WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/668 
30 March 2006 
 
 (06-1457) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
PERU'S EXPERIENCES AND SUGGESTIONS REGARDING 
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
 
Information for the Workshop on 31 March 2006  
 
Communication from Peru 
 
  The following communication, received on 28 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Peru. 
 
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 1. In preparation for the Workshop on the Implem entation of the SPS Agreement, participants 
were asked to provide replies to the following questions. 
What tools currently exist and how best can they be used to ensure the effective implementation 
of the SPS agreement at the national level?   
 
2. First of all, it is necessary to establish what  is meant by "effective implementation of the 
SPS Agreement ".  In Peru's opinion, it means that a country is fulfilling its basic obligations  under the 
Agreement, which are: 
 - To apply fully the principle of transpar ency and ensure the operation of notification 
and enquiry points; 
  - to base SPS measures on scientific principles and on international standards, 
guidelines and recommendations where these exist; 
  - to recognize and apply the principl es of regionalization and equivalence; 
  - to harmonize and standardize contro l, inspection and approval procedures; 
 
 - to implement sanitary and phytosanitary measures only to protect human, animal or 
plant life or health;  and 
  - others. 
 
3. "Effective implementation of the SPS Agreement" also means that a country has the capacity 
to defend its fundamental rights unde r the SPS Agreement.  These include: 
 - The right to establish an appropriate leve l of protection and implement the sanitary 
and phytosanitary measures deemed necessary; G/SPS/GEN/668 
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 - the right to apply precautionary measure s in the absence of scientific certainty; 
  - the right to require that trading partners refrain from restricting access for products 
without any scientific justification; 
 
 - the right to request recognition of equivalence;   - the right to request the recognition of p est or disease-free areas and areas of low pest 
or disease prevalence; 
 
 - the right to participate in the SPS Committ ee and the relevant international bodies;  
and 
  - other legitimate rights deriving from the SPS Agreement. 
 
4. Therefore, if by "effective implementation of the SPS Agreement" we mean the fulfilment of 
SPS obligations and the defence of rights, it is, in Peru's experience, vital that the following 
fundamental factors exist in all countries.  Any instrument used to implement the Agreement might be inadequate without these factors: 
 (a) Institutional framework  – A national authority with the express power and the 
capacity to establish and enforce sanitary and phytosanitary standards;  if more than 
one national authority exists, functions and responsibilities must be clearly defined in 
accordance with the disciplines of the Agreement, as must appropriate coordination 
and interaction mechanisms.  The proper functioning of notification and enquiry 
points is, in our experience, contingent  upon the existence of a satisfactory 
institutional framework.  A legal base cons istent with international reference 
standards is also crucial. 
  (b) Technical and scientific capacity  – Existence of the physical infrastructure and 
knowledge needed to establish quarantine c ontrol and protection systems, carry out 
risk analysis and develop relevant sanitary and phytosanitary measures. 
 
 (c) Human and financial resources  – The two previous factors require an adequate 
resource base that enables the instituti onal framework to exercise its technical 
capacity and autonomy to address the vari ous disciplines of the SPS Agreement. 
 
 (d) Private sector participation  – Existence of formal mechanisms to ensure 
participation by the organized private sector  in the various levels of decision-making 
and implementation of the sanitary and phyt osanitary measures.  Efforts to overcome 
sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions and secure sustainable access to international 
markets must involve both the authorities and the private sector. 
 
5. Within this context, and in Peru's experience,  one instrument which ensures the effective and 
sustainable implementation of the SPS Agreement is a results-based planning and management system for the short, medium and long term base d on the interlinkage of these four key factors.  G/SPS/GEN/668 
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  What national mechanisms can be created to ensure that stakeholders are informed in a timely 
manner of new SPS requirements? 
 
6. The authority responsible for the implementati on of sanitary and phytosanitary measures must 
set up a database containing information on the pr ivate actors, whether individuals or entities, 
importers or exporters. 
7. Each database must contain, inter alia , the names of natural or legal persons, e-mail 
addresses, postal addresses, trading partner inform ation and the names of the products or items 
concerned.  The database must also contain, wherev er possible, the current f.o.b. value by country and 
tariff heading of both exported and imported products. 
8. Notifications distributed through the WTO must be sent directly to the designated national 
authority and to other institutions linked to th e SPS Agreement such as the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Mi nistry of the Economy.  In our experience, this 
prevents delays and the duplication of efforts when handling notifications. 
9. Within the national authority, it would be advisab le for one single unit to be responsible for 
handling notifications.  Such a unit should be given the task of classifying notifications and 
distributing them to the parties concerned with a view to receiving comments and adopting relevant 
measures. 
How can developing country Members most effectively request SPS-related technical 
assistance? 
 10. Experience indicates that the ever-increasing visi bility of sanitary and phytosanitary measures 
in international trade relations will lead to a gr adual increase in the demand for technical assistance 
(including financial resources) to strengthen SPS capacity;  and requests may well exceed the funds 
available. 
11. Countries must therefore define their technical  assistance priorities w ithin the context of 
medium and long term plans and ensure the involve ment of local actors in order to maximize the 
impact of investments.  This task must be overseen  by the authority or authorities responsible for the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement.  The first step , therefore, is to identify and define properly the 
technical assistance priority areas.  The PVS (Pe rformance, Vision and Strategy) instrument of the 
Inter-American Institute for Coopera tion on Agriculture (IICA) is a very useful tool in this respect. 
12. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures are a comp lex matter involving as they do a variety of 
actors, levels and sectors.  Consequently, the tec hnical assistance provided should be aimed, first and 
foremost, at strengthening both the national authority responsible for sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the mechanism for liaising with the various actors and sectors. 
13. The second step
 is the request for technical assistan ce.  This can be made through various 
channels, including the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, the health services 
of donor countries, relevant international bodi es such as the World Organisation for Animal 
Health (OIE), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Codex Alimentarius, and 
sources of multilateral financing such as the World Bank.  In order to avoid the dispersion and 
duplication of efforts, the requests should, wherever  possible, be organized and channelled by the 
authority or authorities responsible for th e implementation of the SPS Agreement. 
14. Official bodies whose job is to channel cooperation and technical assistance  exist in almost all 
countries which offer and receive technical assi stance.  The authorities responsible for the G/SPS/GEN/668 
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  implementation of sanitary and phytosanitary measures could use these established mechanisms to 
request technical assistance. 
15. The third step
 is the implementation of the technical assistance and the evaluation of its 
results.  The main aim of evaluation is to determine how effective the assistance has been. 
Can best practice in both the identification and the provision of technical assistance be 
identified?   
16. The implementation of sanitary and phytosanitary  measures involves two levels of technical 
assistance: 
 (a) Technical assistance to resolve specif ic short term difficulties.  This enables 
recipients to comply with the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements of trading 
partners;  and 
  (b) Technical assistance to help overcome st ructural weaknesses.  This enables a country 
to implement the SPS Agreement in a steady and effective manner in the medium and 
long term. 
 17. If the technical assistance described in (b) is to be effective and have lasting results, it must 
form part of medium and long term plans which are drawn up in collaboration with the various SPS-
related levels, sectors and actors. 
How can technical assistance supply and demand be  most effectively matched, priority areas 
identified and duplication of donor efforts avoided?  
18. The existence in each country of short, medium  and long term plans for the implementation of 
sanitary and phytosanitary measures will ensure that technical assistance needs are clearly identified.  
They are also of use for notifying the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures annually of 
countries' technical assistance requests.  Donor countries, for their part, could provide notification of 
their offers of technical assistance, setting forth the terms of reference for access to the resources in 
question.  In this respect, the WTO could establis h some kind of body bringing together technical 
assistance donors and applicants, which would have the major advantage of preventing duplication 
and increasing the transparency of offers of assistance. 
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