WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/244 
15 September 2009 
 
 (09-4324) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
CONTROL INSPECTION 
AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES 
 
Communication from Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay
) 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 8 September 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of Mercosur
 (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). 
 
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I. BACKGROUND 
1. Control, inspection and approval procedures ar e important tools for verifying and ensuring 
compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary measures.  The relevant rights and obligations of Members are set out in Article 8 and Annex C of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement).  Complian ce helps to achieve a balance between Members' 
right to adopt sanitary measures and preventing su ch measures from being applied in a manner that 
constitutes arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimin ation among Members in which the same situation 
exists or a disguised restriction on international trade.  Nevertheless, as some Members have pointed 
out
1, certain of the provisions in Annex C are ambi guous or imprecise, leading to differences in the 
way the SPS Agreement is implemented. 
2. The absence of guidelines to clarify or explain these provisions has meant that the different 
criteria followed when implementing Annex C have led to unjustified restrictions on international 
trade.  In fact, many of the specific trade c oncerns raised by Members at meetings of the 
SPS Committee and in the bilateral negotiations ar e based on differing interpretations of the 
provisions in Annex C when implementing c ontrol, inspection and approval procedures. 
3. The relevant international organizations, the C odex, the IPPC and the OIE (the "Three Sister 
organizations") have carried out important work on control, inspection and approval procedures.  
Nevertheless, some aspects that remain pending a nd go beyond the scientific efforts of the Three 
Sisters relate to trade issues, which because of  their very nature should be addressed by the 
SPS Committee in order to complement the work of th e Three Sisters.  This would ensure consistency 
in the criteria followed by Members when implemen ting control, inspection and approval procedures 
in relation to food safety, animal and plant health. 
4. Although the Three Sisters already have some rules, guidelines and recommendations on 
inspection, control and approval procedures, WTO Members continue to require compliance as well 
with unnecessary administrative formalities that are an  unjustified impediment to trade.  The Three 
Sisters provided information on the relevant rul es and regulations adopted or being negotiated in 
documents G/SPS/GEN/927, G/SPS/GEN/929 and G/SPS/GEN/947. 
                                                      
1 See the communications from China (G /SPS/W/234) and India (G/SPS/W/236). G/SPS/W/244 
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  5. The WTO's SPS Committee is empowered to carry out all the activities needed for 
implementation of the SPS Agreement and the achie vement of its objectives.  Consequently, we 
consider that, as has been done for the Guidelin es on recognition of pest- or disease-free zones and 
areas (G/SPS/48), the SPS Committee could devel op guidelines to encourage the implementation of 
some of the administrative and/or bureaucratic procedures provided in Annex C to the 
SPS Agreement, which will in no way imply any over lapping or conflict with the work carried out by 
the Three Sisters. 
6. It is of particular importance to agree on cr iteria regarding inspection procedures that take 
place in the territory of the exporting Member.  Paragraph 3 of Annex C to the SPS Agreement 
provides that "Nothing in this Agreement sha ll prevent Members from carrying out reasonable 
inspection within their own territories".  The absen ce of additional guidelines makes it easier for 
situations that hamper international trade and make  it more costly to arise, for example, visits, 
inspections or audits that are disproportionately frequent or lengthy without any grounds for them and 
in the majority of cases the exporting Member has to b ear their cost.  It is important to emphasize that 
in many instances there are also considerable differences in the methodology used for visits, 
inspections and audits carried out by importing Memb ers and, in some cases, by different institutions 
within the same importing Member. 
7. Likewise, there are substantial discrepancies in criteria in other paragraphs of Annex C that 
have a negative impact on international trade, as set out below: 
 - Paragraph 1 (end) of Annex C, which provides that: 
"Where an importing Member operates a system for the approval of 
the use of food additives or for th e establishment of tolerances for 
contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs which prohibits or restricts access to its domestic markets for products based on the absence of an approval, the importing Member shall consider the use of a relevant international standa rd as the basis for access until a final 
determination is made." 
 - Paragraph 1(e) of Annex C, which indicates that: 
"any requirements for control, in spection and approval of individual 
specimens of a product are limited to what is reasonable and necessary;" 
 - Paragraph 2 of Annex C, which provides that: 
"Where a sanitary or phytosanitary  measure specifies control at the 
level of production, the Member in whose territory the production takes place shall provide the necessar y assistance to facilitate such 
control and the work of the controlling authorities.". 
II. PROPOSALS 
8. Based on the above observations, the following is proposed: 
(a) Members should be urged to exchange in formation on their experiences and problems 
in implementing Article 8 and Annex C of the SPS Agreement;  G/SPS/W/244 
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  (b) At the same time, the SPS Committee should draft and adopt a decision laying down 
guidelines on the criteria for implementing Artic le 8 and Annex C, in particular with 
regard to: 
- The expression "undue delay" in paragraph 1(a) of Annex C; 
- the words "reasonable and necessary" in paragraph 1(e) of Annex C; 
- the procedure referred to in paragraph 1(i) of Annex C; 
- the expression "necessary assistance" in paragraph 2 of Annex C; 
- the expression "reasonable inspection" in paragraph 3 of Annex C.  
 
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