. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/222 
26 March 2008 
 
 (08-1327) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
CHILE'S POSITION ON REGIONALIZATION 
GUIDELINES FOR 2008 
 
Communication from Chile
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 20 Marc h 2008, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Chile . 
 
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 1. In the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Chile has been one of the driving 
forces behind more effective implementation of the principle of regionalization, especially in view of the differences between Members as regards ti me-frames for recognition of the sanitary or 
phytosanitary status of disease- or pest-free area.  The differences arose chie fly for administrative and 
operational reasons, even when co untries had followed all the pro cedures laid down by scientific 
reference organizations such as the OIE and the IPPC. 
2. Chile had three objectives when th e Committee began its discussions: 
(a) The first was prioritization of the issue by  the international scientific organizations, 
which was clearly done, as recommendations more closely targeted at recognition 
procedures have been established.  As a result, the WTO Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures will be require d to monitor implementation of the 
international body of standards, as stipul ated in Article 12 of the Agreement. 
(b) The second was to provide for a perman ent item on Committee meeting agendas, 
which would be dedicated to implementa tion of Article 6 of the Agreement on 
regionalization, and under which Members could put forward their experiences and 
problems concerning implementation of the principle and scientific organizations 
could provide information on progress they had made. 
(c) The third was to agree on guidelines for th e recognition process that more closely 
followed the provisions of Article 6 of the Agreement.  This will facilitate the monitoring of international OIE and ICCP standards. 
3. Concerning information from international orga nizations, the objective has been fully met.  
On the other hand, information from Members is  chiefly provided under other agenda items, 
particularly as regards implementation of the Agre ement and trade concerns, even where these relate 
to recognition of sanitary status.  Subsequent ev aluation of problems and progress in implementing 
the regionalization principle will be more difficult as a result. G/SPS/W/222 
Page 2  
 
  4. Today, Chile is especially inter ested in the following two aspects: 
(a) The expedited procedure in the event of a renewed outbreak that has been promptly 
eradicated, which, according to internati onal guidelines, would not mean loss of 
disease- or pest-free status and would therefore shorten the recognition process; 
(b) notification of the Committee of bilatera l procedures between two countries for the 
recognition of sanitary and phytosanitary st atus, thus making the Committee aware of 
undue delays, if any, whilst facilitating th e international standards monitoring 
process. 
5. As an exporting and importing country, as indeed most other Members are, Chile is interested 
in these questions from both standpoints.  Without placing sanitary and phytosanitary status at risk, 
this will ultimately mean adopting measures based on scientific grounds, which should not give rise to 
undue delays once the appropriate guarant ees have been fulfilled and provided. 
6. Partial evaluation of the extent to which objectives have been achieved shows that the 
international organizations have prioritized the i ssue, regionalization has become a permanent item on 
the agendas of Committee meetings and all that rema ins to be done is to make better use of that 
opportunity. 
7. Although the plan to provide guidance or guidelines for the process of recognition of sanitary 
and phytosanitary status has yet to be implemente d, the project is well under way.  According to 
available information, the paper produced by a group chaired by New Zealand, in which Chile 
participated, seems to us to be a good document that should be endorsed, on the understanding that it 
may be improved through future revisions but that it would spell some progress in an area in which 
agreement appeared impossible to begin with. 
8. Another specific aspect that will undoubted ly be examined in the future is 
compartmentalization, which the OIE includes in re gionalization.  Should this be confirmed, the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission will need to be in cluded in the scientific reference bodies regarding 
food safety, since compartmentalization has been quite extensively developed in the Commission's 
recommendations, and in its guidelines on good pract ice and quality assurance (HACCP) in particular. 
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