WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/216 
11 October 2007 
 (07-4381) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 18  
OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF THE  
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ("CHINA") 
 
Communication from the European Communities
 
 
  The following communication, received on 9 October 2007, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the European Communities.  
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I. GENERAL COMMENT 
1. The European Communities would like to take  this opportunity to welcome the further 
improvements in the relationship between China and the European Commun ities.  The European 
Communities notes also improvements in the bilate ral consultations between the Chinese authorities 
and its member States.  The European Communiti es believes that these bilateral consultations are 
essential to improve the mutual trust and the be tter understanding indispensable to forging strong 
relationships. 
2. In this respect, the European Communities woul d like to highlight that an important element 
of the mutual understanding process, leading to mu tual trust, is the knowledge about each others' 
sanitary and phytosanitary standards, legislation and re gulations in force.  This is important not only 
as a matter of transparency but also  because it allows the trading partne rs to ensure they comply with 
each others’ safety standards and prevent  trade problems. 
3. The European Communities welcomes the recent Chinese efforts to improve food safety and 
to increase pre-export testing of consignments.  Ne vertheless the European Communities regrets that 
the notification process, which had started well, now is dramatically slowing down despite the fact 
that legislative activity in the sanitary an d phytosanitary area China is increasing.   
4. In the same way, the European  Communities also notes that China has not yet aligned its 
animal health legislation to the World Organisation for Animal Health (hereinafter referred to as the 
"OIE") principles.  In this regard the European  Communities would like to point out that, in common 
with other international standards, the OIE standard s are intended to be used to avoid unexpected and 
sometimes unjustified trade bans. 
5. As China is aware, the internal flow of information between the competent national and 
regional services is important for assuring the correct application of the measur es or procedures set at 
central level. At present it seems that the internal in formation network is not ye t at the required level.  
The European Communities encourages China to impr ove its national information network in order to 
avoid inconsistency in the measures or procedures,  which can lead to unjustified problems with 
consignments. G/SPS/W/216 
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  6. The European Communities also consider the ve ry slow progress in negotiations of certain 
bilateral protocols between China and EC member St ates.  In this respect the European Communities 
invites China to accelerate these negotiations in  order to avoid undue procedural delays. 
7. The European Communities acknowledges that, w ith the increase in trade the work is 
growing, and encourages China to dedicate more r esources to this new task consistent with the 
responsibilities that follow from membership  in the WTO and the SPS Agreement. 
8. The European Communities welcome China's notification G/SPS/N/CHN/100, which brought 
important changes to the existing rule (No tice N° 1, 2002) for exports to China of cosmetic products .  
In particular, the proposed change modified the management measures for cosmetics imported from 
BSE-infected areas in accordance to the recommenda tions contained in the OIE Terrestrial Animal 
Health Code.  The European Communities e xpressed satisfaction (formally at the 39
th SPS Committee 
in June 2007), to see China's e fforts to adjust its national rul es in accordance to international 
standards, that they are scientifically justified a nd that they are more in proportion to the risk. 
 
II. EC SPECIFIC CONCERNS ON THE A PPLICATION OF THE SPS AGREEMENT 
9. The European Communities would like to highlight  the currently limited market access for its 
food products, which result from several r easons, among which are the following. 
Microbiological criteria 
 
10. The European Communities is concerned about the enforcement of food controls in China 
that place reliance on end-product testing, that of ten creates a significant barrier to trade.  In 
particular, reference is made to some microbiological criteria such as for E. Sakazakii  and others.  The 
standard set for this pathogen and its application are not in line with the Codex, and are unnecessarily 
trade restrictive within the meaning of Article 5 of the SPS Agreement.  This has created serious 
problems for trade in dairy products.  We also would like to highlight that the microbiological 
standard regulation has not yet been notified. 
• The European Communities would like China to e xplain the reason for the lack of notification 
of its national legislation, regulation and standards. 
 
Animal health standards 
 
11. With reference to the animal health policy, the European Communities is concerned about the 
Chinese interpretation of OIE guidelines on BSE.  In  this respect, the European Communities would 
like to remind China that the OIE issued a list of bovine products which can be safely traded, 
regardless of the BSE status of country, among which is de-boned skeletal muscle meat from cattle 30 months of age or less.  Despite the OIE guidelines, EC beef and other bovine products , with 
particular reference to  bovine semen and embryos , are still banned, although the European 
Communities has several measures in place aimed at assuring the highest level of consumer 
protection.  Among these are a strict feed ban, stri ct controls on specified risk materials and active 
surveillance. 
• The European Communities would like China to  explain its scientific reasons for the 
restrictions on the products that accordi ng to the OIE list can be safely traded. 
  G/SPS/W/216 
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  Plant health standards 
12. The European Communities considers that co mpliance with the Chinese plant regulatory 
import system is unjustifiably difficult.  Many of the import requirements go beyond the IPPC 
recommendations and the SPS Agreement.  Neverthe less recently the communication flow between 
the European Communities and the Chinese authoriti es has improved considerably.  The European 
Communities welcomes the positive attitude shown by Ch ina in this regard and looks forward to a 
speed up in Chinese procedures with a view to c oncluding ongoing negotiatio ns on export protocols 
for fruits and vegetables, in order to achieve a s ubstantial improvement in market access for this 
sector in the near future. 
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