WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/880 
3 October 2008 
 (08-4690) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NAPPO DRAFT STANDARD FOR REGULATING THE MOVEMENT OF SHIPS  
AND CARGOES ABOARD THOSE SHIPS FROM AREAS INFESTED  
WITH THE ASIAN GYPSY MOTH 
 
Communication from China
 
  
 The following communication, received on 1 October 2008, is being circulated at the request 
of the Delegation of China
. 
 
_______________ 
  
Background 
 
1. On 27 May, 2008, the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) Secretariat 
circulated the draft NAPPO Regional Standard  for Phytosanitary Measures - Guidelines for 
Regulating the Movement of Ships and Cargoes a board those Ships from Areas Infested with the 
Asian Gypsy Moth (RSPM No. 33) (http://www. nappo.org/Standards/Consultation/RSPM33/ 
RSPMNo.33GypsyMoth-e.pdf).  The draft standard requires that, to prevent the introduction of the 
Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) into North America, it is necessary for NAPPO members to impose strict 
phytosanitary measures on the ships and the cargoe s aboard from the regulated areas including the 
Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia and China.  The phytosanitary measures 
include requiring the National Plant Protection Orga nization (NPPO) responsible  in the regulated area 
to inspect ships and cargoes before their departure, to establish a Pest Free Area (PFA), and to provide 
phytosanitary certificates certifyi ng that ships and cargoes are free of AGM.  NAPPO members may 
strictly inspect ships prior to a ship’s entry in to a NAPPO region port.  If an AGM egg mass is found 
on the ship, the ship will be required to leave th e waters of the NAPPO region, and return of the 
vessel to the NAPPO region can on ly occur when the vessel and car go have been cleaned of AGM, 
which will be subject to re-inspection before en tering a NAPPO member country.  Should there be 
ongoing detection of AGM egg masses on the ships from a country or region, NAPPO members may 
prohibit the entry of all ships from/via this country or region. 
A. T
HE STANDARD WOULD ENORMOUSLY IMPACT INTERNATIONAL TRADE  
2. The regional standard, if adopted and implemen ted, would have significant negative impacts 
on international trade.  First, the standard is not aiming at one type of cargo, but ships and the cargoes 
aboard on which international trade mainly relies.  As a phytosanitary measure, it covers a wide range 
never seen before.  Second, it involves the whole of temperate Asia as the regulated area.  Taking 
China as an example, 30 ports from Jinzhou in the north to Xiamen in the south are covered, including almost all major Chinese ports.  According to in complete statistics, should the standard be 
implemented, affected trade only between China and the United States would reach US$46.5 billion.  
 G/SPS/GEN/880 
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  B. T
HE STANDARD IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE SPS  AGREEMENT  
3. While respecting the right of WTO Members to take measures necessary for the protection of 
human, animal or plant life or health, China is d eeply concerned with the inconsistency of the SPS 
Agreement and the significant negative impact on tr ade which this NAPPO regional standard could 
have on the countries to be affected. 
(a) It is inconsistent with Artic le 2.2 of the SPS Agreement 
4. Article 2.2 of the SPS Agreement requires that any SPS measure be applied only to the extent 
necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health and be based on scientific principles.  
However, measures proposed in the NAPPO standard are not in proportion to the regulated risk.  The 
AGM is not a pest that has newly occurred in Asia , but has long existed.  There have been a huge 
number of ships moving between Asia and North America for such a long time, that it is difficult to 
provide an accurate number, but the relevant NPPO s have never applied AGM-related restrictions to 
the ships.  According to NAPPO information, th e AGM has not settled in North America despite a 
few sporadic introductions, in which cases the AGM  were all rapidly discovered and eradicated 
through surveillance programs.  Furthermore, the genetic analysis on the sporadically introduced 
AGM did not demonstrate that all the introductions  originated from the Asian population.  Without 
the AGM posing new serious threats to the life and hea lth of animals and plants in North America, it 
is apparently inconsistent with  Article 2.2 of the SPS Agreement for NAPPO to issue a regional 
standard that would enormously impact international trade.  
(b) It is also inconsistent with Article 5.6 of the SPS Agreement 
5. There are many highly restrictive requirements in the draft standard.  For example, NAPPO 
members may strictly inspect ship s prior to their entry into a NAPPO region port.  If an AGM egg 
mass is found on the ship, the ship will be require d to leave the waters of the NAPPO region, and 
return of the vessel to the NAPPO region can only o ccur when the vessel and cargo have been cleaned 
of AGM, which will be subject to re-inspection befo re entering the NAPPO region.  Should there be 
ongoing detection of AGM egg masses on the ships from a country or region, NAPPO members may 
prohibit the entry of all ships from / via the country or region.  These measures violate Article 5.6 of 
the SPS Agreement which requires that SPS measures not  be more trade-restrictive than necessary.  
There is also some ambiguity in the draft standard.  For example, the high risk period is defined in the 
draft standard as the period during which AGM female  flight has occurred prior to entry to a NAPPO 
member country (i.e. female flight has occurred eith er in the year preceding th e ships request to enter 
or in the current year).  Meanwhile, the draft sta ndard adds that this peri od will vary depending on the 
location of the infested port and the port of arrival in North America, and a high risk period should be 
specified by each NAPPO country in national legisl ation and should be subj ect to revision annually 
based on geographic and climatic factors influencing female flight and larval dispersal.  Such 
provisions will certainly add uncertainties in their implementation in different countries, and cause 
unnecessary impacts on international trade.  
C.  PROPOSALS  
(a) In view of the inconsistency of the draft sta ndard with the SPS Agreement, it is recommended 
that NAPPO member countries treat the issu e cautiously and delay the adoption and 
implementation of the draft standard until its  necessity and rationale are recognized by 
relevant organizations including the IPPC and the WTO SPS Committee.  G/SPS/GEN/880 
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  (b) China requests that the WTO SPS Committee discuss the issue and, in an appropriate manner, 
draw the attention of the IPPC to this regional phytosanitary standard so as to avoid its hasty 
implementation which would cause unnecessary negative impacts on international trade.  
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