WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1121 
13 October 2011  
 
(11-5030) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
ACTIONS AIMED AT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO AGREEMENT 
ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Information Submitted by the Inter American Institute for 
Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
   The following communication, received on 11 October 2011, is being circulated at the request of the IICA. 
 
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 1. The observer organizations of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) 
of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are invited to submit reports on the activities they have carried out to promote understandi ng and implementation of the SPS Agreement.  The IICA wishes to 
present some of the actions or activities it consid ers relevant to the work of this Committee. 
1. Support for participation in Codex Alimentarius meetings 
2. The IICA has reached the final phase of the project to support participation in 
Codex Alimentarius meetings, set to end in D ecember of this year with the Committee on Food 
Hygiene. 
3. Resources for this project were provided by  both the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) and the IICA itself.  The proj ect was launched in October 2009 and is scheduled 
to end in December 2011. 
4. Support was provided for participation in 16 meetings of 9 Codex Committees, and there 
were 22 beneficiary countries.  On average, there we re 4.5 recipient countries per meeting, so that the 
project was clearly a competitive fund, and countri es had to show that they deserved financing. G/SPS/GEN/1121 
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  Table - Countries selected and number of meetings attended by them 
 
16987555444433322111111
02468 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 6TotalUruguayPeruCosta RicaColombiaJamaicaNicaraguaBoliviaParaguayDominican  Rep.GuatemalaEcuadorPanamaDominicaHondurasEl SalvadorChileMexicoArgentinaSanta LuciaBelizeBarbados
 
 
Number of meetings 
 5. The purpose of the project is to support activ e participation and st rengthen common regional 
interests.  Support is therefore given to initiati ves that are developed for that purpose by the 
Codex Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC).  The project does not 
target capacity building, but seeks to support countries that demonstrate the need to be present at the 
meetings and do not have the fi nancial means to participate. 
6. Although 31 countries were eligible to benefit from the programme, nine countries did not 
apply. 
 For further information, contact:  Ricardo Mo lins (Ricardo.Molins@iica.int) or Eric Bolaños 
(Erick.Bolanos@iica.int). 
 
2. Support for Costa Rica's management of  the Codex Coordinating Committee for 
Latin America and the Caribbean 
7. A project has been developed in the frame work of the General Technical Cooperation 
Agreement between the IICA and the Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Trade, the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Livestock, and the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica, entitled "Strengthening of 
Costa Rica's National Codex Committee and focal poi nt to fulfil the role of coordinator of the 
Codex Committee for Latin Americ a and the Caribbean (CCLAC)". 
8. In connection with this project the CCLAC has already received support in preparing the 
first virtual coordination session prior to the meeting of the Committee on Food Export and Import 
Inspection and Certification.  More than ten count ries participated in the session in Spanish, while  G/SPS/GEN/1121 
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  three countries attended the session in English.  Fu rther such coordination sessions are planned prior 
to the meetings of the different committees of the Codex Alimentarius. 
 For further information, contact:  Eric Bola ños (Erick.Bolanos@iica.int) or Sacha Trelles 
(Sacha.Trelles@iica.int).  3. Regional Workshop to examine proposed International Standards for Phytosanitary 
Measures (ISPMs) 
9. Organized by the IICA in conjunction with the IPPC and with the support of the Southern 
Cone Plant Health Committee (COSAVE) and the Regional International Agricultural Health 
Organization (OIRSA), the workshop was held in Sept ember.  It was attended by 25 participants from 
16 countries and the two Regional Plan t Protection Organizations (RPPOs). 
10. The resources for this event were provided by COSAVE, OIRSA, the State Phytosanitary 
Service of Costa Rica and the IICA.  This is the second year that the IICA has had the opportunity to organize this workshop for the countries of Latin America and the Spanish-speaking countries of 
the Caribbean with a view to strengthening the pa rticipation of those countries in the process of 
preparing and adopting international phytosanitary standards. 
11. The workshop served as a regional forum for the discussion of the draft standards and 
contributed to a better understanding of their nati onal and regional impact while providing experience 
to help improve the way the countries developed a nd presented their comments.  Delegates were able 
to familiarize themselves with the new IPPC On- line Comments System (OCS) and it was through 
this system that the comments on ISPMs that emerged from the workshop were made. 
 For further information, contact:  Lourdes Fonalleras (Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int). 
 
4. Presentation of the study conducted on the impact of private standards 
12. Having carried out the study and submitted it to this Committee, the IICA, the Rural 
Association of Uruguay (ARU), the Uruguayan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, and 
the Permanent Veterinary Committee of the Southe rn Cone (CVP) organized a presentation of their 
work. 
13. The event took place on 15 September in connec tion with the Rural Exhibition of Uruguay 
and was attended by more than 80 public and private sector participants. 
14. The study can be downloaded from:  http://infoagro.net/programas/Sanidad/ , 
http://www.insercionagricola.org.ar , http://www.iica.org.uy , http://www.cvpconosur.org .  For the 
moment, it is only available in Spanish, but thanks to the cooperation of the Government of Brazil, an 
English version will soon be available. 
 For further information, contact:  Lourdes Fonalleras (Lourdes.Fonalleras@iica.int). 
 
5. Technical forum on the new United States Food Safety Modernization Act 
15. In order to encourage the examination of th e new US Food Safety Modernization Act, the 
IICA organized a technical forum with the partic ipation of a delegate from the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA).  The forum was transmitted to all Member countries of the IICA via the Internet in Spanish and English. 
 For further information, contact:  Ricardo Molins (Ricardo.Molins@iica.int). G/SPS/GEN/1121 
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  6. Traceability 
16. An exchange of experiences in the area of traceability was organized between the 
IICA offices of Costa Rica and Honduras, and Costa Rica shared its achievements and experience in 
traceability through the  IICA-STDF 116 project:  Development and implementation of a traceability 
system in the livestock sector in Costa Rica , providing inputs for the development of a traceability 
proposal for staple grains for the World Food Pr ogramme's P4P (Purchase for Progress) Programme - 
Honduras. 
 For further information, contact:  Alejandra Diaz (Alejandra.Diaz@iica.int). 
 
7. Support for the Customs Union process in Central America 
17. To follow up on the support provided by the IICA in the Central American region, the 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety Joint Work Plan 2011-2012 was drawn up between the IICA and 
the Secretariat of the Central Am erican Agricultural Council, the purpose of which is to support the 
implementation of the Central American Agricultu ral Policy's agricultural health and food safety 
measures, to support the creation of the Central Amer ican Customs Union, and to make better use of 
resources and international cooperation. 
For further information, contact:  Alejandra Diaz (Alejandra.Diaz@iica.int). 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
Agricultural Health and Food Safety 
http://infoagro.net/programas/Sanidad/  
http://www.iica.int  
 
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