WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/652 
27 March 2006 
 
 (06-1357) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
EXPERIENCE OF COLOMBIA IN IMPLEMENTING THE AGREEMENT 
ON THE APPLICATION OF SANITARY 
AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
 
Workshop on the Implementation of the SPS Agreement of 31 March 2006  
 
Communication from Colombia  
  
 The following communication, received on 23 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Colombia.  
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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. 
2. How regularly do representatives of your co untry participate in meetings of the 
SPS Committee? 
2. It attends the three meetings scheduled during the year. 
3. Who usually participates from your country (capital-based experts?  Geneva-based 
trade representatives?)? 
3. Colombia is represented by an official de legation made up of one representative of the 
Mission of Colombia to the WTO in Geneva, and two-capital based experts:  a delegate from the 
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism and a dele gate from the Colombian Agricultural Institute as 
the country's health authority. 
4. What information do you receive regarding  meetings of the SPS Committee, and how do 
you receive this information? 
4. The information that Colombia receives is  the information sent electronically by the 
Secretariat of the SPS Committee through the Mission in Geneva, the printed information handed over 
in person during the meetings, and the inform ation transmitted electronically by the IICA. 
5. Does your country have an SPS national committee? 
5. Colombia approved document CONPES 3375 of  5 September 2005 establishing the national 
policy for agricultural health and food safety for the system of san itary and phytosanitary measures, 
and proposing the establishment of a National Council for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures to G/SPS/GEN/652 
Page 2  
 
  serve as the national SPS committee.  It will include t echnical groups for animal health, plant health 
and food safety. 
6. However, there is currently no formal m echanism for discussing sanitary and phytosanitary 
matters.  For the moment, they are managed by the official State entities with competence and authority in that area.  Nevertheless, it should be  mentioned that an ad hoc SPS group has emerged in 
the country in the wake of the negotiation and signa ture of the Free Trade Agreement with the United 
States, made up of representatives of the public sector assisted by the leading private sector 
associations and responsible for advising the nati onal government in these negotiations and drawing 
up policy papers in order to strengthen the country's  SPS system in the short, medium and long term 
with a view to improving the quality and co mpetitiveness of its agricultural products. 
6. How do your exporters find out about you r trading partners' new SPS requirements? 
7. Through the enquiry point, which communi cates them to the different production and 
marketing associations. 
7. What national mechanisms can be create d to ensure that stakeholders in your country 
are informed in a timely manner of new SPS requirements, so that the SPS requirements of 
trading partners can be evaluated and so that the views of relevant stakeholders can be taken 
into account when responding to SPS notifications? 
8. Strengthening of the enquiry point and publi cation of the measures on the web site of the 
national institution responsible for sanitary and phyto sanitary measures, as well as the organization of 
periodic meetings with the associations in order to  discuss the implications of the notifications. 
8. In establishing such mechanisms, how ca n Members identify the relevant domestic 
stakeholders and promote effective interaction among those stakeholders that can be sustained 
over time? 
9. Dissemination of the information at all levels  and strengthening of the enquiry point of the 
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism and of th e Risk Analysis and International Affairs Group of 
the Colombian Agricultural Institute. 
9. How can information about SPS requirements be transmitted to groups outside of the 
capital? 
10. By e-mail and by disseminating the information at the departmental level. 
10. Has there been any national planning on  how to implement the SPS Agreement in your 
country? 
11. There is a plan which includes policy guidelines to strengthen the country's sanitary and 
phytosanitary system, in document CONPES 3375 of 5 September 2005 establishing the national 
policy for agricultural health and food safety for th e system of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. 
11. If so, was this planning developed using a particular methodology? 
12. It began with Decree 4003 for the introduction of sanitary a nd phytosanitary measures, which 
entered into force on 1 December 2004.  This was followed by the approval of document 
CONPES 3375 of 5 September 2005.  G/SPS/GEN/652 
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  12. How does your country identify its technical assistance needs? 
13. The Government of Colombia identifies and pr ioritizes its technical assistance needs, taking 
account of the main products of trade interest and the potential export markets, by organizing consultations between the nationa l health authorities and the different public and private entities 
forming part of the SPS system. 
14. To encourage this process, the Government of Colombia set up a cooperation and technical 
assistance committee to identify, develop and manage  projects relating to sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures in the framework of the FTA negotiations w ith the United States.  In addition, the national 
health authority is working on the management of resources with the international cooperation 
agencies and the counterparts of the health entities in the developed countries. 
13. What has been your country's experience in both the request and the supply of SPS-
related technical assistance? 
15. Colombia has provided technical cooperati on to Latin American countries in diagnosing 
diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and Venezuelan e quine encephalitis, and has also transmitted its 
experience in applying geographical informa tion systems and developing risk assessment. 
16. Colombia has requested and received technical assistance on foot-and-mouth disease from the 
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Pan-American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Centre (PANAFTOSA), and the United States Department of Agriculture.  In the case of avian influenza, it 
also requested technical assistance from the international reference laboratory in diagnosing the disease, and directly from the OIE which is curre ntly in the process of approving the request. 
17. The United States has been the principal sour ce of technical assistance requested by Colombia 
for different diseases and pests.  Similarly, Pana ma has offered and provided cooperation and 
technical assistance for the eradi cation of screwworm in the vicinity of the Colombian-Panamanian 
border. 
18. The European Communities, in conjunction w ith the Andean Community, has been providing 
technical assistance for the harmonization of Andean  standards and the technical procedures of the 
Andean health system.  France, in particular, has offered and provided cooperation and technical 
assistance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. 
14. How can technical assistance supply and dema nd be most effectively matched, priority 
areas identified and duplication of donor efforts avoided? 
19. Colombia proposes two mechanisms for adaptin g technical assistance supply to demand.  In 
the first of these mechanisms, the developing countri es interested in receiving technical assistance 
would submit their needs to the reference intern ational organizations a nd to the cooperation and 
technical assistance agencies, which would chan nel and focus the specific requirements of the 
developing countries.  This would ensure the support required by the member country. 
20. The second option would be to use the channe ls between the agencies of the interested 
country and their counterparts in the supplying count ry, provided the area of technical assistance is of 
mutual interest to the parties. 
 
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