classical swine fever (CSF)-free 
status and advice and guidelines for the interna tional recognition of CSF-free status for OIRSA 
member countries. 
 11. Design, layout and printi ng of 30,000 manuals entitled "Taenia and cysticercosis". 
 12. Preparation by the OIRSA Ad Hoc Group on Ap icultural Health and Safety of a monitoring 
protocol on outbreaks of Aethina tumida  (forwarded to the Directors of Animal Health for adaptation 
and implementation).  The document has already been made official in El Salvador and Costa Rica. 
 13. Preparation and publication by the OIRSA Ad Hoc Group on Apicultural Health and Safety 
of a practical guide to apicultural health for producers.  
14. Support by the OIRSA Ad Hoc Group on Apicultura l Health and Safety for the revision of the 
manual on the pathology, diagnosis and control of  the main pests and diseases affecting honey bees, 
updated by Mexico's National Technical A dvisory Council on Animal Health (CONASA). 
 15. Publication of two editions of the technical  bulletin NOTI-ARROZ in electronic format as a 
tool for the Phytosanitary Programme in Support of the Rice Food Chain. 
 
16. Design and printing of technical material for the training of small-scale producers and the dissemination of information on the prevention, control and eradication of avian diseases.  17. In coordination with the Directorate-Ge neral of Agricultural Protection and Health 
(DGPSA)/Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock an d Forestry (MAGFOR), the National Agrarian 
University (UNA) of Managua and milk producer  cooperatives and with support from the National 
Agricultural Health Centre (CENSA) of Cuba, a thir d technical mission was undertaken in the context 
of the implementation of the Comprehensive Progr amme for Improvement of Milk Production and 
Quality (PROCAL).  2. Support for regional trade facilitation 
18. In accordance with European Union requireme nts, a pre-audit was conducted in Guatemala on 
the hygiene and safety of fisheries products (farmed shrimps) in coordination with the Department of 
Animal and Hydrobiological Products of the Food Safety Directorate of the Vice-Ministry of Agricultural Health and Regulations (VISAR)/Mini stry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA). 
 
19. In Honduras, an inspection relating to go od manufacturing practices (GMP), sanitation 
standard operating procedures (SSOP) and hazard an alysis and critical control points (HACCP) was 
conducted, in coordination with the SENASA Food Safety Division, in companies processing fruit  G/SPS/GEN/1148 
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  and vegetable juices, nectars, concentrates, pulp and purée, in accordance with US Food and Drug 
Administration requirements.  20. Nicaragua was provided with technical assi stance for the programme for the institutional 
strengthening of the milk product inspection and control system. 
 
21. OIRSA supported the DGPSA/MAGFOR authoriti es in Nicaragua with preparations for 
aflatoxin contamination control, in accord ance with European Union requirements. 
 22. Technical assistance was provided in Nicara gua to address the phytosanitary problem of the 
Zebra Chip-Bactericera cockerelli  complex and to launch a campaign for the prevention and 
surveillance of Tuta absoluta . 
 23. In Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, support in relation to avian diseases in backyard 
poultry was provided for the education, hea lth communication and vaccination campaigns. 
 
24. Support was provided for consultancy services in respect of the poultry status of El Salvador 
in order to begin the process of establishing eligibilit y for the importation of poultry products into the 
United States of America.  
3. Support for the harmonization and equivalence process 
25. A technical meeting was held in El Salvador  to support harmonization of the proposed animal 
health requirements for exporting live ca ttle from Central America into Mexico. 
 26. Consultancy services were provided in respect  of the health requirements governing trade in 
swine and the products and by-products thereof in OIRSA countries. 
 
27. In the context of the cooperation agre ement on food safety signed with the Foreign 
Agricultural Service (FAS) and the Food Safety an d Inspection Service (FSIS), both of which are 
agencies of the United States Department of Agricu lture (USDA), and with the participation of FDA 
officials, OIRSA held a fourth technical mee ting to review Central American Customs Union 
regulations (RTCAs) on the sanitary registration of foods and microbiological criteria for food safety 
and their equivalence with the regulatio ns of the United States of America. 
 28. Avian guidelines for trade facilitation have been reviewed and updated and new guidelines 
have been drawn up on excreta management and control and on biosafety in poultry holdings. 
 
29. A regional review was conducted of the G ood Poultry Practices Manual, and the guidelines 
for the inspection and certification of farms and pest-/disease-free areas were updated.  
4. Support for regionalization (establishment of  pest-/disease-free and low-prevalence 
areas, development of protocols for their recognition) 
30. Financial support was granted to, and technical follow-up provided for, the programme to 
maintain the northern part of Lake Xolotlán in Nicar agua as an area free of the Mediterranean fruit fly 
(Ceratitis capitata ). 
 31. Financial support was granted to, and t echnical follow-up provided for, Nicaragua's 
Huanglongbing (HLB) and citr us leprosis programme. 
 
32. In Honduras, the strategy for eradication of the outbreak of the Mediterranean fruit fly and maintenance of fruit fly-free status in the Aguán Valley was define d and implemented. G/SPS/GEN/1148 
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  5. Prevention, control and eradication ac tivities (programmes or campaigns) 
33. Epidemiological surveillance and control ac tivities following the outbreak of classical swine 
fever (CSF) in Guatemala in October 2011:  
 Receipt and dispatch of samples from Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador  
to the Managua reference laboratory for CSF screening; 
 
 Dispatch of samples from swine affected by the CSF outbreak from Guatemala to the 
Plum Island Laboratory, United States of America, for a phylogenetic study of the 
virus; 
 
 Coordination meetings with representatives of the public- and private-sector CSF 
programmes of Central America, Belize, Panama and the Dominican Republic in 
relation to the sanitary activities to be conducted; 
 
 Supervision of vaccination activities in agricultural markets and the smallholder 
sector in Guatemala; 
 
 Supervision of vaccination and tagging activ ities in agricultural markets and at the 
borders of Guatemala with Belize, Honduras and El Salvador;  and 
 
 Supervision of border checkpoints and of trad e in animals, meat and meat products at 
the borders of Honduras and El Salvador. 
 34. Development and immediate implementation of  a regional emergency plan for the prevention 
and control of CSF in Guatemala and neighbouring countries. 
 
35. In Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, education and vaccination campaigns to prevent 
avian diseases were conducted in  20 communities in the region. 
 36. Technical assistance was granted to Nicaragua  for the development of the programme for the 
integrated management of the boll weevil ( Anthonomus grandis ). 
 
6. Strengthening of national institutions in order to facilitate trade 
37. With the support of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF)/WTO, STDF 
project 284, "Strengthening the Honduran National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures", continues to be impl emented.  The document "An evaluation of the competitive capacity 
of strategic agrifood chains in Honduras to comply  with the sanitary and phytosanitary regulations of 
international markets" has been prepared in recen t months.  The following training activities were 
organized:  a specialized training course for instructors on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, a specialized national seminar on food safety, and a national seminar on "Multilateralism and trade 
treaties" and "Agreement on the Application of  Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures:  the 
implications for trade". 
 38. Citrus Huanglongbing diagnostic capacity was strengthened in Honduras with the provision 
of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment.   G/SPS/GEN/1148 
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  7. Strategic alliances for the promotion of health and trade 
39. OIRSA signed a letter of understanding with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the 
United Nations (FAO) to hold a regional works hop on the development of food safety emergency 
response plans, organized by the FAO, PAHO and OIRSA.  
40. In response to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) invitation, OIRSA 
participated in the open-ended workshop on the international movement of grain. 
 41. In its capacity as a Regional Plant Protec tion Organization (RPPO) under the IPPC, OIRSA 
took part in the Regional Workshop for the Review of Phytosanitary Surveillance in the Context of 
the IPPC Standard (International Standard for Ph ytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 6):  Identification 
of Challenges and Best Practice.  OIRSA presented two instances of the application of ISPM No. 6:  (1) the tomato leafminer ( Tuta absoluta ) surveillance programme and (2) the 
determination of Ceratitis capitata  status by general surveillance procedures. 
 
42. OIRSA participated in the regional meeti ng of coordinators of the IAEA/FAO regional 
technical cooperation project RLA/5/053 "Implementi ng a Diagnosis System to Assess the Impact of 
Pesticide Contamination in Food and Environmental Compartments at a Catchment Scale in the Latin 
American and Caribbean (LAC) Region" (ARCAL CII).  43. A regional workshop on the development of food safety emergency response plans was 
organized by the FAO, PAHO and OIRSA. 
 44. OIRSA signed a cooperation agreement with the FAO for the development of educational 
material and health communication.  
45. OIRSA signed a cooperation agreement (SENASA- OIRSA) with the citrus fruit industry and 
producers in Honduras.  46. In Honduras, OIRSA signed a technical coope ration agreement on export certification with 
the Honduran Federation of Agricultural Exporters  (FPX) and the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Livestock (SAG). 
 
47. OIRSA participated in a World Organizati on for Animal Health (OIE) Performance of 
Veterinary Services (PVS) Gap Analysis mission in the Dominican Republic.  48. In the context of the Al-Invest IV programme, at the third Exporter Encounter and in 
coordination with the El Salvador Exporters' Corporation (COEXPORT), OIRSA gave a presentation 
on food safety challenges in the immediate future.  49. OIRSA and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Ag riculture signed a technical and financial 
cooperation agreement for the impl ementation of the prevention, rapid response and phytosanitary 
epidemiological surveillance progr amme for the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta . 
 
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 In order to comment on this report or obtain additi onal information on plant health activities, please 
contact:  Edwin Aragón, e-mail:  earagon@oirsa.org  
 
For more information on food safety, please contact:  Óscar García, e-mail:  ogarcia@oirsa.org  
 G/SPS/GEN/1148 
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  For any queries on animal health activiti es, please contact:  Abelardo de Gracia, 
e-mail:  adegracia@oirsapanama.org.pa  
 
We invite you to visit our website:  http://www.oirsa.org  
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