RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/R/39 
21 March 2006 
 (06-1274) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures  
   
 
SUMMARY OF THE MEETING OF 24 OCTOBER 2005, 
RESUMED ON 1-2 FEBRUARY 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
Table of Contents  
  
I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ......................................................................................................... .. 3 
II. ACTIVITIES OF  MEMBERS .......................................................................................................... ..... 3 
III. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS........................................................................................................ .. 8 
(a) New issues..................................................................................................................... 8 
(b) Issues previously raised...............................................................................................11  
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received..........................................................17  
(d) Information on Resolution of Issues............................................................................18  
IV. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS....................................................................... 18  
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AN D DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT............................... 19  
(a) Chairman's report on the informal me eting and on special and differential 
treatment...................................................................................................................... 19 
(b) Consideration of further actions by the Committee (G/SPS/35) .................................22  
(c) Review of implementation of G/SPS/33 .....................................................................22  
VI. EQUIVALENCE  (ARTICLE 4) ....................................................................................................... .. 23 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences ........................................................23  
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations ......................................................23  
VII. REGIONALIZATION (ARTICLE 6) ................................................................................................. 23  
(a) Report on informal meeting on regionalization...........................................................23  
(b) Discussion of issues related to the operation of the provisions of Article 6................24  
(c) Information from observer organi zations regarding their work on 
regionalization .............................................................................................................26  
VIII. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION ...................................................................... 27  
(a) Information from the Secretariat .................................................................................27  
(b) Information from Members .........................................................................................29  
(c) Information from Observers ........................................................................................30  
IX. ISSUES ARISING FROM THE REVIEW  OF THE OPERATION OF THE SPS 
AGREEMENT...................................................................................................................... ................. 31  
X. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF 
ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE' S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ........................................................... 31  
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared  under the Secretariat's own respon sibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. G/SPS/R/39 
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  XI. MONITORING THE USE OF IN TERNATIONAL STANDARDS................................................. 36  
(a) New issues...................................................................................................................36  
(b) Issues previously raised...............................................................................................37  
XII. MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS .................................................................................................................. ............ 37  
(a) Information from Codex..............................................................................................37  
XIII. OBSERVERS – REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS............................................................... 39  
XIV. CHAIRPERSON'S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS............ 39  
XV. OTHER BUSINESS ................................................................................................................. ............. 39  
XVI. DATE AND AGENDA OF NEXT MEETING ................................................................................... 41  
  G/SPS/R/39 
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I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary M easures (the "Committee") held its thirty-
fourth meeting on 24 October 2005 and 1-2 February  2006.  The agendas proposed for 24 October 
2005 in WTO/AIR/2663, and for 1-2 February 2006 in WTO/AIR/2744, were adopted with 
amendments. 
2. The Chairman drew attention to the entry into force of the 1997 revision of the IPPC as of 
3 October 2005 and the replacement of the Interi m Commission on Phytosanitary Measures with the 
Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM).  This was an important advancement with respect to 
the development of international plant protection standards, and hence also to the work of the SPS 
Committee. 
3. The Secretariat reminded Members of the importance of ensuring that documents were 
submitted well in advance of the Committee meeting, so that they could be circulated as formal 
documents in the three WTO working languages. 
II. ACTIVITIES OF MEMBERS 
Update on the avian influenza situation in Turkey  
 
4. The representative of Turkey reported on the la test information on avian influenza (AI) in 
Turkey (G/SPS/GEN/620 and G/SPS/GEN/620/Rev.1).  Since 2000, the Turkish Government had 
been working on scenarios to combat  outbreaks of AI.  Prevention measures had entered into force in 
2001, epidemiological surveillance at national le vel in 2002, and a contingency plan had been 
launched a few months after the first outbreak in  October 2005.  Disease prevention and control 
methods and measures had been in place since Oct ober 2005.  Collaboration between the government 
bodies involved and the related inte rnational organizations had been  enhanced, including through the 
establishment of a specific scientific committee.  Specific actions taken when an outbreak was 
reported included preliminary identification of infect ed animals, collecting of samples, banning of 
animal movements, cleaning and disinfection, and information dissemination.  Other risk reduction 
and control interventions, as well as administrative and financial measures, were also carried out. 
5. The first outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the AI  virus, observed in north-western Anatolia, had 
eventually been eradicated through a series of me asures based on the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health 
Code recommendations.  Relevant international or ganizations, including the OIE, WHO and FAO, as 
well as institutions of the European Union and neig hboring countries, had immediately been informed 
of the situation and of the measures taken.  A second outbreak, in eastern Anatolia, had been 
confirmed in January 2006 and further outbreaks ha d followed.  There were currently 67 confirmed 
cases of AI infection in Turkey and 66 suspected  cases.  Preventive and control measures had been 
applied in all cases.  Cases of AI infection had b een mostly detected in small open-range, backyard 
poultry flocks located along bird migration routes and,  to a much lesser extent, in swamp areas.  No 
cases had been observed in commercially integr ated medium- to large-sized poultry production 
enterprises in Turkey.  Movement of hens be tween poultry production enterprises and household 
backyards was currently prohibited.  Reported cases had been steadily decreasing within the last two 
weeks.  Twenty-one human cases of infection by H5 N1 strain of AI virus had been diagnosed, of 
which four had been fatal and the rest were recovering. 
6. The representative of Turkey stressed  that the foremost prerequisite to deal with AI outbreaks 
was to recognize and identify the problem and to ci rculate the information.  Since the control and 
eradication of the AI virus was costly and required great efforts, AI outbreaks should be overcome 
through responsive and coordinated efforts at both national and in ternational levels. G/SPS/R/39 
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  Update on the avian influenza situation in Colombia 
7. At the meeting of 24 October, under "Other  Business", the represen tative of Colombia 
expressed concern about a recent notification by Ec uador of measures on poultry from Colombia due 
to avian influenza (G/SPS/N/ECU/7).  As deta iled in document G/SPS/GEN/602, in September 2005 
the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) had de tected the presence of subtype H9 of the avian 
influenza virus, a low pathogenic subtype, in three poultry farms.  Subtype H9 strain is endemic in 
various regions of the world and represents a significa ntly lower risk to human and animal health than 
subtypes H5 and H7.  None of the affected bird s had shown symptoms of the disease, rather the 
finding had been the result of the active epidemiol ogical surveillance measures carried out by ICA in 
coordination with the Colombian National Fede ration of Poultry Farmers (FENAVI) under the 
National Programme for the Prevention of Exotic Diseases.  This surveillance involved screening for 
the disease by taking and analyzing samples, on the basi s of a statistical design, in commercial poultry 
farms.   
8. ICA imposed various quarantine measures to confine the virus to the three affected farms.  In 
addition, doctors, veterinarians and epidemiologist s had been sent to the affected zone to conduct 
surveillance measures on the affected farms and in th e vicinity, and to train the local public health 
authorities and health services providers.  The re presentative of Colombia had stressed that the 
Colombian health authorities had cons istently given priority to the pr inciple of transparency, notifying 
the presence of the low pathogenic avian influenza virus even though there was no obligation to notify 
the competent international organizations of this virus subtype. 
9. The representative of Ecuador indicated that he was seeking more information on the measure 
referred to in G/SPS/N/ECU/7, which was an import ba n on birds, similar to some in force in other 
South American countries.  Ecuador was experiencing one of the first outbreaks of avian influenza in 
Latin America and had to take ur gent measures, however it was se eking to coordinate with the 
Colombian authorities to assess the practical  effects of the measure at issue.   
10. When the meeting resumed in February 2006,  the representative of Colombia presented 
further information in document G/SPS/GEN/621.   This report emphasized the absence of high 
pathogenic strains of AI virus  in Colombia and appealed for the lifting of  the trade restrictions 
imposed by a number of Members.  Colombia had give n priority to the principle of transparency by 
notifying the detected subtype H9, although this  was a non notifiable strain pursuant to the OIE 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code.  Some Members, however, had imposed restrictions on imports of Colombian poultry products, thus violating the principles of the SPS Agreement and the regional 
agreements to which Colombia was a party.   
11. The representative of the OIE encouraged Colomb ia to pursue its efforts with regard to 
transparency and expressed concerns about countries taking advantage of the transparency efforts of 
some Members to restrict trade in contravention to the OIE recommendations.  
Outcomes of a simulation on di sease outbreak in Australia  
 12. The representative of Australia reported on a national simulation exercise to test the 
preparedness and response arrangements in place in  Australia in case of a multi-focal outbreak of 
avian influenza (G/SPS/GEN/619).  National committees were finalizing their reports, but it was clear that the exercise had confirmed the robust natu re of Australia's preparedness and response 
arrangements and had highlighted the importance of  collaboration between government jurisdictions 
and between government and industry.  Australia  would make copies of the formal report on 
"Exercise Eleusis '05" available to Members and it would be posted on the website of the Australian 
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) (www.daff.gov.au).  G/SPS/R/39 
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  13. Australia suggested that the SPS Committee was an appropriat e forum for sharing lessons 
learned from such simulations and for consideri ng how to reinforce preparedness and capacity for 
response.  Several Members had held or pla nned to hold significant AI simulations, and the 
international organisations such as the OIE, the FAO and the World Health Organisation were well 
positioned to assist Members with these tasks.  
14. The representative of the European Communiti es agreed that although conditions were not 
identical in all regions, all Members could learn from other's experience in combating outbreaks of 
major infectious diseases.  The Eu ropean Communities had also carried out a number of simulation 
exercises whose results could add to the knowledge on how to address this particular issue.  In the 
context of the current outbreaks of H5N1 in As ia, the European Communities had made available 
copies of EC contingency plans, basic legislati on and reports of EC inspection services on outbreaks 
of AI in Europe.  
Update on advances in the eradication of foot and mouth disease in Bolivia  
15. The representative of Bolivia recalled that the competent health authorities of Bolivia had 
declared the entire national territory free of FMD with vaccination in October 2005.  This was the 
result of exhaustive work undertaken by both the private and government sectors within the 
framework of the national programme to eradicate FMD, applying the guidelines set out in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code.  Over the past two years, epidemiological studies had shown an absence of viral activity and a solid active and passive  surveillance structure for this disease.  Bolivia 
would continue to report progress in this area, with  a view to maintaining its recognition as country 
free from FMD with vaccination.  Bolivia was al so working to achieve recognition as a BSE-free 
country.  These efforts to achieve a favourable health  status were undertaken to open and consolidate 
export markets for Bolivia's animal products.  With  regard to transparency, Bolivia had provided 
formal notifications of all its sanitary and phytosanita ry provisions that applie d to international trade. 
Update on Canada's BSE import policy 
 
16. The representative of Canada reported that, follo wing the determination that its BSE import 
policy was more restrictive than th e current international standards adopted in May 2005 by the OIE, 
Canada had updated its BSE import policy as notifi ed in G/SPS/N/CAN/244/Add.1.  This policy 
would maintain Canada's appropriate level of protect ion, but was lesser trade restrictive, for example, 
by identifying commodities eligible  for safe trade, under certain conditions, whether or not a country 
had confirmed cases of BSE.  Canada invited its trad ing partners to similarly revise their BSE import 
policy in accordance with the latest OIE guidelines.  
17. The representative of Canada also reported on an epidemiological report entitled "Canada's 
Assessment of the North Ameri can BSE Cases Diagnosed from 2003- 2005 (Part II)", released in 
January 2006.  This report provided an updated exam ination of the current BSE situation in Canada 
based on the understanding of the disease to date and s upported the conclusion th at Canada's level of 
BSE infection was very low and declining in response to remedial measures applied 
(G/SPS/GEN/635).  For any zoonotic disease of global concern, it was important that Members' import requirements be based on OIE guidelines. 
18. The representative of the OIE expressed support fo r Canada's efforts.  Taking into account the 
important increase in the level of knowledge about BSE, the OIE had refined the chapter on BSE to a 
more simple and scientific approach which had been  adopted by OIE member countries in May 2005.  
The OIE strongly encouraged Members to use these sta ndards.  Similar steps were likely to be taken 
by the OIE with regard to avian influenza.  
Actions regarding BSE in the United States G/SPS/R/39 
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  19. The representative of the United States recalle d that in 2001 the Harvard Center for Risk 
Analysis had analyzed and evaluated the measures im plemented by the US Government to prevent the 
spread of BSE in the Un ited States and to reduce potential hum an exposure to the BSE agent.  The 
study, revised in 2003, had concluded that if intro duced, BSE agents would be very unlikely to spread 
within the United States.  A recent update of the model used for the study, based on new data about 
compliance with US feed restrictions, had further lowered the risk estimates.  
20. In June 2004, the United States had introduced  an enhanced BSE su rveillance programme 
which monitored the possible presence of the BSE agent in the US herd, thus assessing the 
effectiveness of the prevention measures in place.   The programme was designed to detect the 
presence of BSE with 99 per cent certainty if as few as five targeted high-risk cattle had BSE.  
Sampling was neither exhaustive nor random but biased  towards the most likely population.  Since the 
beginning of the programme, only one BSE-positive animal had been found in almost 600,000 tested 
animals.  The herd of origin had been identifie d and response activities in accordance with the US 
Department of Agriculture's BSE Resp onse Plan of September 2004 had begun. 
21. The United States had implemented all the inte rnationally recognized food safety measures 
and taken all the animal health protection measur es necessary to prevent the entry and amplification 
of the disease in the country.  The United States we lcomed the recent rescinding of BSE restrictions 
on US beef by some Members, and urged all the Members still maintaining such restrictions to 
remove them in light of the conclusions of the Harv ard risk assessment study and of the results of the 
enhanced BSE surveillance programme.   
Review of the EC animal health policy 
22. The representative of the European Communities indicated that an external evaluation had 
recommended that the European Communities improve  its current Community Animal Health Policy 
(CAHP) (G/SPS/GEN/632).  For this purpose, a surv ey had been launched in January 2005 of the 
views of stakeholders on the past CAHP (1995-2004) as  well as of their suggestions for the future.  
Interested Members could complete an on-lin e questionnaire and examine supporting documents 
before the end of February 2006 from:  
http://europa.sanco.cec.eu.int:808 1/comm/food/animal/diseases/stra tegy/cahp_questionnaire_en.htm
 
23. A specific survey of imports from third countri es into the European Communities, including 
questions about the EC policy on regionalization, ha d also been distributed and interested Members 
were encouraged to complete the questionnaire, available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/diseases/strategy/survey_third_countries_en.htm
 by the end of 
February 2006.   
24. The representative of Canada noted his country's appreciation for the opportunity to provide 
an evaluation of the CAHP and the intention to ensu re that both its animal and public health regulators 
gave full consideration to the questionnaire.  Gi ven the short period of time available, Canada 
requested the European Comm unities to accept comments recei ved beyond the current deadline.  
EC upgraded food and feed legislation  
25. The representative of the European Communities recalled that a complementary set of rules 
on food and feed, the "food hygiene" package, had ente red into force at the beginning of 2006.  This 
set of laws, aimed at tightening and harmonizi ng EC food safety measures included regulations on 
microbiological criteria for foodstuff, on official feed and food controls, and on feed hygiene.  A key aspect of the new legislations was that each link of the food and feed chains would share the 
responsibility of ensuring that food and feed met the required safety standards.  In order to provide 
guidance on certain key questions related to the implementation of the new legislations, several  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 7 
 
 
  documents were available at the following address: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/bio safety/hygienelegislation/index_en.htm .  The European 
Communities encouraged all Members to  consult these useful documents.  
26. The representatives of Canada and of the United States complimented the European 
Communities for having addressed their concerns in the final version of the rules and for conducting 
seminars for third countries to explain the implementation process for the new legislations.  They 
looked forward to a similarly open attitude with regard  to any future implemen tation-related concerns.  
27. The representative of Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines questioned whether the European 
private sector food regulations, such as the EU REP/GAP certification programmes and TESCO's 
"Nature Choices", were in conformity with the EC  upgraded food and feed legislations and the SPS 
Agreement.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines we re concerned that these private sector systems 
adversely affected developing countries. 
28. The representative of the European Communities clarified that the current "food hygiene" 
package replaced and rationalized the former legisla tion  EC private sector standards often extended 
beyond classic SPS requirements to environmental and ethical issues, workers protection or quality.  
The European Commission had limited power to ad dress these standards, excep t if they exceeded EC 
SPS requirements.  The European Commission had ma de the private standard-setting bodies aware of 
the concerns of developing country Members and had asked them to take these concerns into account.  
The representative of Argentina emphasized their in creasing concern over the use of private standards 
that were more restrictive than EC official requirements.  
FMD situation in Brazil 
29. At the meeting of 24 October, under "Other Business", the representative of Brazil provided 
information on measures taken to eradicate FMD following an outbreak on 1 October 2005 in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, an FMD-free z one with vaccination.  The recommended standard 
procedures had been taken, and on 8 October 2005 FMD virus serotype O had officially been diagnosed in serum samples.  The OIE, the Pan- American FMD Center, the Permanent Veterinary 
Committee of the Southern Cone, neighbouring countr ies and trading partners had immediately been 
informed of the actions taken to control th e FMD outbreak.  These actions, based on the OIE 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code, were aimed at as sessing the extension of the outbreak and controlling 
its spread.  They included barriers to contro l the access to the infect ed municipalities and the 
establishment of a "safety zone" covering the in fected area, within which measures such as 
disinfection of premises, stamping out of susceptible animals, epidemiological surveillance, 
inspection of sheep, goats and pigs, and suspension of  movement of animals originating from the zone 
and of trading of their products and by-products had been put in place.  These sanitary control measures had involved federal, state and local mate rial and human resources at fixed checkpoints and 
in mobile teams.  
30. On 17 October, four new cases of FMD in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, three located 25 
km away from the initial outbreak, had been confirmed.   Surveillance activities in the region led to the 
identification of four additional suspicious outbreaks in Mato Grosso do Sul, on the basis of clinical 
and epidemiological diagnosis by an official laborat ory, and the "safety zone" had been extended.  On 
21 October, animals with clinical signs compatible  with vesicular disease had been identified in the 
state of Paraná.  Samples had been collected and sen t to an official laboratory.  Access to the four 
farms affected had been restricted and the premises put under quarantine measures.  
31. All the corrective and preventive actions recomme nded by the OIE to control and eradicate 
FMD outbreaks had been put in place by the Brazilian sanitary authorities.  Brazil therefore expected G/SPS/R/39 
Page 8  
 
  that its trading partners would limit their import restriction measures to the affected states and to 
products clearly representing a risk according to international guidelines.  
32. The representative of the Europ ean Communities stated that, as a major importer of Brazilian 
beef and beef products, the European Communitie s was following the developments in Brazil with 
great interest.  The sanitary measures taken by  the European Communities in relation to FMD 
outbreaks in Brazil had always been in full complian ce with its WTO obligations.  Last year, despite 
an FMD outbreak in the province of Amazonia, the European Communities had not imposed any 
restrictions on Brazilian imports as Amazonia was fa r away from the major beef exporting regions in 
Brazil, thus applying Article 6 of the SPS Agreemen t.  However, this recent outbreak was taking place 
in a region authorized for export to the Eur opean Communities.  The European Communities had 
therefore imposed restrictions on exports fro m that region and two neighbouring regions, but 
continued to allow imports from other authorized regions in Brazil.  The representative of the 
European Communities encouraged Brazil to pay part icular attention to the traceability and movement 
restrictions of animals, to address deficiencies that had been identified in the past in an expedited and 
transparent manner. 
33. When the meeting resumed in February 2006,  the representative of Brazil reported that 33 
additional outbreaks of the disease had been identif ied within the safety zone established around the 
affected farms and notified to the OIE.  Measures co mpliant with the OIE standards had been taken to 
eradicate these outbreaks.  Brazil had decided to cull the animals and to provide compensation to 
livestock raisers;  more than 30,000 susceptible an imals had been slaughtered by 18 January, half 
coming from infected farms, half from suspected farms.   
34. In November 2005, measures in place to monitor the movement of animals from the infected 
zone had allowed the identification of suspected case s prior to the outbreak in the Brazilian state of 
Parana.  The suspected farms had received animals originating in Mato Grosso do Sul.  All farms 
located within a 10 km radius from these suspecte d cases had been quarantined and suspected cases 
notified to the OIE.  
35. On 17 January, surveillance measures had made it po ssible to restrict the zone of sanitary risk 
to the Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana states.  The state of Acre, and the municipalities of Boca do 
Acre and Guajará in the state of Amazonas, were still FMD-free with vaccination.  In accordance with 
the principle of transparency, 14 reports on the pr ogress of the disease had been sent to the OIE and 
seven technical notes had been provided to trading partners.  In light of all the measures adopted by Brazil to control and eradicate the outbreaks, Member s should only restrict imports of Brazilian beef 
originating in the infected zones, in accordance with international standards 
III. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS 
(a) New issues 
Canada's import restrictions on Enok i mushrooms from Chinese Taipei  
36. The representative of Chinese Ta ipei indicated that Chinese Taipei had been exporting Enoki 
mushrooms with a small amount of growing medium to  Canada for several years.  In January 2005, 
without prior notice, Canada had banned imports of Enoki mushrooms with trace amounts of growing 
medium.  Canada required that all growing medium should be removed by cutting off the stalk of the 
mushroom, but this significantly reduced the shelf-life of the mushroom.  In March 2005, Canada had justified this new measure by explaining that the growing medium used for Enoki mushroom cultivation could be a pathway for the introduction of  quarantine pests design ated by the Canadian 
Food Inspection Agency, such as sudden oak death or the golden nematode.  These quarantine pests 
did not exist in Chinese Taipei.   G/SPS/R/39 
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  37. Furthermore, Enoki mushrooms were produced in Chinese Taipei under soil-free conditions.  
The growing medium was autoclaved prior to its u se and the mushroom clusters were vacuum-packed 
in plastic bags immediately after harvesting, with  only very little growing medium adhering to the 
fruiting bodies.  However Chinese Taipei had been unab le to convince Canada that the probability of 
quarantine pests being introduced through its Enoki  mushrooms was extremely low.  Chinese Taipei 
considered that Canada’s restrictions were more trade restrictive than necessary and urged Canada to 
lift its import ban on Enoki mushrooms.  Bilatera l meetings held the prev ious day had provided a 
fruitful and promising exchange of views. 
38. The representative of Canada clarified that Canada had not implemented a new policy on 
Enoki mushrooms, but was enforcing an old 1995 ph ytosanitary policy on soil in association with 
muschrooms.  There was, therefore, no requirements for  notification.  Historically, Chinese Taipei's 
mushrooms imported into Canada were free from gr owing medium and had en tered Canada without 
restriction.  Enoki mushrooms we re treated as low-risk commodities and therefore inspected at a low 
rate.  In 2004, shipments of Enoki mushrooms accompanied by a significant amount of growing material had been intercepted.  These shipment s originated from a variety of trading partners 
including Chinese Taipei.  Consistent with the pr ovisions of the IPPC, Cana da had provided Chinese 
Taipei's officials with several official notifica tions of non-compliance, including a written explanation 
of the scientific rationale for prohibiting the entry of Enoki mushrooms accompanied by growing medium.  In order to undertake a risk assessmen t, Canada had sought scientific information on the 
type of pests that might be carried by the medium from Chinese Taipei, but had not yet received the required information.  Upon reception of the relevant  scientific information, Canada would conclude 
the risk assessment expeditiously .  The current science-based requirements would remain in place 
until Canada had assurance that the growing medium  would not carry plant pest risks to Canada. 
Israel - Absence of phytosanitary import legislation 
39. The representative of the European Communities recalled that this trade concern had been 
raised bilaterally on several occasions since 1984.  Draft import legislation had been provided to the 
European Communities in November 2003.  Its revi sion, which included some of the comments made 
by the European Communities in May 2004, had been  issued in January 2005 to be presented for 
revision, approval and publication by the Israeli co mpetent authorities.  However the legislation was 
still at the draft stage, despite re peated promises by Israel that a final text would be published last 
year.  The length of the internal administrative procedure required to adopt the legislation was 
unjustified.  The European Communities considered  that the lack of phytosanitary legislation 
contravened Article 7 of the SPS Agreement and creat ed unpredictability for EC exporters of plants 
and plant products.  Furthermore, the draft import le gislation maintained the system of import licenses 
and permits currently imposed by Israel.  The Eu ropean Communities urged Israel to immediately 
adopt national phytosanitary legislation incl uding import requirements compliant with the SPS 
Agreement. 
40. The representative of Israel indicated that these concerns would be transmitted to the relevant 
Israeli authorities and addressed as soon as possible.  
Israel's import restrictions on EC beef due to BSE 
41. The representative of the European Communities no ted that exports of EC beef into Israel 
were currently allowed only from a limited number of EC member States and restricted to calves younger than six to eight months.  This trade concer n had been raised bilaterally on several occasions.  
There was no scientific justification for discrimin ating between member States.  No native case of 
BSE had been detected in some of the EC member States whose beef imports were prohibited.  BSE protective measures were equally implemented through the whole EC territory and equally applied to 
beef for consumption within the European Commun ities and beef for export.  With regard to the G/SPS/R/39 
Page 10  
 
  restriction to calves younger than six to eight months, amendments to the Terrestrial Animal Health 
Code adopted by the OIE in May 2005 included th e addition of deboned skeletal muscle meat of 
animals less than 30 months to the list of products which could be safely traded, under certain conditions, regardless of the BSE status of the expor ting country.  Many countries, including Algeria, 
Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand and Tunisia had replaced their import ban on EC beef 
during 2004 and 2005 with specific import requirement s in accordance with OIE standards.  The 
European Communities urged Israel to take simila r action and allow imports of beef from animals 
older than six to eight months into Israel. 
42. The representative of Israel recalled that his c ountry had already engaged bilaterally with the 
European Communities on this issue in order to  find a mutually satisfactory solution.  
Japan's import restrictions on EC beef due to BSE 
43. The representative of the European Communiti es reported that Japan had recently reopened 
its market for beef exports from certain EC member  States, but in accordance with Articles 2.3 and 
3.3 of the SPS Agreement, Japan should reopen its market to bovine products from all EC member 
States.  He indicated that the protective BSE meas ures, including the implem entation and enforcement 
of the feed ban, the removal of specified risk ma terials and the elaboration of an identification, 
registration and traceability system for bovines and thei r products able to warrantee the age of each 
bovine, could fully satisfy the safety of consumers anywhere in the world.   
44. The representative of the United States noted that Japan had reopened its market for some US 
beef products but maintained scientifically unjustified restrictions on other prod ucts, inconsistent with 
international standards.  The United States encouraged  Japan to remove its restrictions on all US beef 
exports in light of the information provided earlier. 
45. The representative of Japan mentioned that num erous countries still suspended beef imports 
from BSE-infected countries and that international standards on BSE changed every year.  Last year, 
Japan had carried out a risk analysis and decided to  reduce its beef imports from a few BSE-affected 
countries.  Japan would manage the BSE issue on the basis of risk analysis and hoped that EC 
concerns could be resolved through technical  consultations with EC member States.   
Import restrictions on EC exports of live birds, me at, meat products and other derivates due to avian 
influenza 
46. The representative of the European Communities stated that the European Communities had 
learned, thanks to SPS notifica tions, that four WTO Members had recently imposed a ban on EC 
poultry products including live birds, poultry meat  and meat products, feathers, animal feed from 
poultry meat, bone and feather meal, and other by -products of poultry, on the ground of the presence 
of avian influenza (AI) in the EC territory.  Thr ee of these Members had targeted the ban to Greece, 
although the suspected case of AI reported by Greece in October 2005 had proved to be negative for 
highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).  The current ban imposed on Greece was not scientifically 
based, nor based on any existing OIE standards.  It w as therefore inconsistent with Article 3.1 of the 
SPS Agreement.   
47. The European Communities had b een recognized by the OIE as free of AI and had rapidly 
taken effective safeguard measures to protect and ma intain this status.  A fourth WTO Member had 
banned imports of the same poultry products from the entire world.  According to OIE rules and the provisions of the SPS Agreement, bans on bird pro ducts should only apply to regions affected by 
HPAI.  The European Communities urged these four Members to bring their legislation into 
compliance with international rules and Article  2.2 of the SPS Agreement and lift the ban.   G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 11 
 
 
  48. The representative of Canada requested Member s to cautiously react to low pathogenic AI 
outbreaks, especially in light of the current worldw ide sensitivity on AI-related issues, in order to not 
discourage Members from notifying such outbreaks.  The representative of Suriname stated his 
country's concern about the EC ba n on imports of wild birds from Suriname.  Suriname was an AI-
free country, as had been proven by investigations by UK authorities tracking an infected bird 
detected in a shipment of wild birds.  Investigati ons had demonstrated that the infected bird did not 
originate from Suriname.  Other birds in the same c onsignment, sent to othe r EC countries, had shown 
no sign of the disease.  Suriname's exports of wild birds were suffering from the EC ban and Suriname questioned when its exports could resume.  
Japan's positive list system for pesticid es, veterinary drugs and feed additives MRLs 
49. The representative of the United States reported th at in June 2005, Japan's Ministry of Health, 
Labor and Welfare (MHLW) had notified its final draft of thousands of new provisional maximum 
residue limits (MRLs) for over 700 pesticides, vete rinary drugs and feed additives covering all basic 
commodity groups..  The United States was grateful of having been consulted throughout the elaboration of this final draft and the developm ent of implementation plans for Japan's new food 
sanitation law.  In November 2005, the provision of  a six-month transition period before official 
enforcement of the provisional MRLs had been no tified by MHLW.  Without any reference to the 
final draft of June 2005 or in any subsequent notifi cation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) had announced in De cember 2005 the implementation and enforcement of 
the provisional MRLs on rice, wheat, barley and possibly other commodities.  The United States was concerned about the effect of these new MRLs on agri cultural exports to Japan and requested Japan to 
clarify its plans regarding the enforcement of these MRLs.  
50. The representative of China requested Japan  to provide a transitional period before 
implementing this positive list system, and noted that China had also put this item on the agenda.  The 
representative of Australia expressed appreciation fo r Japan's collaborative attitude when developing 
this comprehensive new positive list and noted that Jap an's private sector was also confused about the 
exact nature of the testing requirements announced  in December 2005 that were not included in the 
new positive list system of May 2005.  Australia enc ouraged Japan to provide some clarification to 
Members and Japanese importers. 
51. The representative of Japan clarified that, in  accordance with the amendment of the Food 
Sanitation Law of May 2003, the positive list system  for pesticides, veterinary drugs and feed 
additives in food would be implemented as of Ma y 2006 as had been officially announced in 
December 2005.  With regard to imports of rice, wheat and barley under the state-trading system, due 
to the delays for shipments to reach the domestic market and storage in Japan, Japan had introduced a 
new inspection system as of December 2005 in orde r to comply with the enforcement of the new 
positive list system at the end of May 2006.  From  August to October 2005, Japan had explained to 
governmental organizations of countries exporting rice, wheat and barley to Japan that the new 
inspection system was to be implemented in December 2005.   
(b) Issues previously raised 
EC's restrictions on cinnamon 
52. At the meeting of 24 October, under "Other  Business", and when the meeting resumed in 
February 2006, the representative of Sri Lanka re ported that his country had encountered problems 
with exports of Ceylon cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum)  to the European Communities, in 
particular to Germany, in November 2004 an d August 2005, on the grounds that the cinnamon 
contained sulphur dioxide (SO2) (G/SPS/GEN/597).  Directive No. 95/2/EC and its subsequent 
amendments on the import of foodstuffs listed conditionally permitted preservatives and additives G/SPS/R/39 
Page 12  
 
  including sulphur dioxides (SO2) and sulphites and maximum tolerated levels in a number of 
products, but not in cinnamon.  In cinnamon, SO 2 functioned as a preservative and an anti-browning 
agent. 
53. The chemical evaluation undertaken by th e FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food 
Additives (JECFA) in 1998 had shown that the use of SO2 in acceptable quantities as a food additive 
did not produce any adverse effects on human health.  The presence of a certain amount of SO2 as a 
food additive had also been permitted in Codex standards (since 1999) and EC standards.  SO2 
fumigation had been applied by the cinnamon indus try in Sri Lanka for many generations as an 
acceptable method to obtain a better colour and to  prevent fungus and insects, and as there was no 
direct application of sulphur to cinnamon, no residu al content of SO2 was expected to be present in 
the final product.  
54. The current EC restrictions would drastically reduce Sri Lanka’s exports to the EC market, 
and might also have an effect on Sri Lanka's exports  to other markets.  Sri Lanka was currently the 
world largest exporter of Ceylon cinnamon and cinnamon had become Sri Lanka's third largest 
agriculture export product after tea and coconut.  Over 210,000 poor rural people engaged in the 
cultivation and processing of cinnamon would be direc tly affected if no remedial measures were taken 
in the immediate future.   
55. Sri Lanka questioned the consistency of the EC measure with Article 3.3 of the SPS 
Agreement.  Although currently there was no interna tional standard specifically governing the use of 
SO2 in cinnamon either as a food preservative or anti-browning agent, the Codex General Standards 
for Food Additives indicated that the lack of reference to a particular  additive or to the use of an 
additive in a specific food did not imply  that the additive was unsafe or unsuitable for use in food.  
The fact that there was no international standard governing the use of SO2 in cinnamon did not justify 
the EC ban on imports of Sri Lankan cinnamon until an international standard was developed.  Sri 
Lanka queried whether the EC Scientific Committe e for Food had undertaken an assessment of the 
risk posed by Sri Lanka's cinnamon on human health;  what relevant economic factors, within the 
meaning of Article 5.3, had led the Eu ropean Communities to decide that a de facto  import ban was 
the appropriate level of protection required in this situation;  a nd if the European Communities had 
taken into account the objective of minimizing negative trade effects when determining the 
appropriate level of SPS protection as required by Ar ticle 5.4 of the SPS Agreement.  Since SO2 was 
tolerated as a food additive in other food items, Sri Lanka suggested there was scope for the European 
Communities to provide longer time-frames for Sri Lanka to comply with EC SPS measures on 
cinnamon, as provided for in Article 10.2 of the SPS Agreement.  Sri Lanka requested the European 
Communities to suspend its current de facto  ban while his country pursued the development of a 
Codex standard on MRLs for cinnamon.  Sri Lanka  also requested the SPS Committee to consider 
granting Sri Lanka a time-limited exception, as provid ed for in Article 10.3 of the SPS Agreement, to 
export cinnamon to the European Communities with  a SO2 content of 150 ppm until the maximum 
residue limit for SO2 in cinnamon were defined at the international level.  
56. The representative of China requested the Europ ean Communities to provide a risk analysis 
and safety assessment report and expressed hope the issue could be resolve through bilateral 
consultations. 
57. The representative of the Europ ean Communities recognized that cinnamon was an important 
cash crop for a large number of subsistence farmers in Sri Lanka.  No new measure had been taken, 
but the EC legislation on food additives and contaminants had no pr ovision for sulphur dioxide in 
cinnamon, and changing the legislation to allow SO 2 in cinnamon could be a lengthy process.  The 
European Commission had explored the possibility of  providing technical assistance to Sri Lanka to 
assist in the preparation of this dossier.  The Eu ropean Commission had brought EC member States’  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 13 
 
 
  attention to the need to approve SO2 as an add itive in cinnamon and encouraged member States to 
adapt their import policies pending the modification of the EC legislation. 
58. The representative of Codex confirmed that the use of SO2 as an additive was currently under 
discussion at step 3 in the framework of the C odex Committee on Food Additi ves and Contaminants 
(CCFAC).  Many additives were under discussions.  The pace of finalization of the discussions 
depended on contributions and view s of CCFAC participants.  Sulphur dioxide had been evaluated by 
the JECFA  in 1998 and was currently allowed on  a few commodities.  The CCFAC would meet the 
last week of April 2006, which provided an occas ion for Members to stress the importance and 
urgency of developing a MRL for SO2 in cinnamon. 
Thailand's Regulation 11 
59. The representative of the United States expr essed appreciation fo r Thailand's several 
extensions and eventual cancellation of im plementation of Decree 11, as notified in 
G/SPS/N/THA/116/Add.5.  However, the underlyi ng decree was still in place and its overall 
requirement that food must be proven to be safe through unspecified testing and certification 
processes remained of concern.  Extensive bila teral discussions had been held and Thailand was 
strongly encouraged to reconsider the framework of  the decree and to notify any changes sufficiently 
in advance for WTO Members to commen t before final decisions were made.  
60. The representative of Thailand clarified that, on the basis of comments by some Members, the 
requirements for a food health certificate had been withdrawn and the current review focussed on high 
risk food products.  This review would be b ased on scientific risk assessment.  Thailand was 
convinced that certifying healthy food on the basis of international standards was a way of facilitating 
trade.  Thailand was also willing to recognize th e equivalence of other measures on the basis of 
international guidelines.  
Australia's import restrictions on New Zealand apples 
61. The Ambassador of New Zealand informed the Committee that since this issue had been 
raised in June 2005, Australia had issued a new re vised draft import risk analysis for New Zealand 
apples.  This new revised draft allowed for the im port of New Zealand apples into Australia under 
certain conditions.  Australia had already pro posed a similar conditional access in response to 
previous requests without justifying the scientific basis of these conditions.  Fire blight disease had 
been used for the past 80 years as an excuse to prevent New Zealand access to the Australian market.  
Despite the findings of independent intern ational fire blight experts in  the Japan - Apples  case that 
symptom-less mature apples were not vectors for the transmission of fire blight, Australia required not 
only that orchards be inspected by their own officials and found free of fire blight, but also that apples 
be immersed in chlorine prior to export.  These me asures were unjustified.  Australia also prohibited 
imports of New Zealand apples into Western Au stralia because of apple scab disease, although 
another outbreak of apple scab had been reported in Western Australia at the time the revised draft 
import risk analysis had been released.  
62. New Zealand considered that Australia's biosecu rity import risk analysis process, based on an 
endless cycle of drafts and consultations, constitute d a disguised restriction on trade.  These undue 
delays created uncertainty about whether and when  the Australian Government would complete its 
import risk analysis.  New Zealand was considering every available option for resolving this issue.  
63. The representative of the United States stated th at there was an outstanding US request for 
access to the Australian market.  Given both the strong  science and the legal record established by the 
WTO dispute settlement process with regard to th e risk of transmitting fire blight via mature G/SPS/R/39 
Page 14  
 
  symptom-less apples, Australia should remove its unj ustified import prohibitions and ensure that its 
import requirements were based on science and consistent with the SPS Agreement.  
64. The representative of the European Communities recalled that in June  2005, Australia had 
suspended its import risk assessment for New Zealand apples pending a review in the light of the Japan-Apples case.  Then a new revised draft had been su bmitted for consideration.  The European 
Communities had similar experiences with Australia in trying to get access for chicken meat or pig 
meat.  Some progress had been made with regard  to pig meat and the European Communities was 
grateful that the Australian Government had defende d its import risk assessment on pig meat against a 
court case taken by pork producers.  
65. The representative of Australia stressed that a ll the relevant scientific information, including 
that considered in the Japan-Apples case, had been taken into account in the assessment of the risks 
from New Zealand apples.  The new draft report was available for comments until 30 March 2006.  
Australia encouraged any Members to provide any a dditional concerns or scientific information they 
might have.  After consideration of comments receive d, a final review of the draft report would be 
undertaken by an eminent group of scientists.  If th is group confirm that all relevant information has 
been taken into account in the analysis (inc luding stakeholder comments), the report and its 
recommendations on import conditions would be tran smitted to the Director of Animal and Plant 
Quarantine in Australia for a policy determinat ion.  The revised drat report took account of 
Australia’s level of protection (ALOP).  Fire bl ight was one of a number of pest and diseases of 
quarantine concern dealt with in the revised draft re port.  The report appropriately took into account 
the variations in the phytosanitary status of different  regions within Australia.  Australia expected to 
continue to work with New Zealand bilaterally to resolve this issue.  
EC deviation from international standard for wood packaging material 
66. The representative of the United States welcom ed the recent decision of the EC Standing 
Committee on Plant Health to further delay until 1 January 2009 the requirement that imported wood 
packaging material be debarked (Directive 2004/ 102).  The United States commended the European 
Communities for their commitment to work through the IPPC to address issues related to ISPM 15 
based on scientific evidence.  The United Stat es noted that when individual IPPC members 
unilaterally implement requirements for wood packagi ng material that have not been reviewed and 
approved through the IPPC standards-setting process, they risk disrupting global trade and unfairly 
penalize those countries that do respect their WTO obligations. 
67. The representative of Canada also expressed appreciation for the postponement of the 
debarking requirement.  Time should be granted in order to allow for a full review of this issue, 
including consideration of the technical justificati on for debarking by the IPPC’s Technical Panel on 
Forest Quarantine, with the goal of improving ha rmonization of measures.  Opening ISPM 15 for 
revision might be considered by the IPPC in Apr il 2006.  The representative of the Philippines noted 
that the Philippines continued to be interested in  monitoring further developments of this issue. 
68. The representative of the European Communitie s clarified that the implementation of 
ISPM 15 was not postponed, but only the debark ing requirement  The European Communities 
remained convinced of the technical and scientific basis of the debarking requirement and it had been 
difficult to agree to postpone meat.  This postpon ement decision resulted, in part, from previous 
discussions in the SPS Committee about the potential serious disruption of trade and the need to 
convince trading partners of the scientific and tech nical basis for this requirement.  The previous 
decision to postpone the entry into force of this requirement had been rightly highlighted by the 
Secretariat as a special and differential treatment  measure.  This second postponement was a similar 
recognition of the EC willingness to take account of the special needs of both developed and 
developing country trading partners.  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 15 
 
 
  US import restrictions on potted pl ants from the European Communities 
69. The representative of the European  Communities recalled that this  issue had been pursued in 
bilateral discussions for the past 25 years.  Specifi cally at issue was the request from Denmark and the 
Netherlands for approval of particular plant species ( Schlumbergera spp  and Rhipsalidosis spp  
respectively).  In April 2005, the United States has notified a draft rule on the "Importation of 
Christmas Cactus and Easter Cactus in Growing Media from the Netherlands and Denmark" 
(G/SPS/N/USA/1059) with a comment period ending in  June 2005.  Although efforts had been made 
to publish this regulation quickly, no final rule ha d been published to date.  The US authorities were 
invited to publish the final rule as soon as possible and to consider new applications for species with 
similar production systems or country pest status  as an extension of the existing proposed rule. 
70. The representative of the United States noted that since June 2005, the United States had 
conducted a thorough review of all comments received  and had begun drafting a final regulation.  No 
revisions to the proposed rule were currently being considered in order to avoid any delays in the 
publication of the final rule, however it was not po ssible to give a specific time-frame for such a 
publication.  In addition, the United States was al so considering changes to its entire regulatory 
framework for import measures affecting plants in growing media, as notified in G/SPS/N/USA/1043 
in March 2005.  Comments on this notification were  currently being reviewed.  The United States 
would ensure that any modification to the existi ng regulations would meet both the plant health 
protection requirements and the requirements of the SPS Agreement.  
Japan's import restrictions on EC expor ts of plants an d animal products 
71. The representative of the European Communities reported that some progress had been made 
in consultations between Japan a nd some EC member States, and that these dialogues would continue 
on the outstanding issues. 
72. The representative of Japan noted that, with rega rd to the request to lift import bans or ease 
SPS measures on animal and plants products, risk as sessments based on scientific  evidence had been 
carried out.  Where the objective assessments show ed that the proposed measure met Japan’s 
appropriate level of protection, import bans had been lifted or SPS measures eased.  The content and 
amount of data necessary for the risk assessment differed among species and according to regional conditions, so the duration of the assessment varied accordingly.  If the European Communities could 
be more specific about their concerns, Japan  would try to address these through bilateral 
consultations. 
Venezuela's restrictions on imports  of potatoes, onions, fertilized  eggs, day-old chicks and meat 
products 
73. The representative of Canada indicated that this issue was of long duration and frustration.  It 
concerned the discretionary policy of the Venezuel an authorities in the issuance of import permits.  
Under the WTO rules, issuance of import perm its was automatic unless there were underlying SPS 
concerns.  Canadian table potatoes, onions and pork were being refused without any rationale.  
Although a promising bilateral meeting had been held after the March 2005 Committee meeting, the 
promises had not been realized.  Unless Venezuel a had identified legitimate SPS concerns, it should 
expeditiously issue import licenses for agricultura l products from Canada on an automatic basis. 
74. The representative of the United States reported that his country was also concerned about the 
lack of progress on this issue as US exports of ye llow corn, oilseeds and dairy products had been 
affected by the restrictions put in place by Venezuela. G/SPS/R/39 
Page 16  
 
  75. The representative of Venezuela noted that a number of the request Canada had made in 
March had been addressed, and Venezuela had issued  permits to import Canadian pork and potatoes.  
Venezuelan technicians were preparing a visit to Canada to inspect potatoes to be exported to 
Venezuela.  Venezuela was willing to carry out a dditional bilateral meetings to find a mutually 
satisfactory solution to Canada’s concerns. 
Indonesia's FMD-related restrictions  
76. The representative of Argentina recalled that Indonesia’s unjustified restrictions on meat 
products had been raised at the past four meeti ngs of the Committee.  Indonesia required the country 
of origin to be FMD-free for 12 months prior to shipment and without vaccination for three years, which was inconsistent with the OIE.  Indonesia had indicated its willingness to move forward with 
bilateral negotiations, however no response had been received to Argentina's invitation for Indonesian 
health authorities to inspect the entire Arge ntine production chain for meat in March. 
77. The representative of Brazil explained that Braz il also encountered difficulties with barriers 
that Indonesia applied without sufficient scientific basis.  Brazil was gratef ul that Indonesia had 
removed its barrier for one Brazilian product followi ng bilateral meetings, but restrictions remained 
on products such as heat-processed meats although the technology protected the product from FMD 
infection.  Brazil requested that Indonesia immediately withdraw these unjustified barriers. 
78. The representative of Indonesia clarified that  Indonesian had a policy of maximum security 
for imported products of animal origin based on tw o criteria, animal health and veterinary public 
health.  The overall objectives of these policies were to maintain Indonesia’s status as a country free 
from all major diseases such as FMD and BSE, and to pr otect consumers' health and spiritual comfort 
through assuring the safety of animals distributed in Indonesia.  Risk analyses were undertaken 
through a review of any informa tion related to any animal disease, as well as the sanitary practices of 
exporting countries.  For Indonesia, it was highly important that the process also respect Hallal procedures for Muslim consumers. 
79. Indonesia also undertook an on site review of poten tial exporters in order to collect direct and 
detailed information on, inter alia , the implementation of quality assurance system and food safety 
systems for food as a prerequisite for import author ization.  In December 2005, Indonesia had notified 
Argentina of its intention to visit Argentina in order to undertake an on site review.  Indonesia was 
still waiting for a positive response on this important issue. 
Panama's restrictions on dairy products 
80. The representative of Argentina stated that  since March 2004 Panama  applied unjustified 
requirements on imports of dairy products.  Alth ough it had been agreed in October 2004 that 
Panamanian officials would visit dairy plants in Argentina, this had not occurred.  As various 
Members had noted previously, Panama's unjustified requirements were not only technical but also of 
a bureaucratic nature.  For instance, companies wish ing to export to Panama were required to be 
registered in Panama and the veterinary evalua tion services of an exporting country had to be 
authenticated by the Panamanian competent authorit ies, supposedly to avoid "ghost companies".  As a 
major beef exporter, Argentina had a long traditi on of exporting to more than 90 markets, and a 
traceability system for its meat.  No ghost company could operate in these conditions.  In bilateral 
meetings, Panamanian officials had recognized the efforts undertaken by Argentina to control FMD 
and had stated that opening of the market was very close.  Argentina reiterated its request that Panama 
bring its regulations into line with the OIE code, remove the bureaucratic barriers to market access 
and be transparent about its administration procedures.  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 17 
 
 
  81. The representative of Brazil recalled that Br azil recently had problems relating to the 
administrative procedures established by Panama for certain Brazilian products.  The amount of 
requirements resulted in excessive administrative de lays.  The representative of Costa Rica recalled a 
trade concern related to undue delay in the inspecti on of dairy plants by Panama and reported that 
fruitful bilateral consultations had led to the re-est ablishment of the trade by several Costa Rican dairy 
producers.  Costa Rica hoped that products from Cost a Rican dairy plants still undergoing inspection 
would soon have access to Panama. 
82. The representative of Panama clarified that th e sanitary risk assessment methodology used by 
Panama was in full compliance with both the SPS Ag reement and the OIE standards.  Panama had 
never asked exporting countries to declare their FMD-free status.  Compliance with Panama's 
requirements for the export of dairy products was not limited to the inspection of certain dairy 
processing plants but required the exporting country to objectively demonstrate this compliance.  
Once Panama would have received the informat ion demonstrating Argentina's compliance with 
Panama's requirements, a risk analysis would be carri ed out in order to re-establish the trade in dairy 
products.   
83. The representative of Argentina reported that da iry products were allowed to enter Panama 
only if the exporting country was FMD-free without vaccination, which exceeded OIE 
recommendations.  Argentina had sent all the information required by Panama although new 
requirements were regularly being identified. 
84. The representative of the OIE observed that OI E standards were developed by experts and 
agreed and adopted by the international community  of all OIE member countries.  The OIE was not 
involved in the policing of these standards, but strongly encouraged member countries to base their 
national measures on them.  Any member country be lieving that a standard was inadequate had the 
opportunity to request the OIE to review the standard .  Members were free to use the standards in the 
way they believed suitable for their situation as long as they could justify any departure from the 
standard. 
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received 
Thailand's temporary suspension of importati on of live poultry and poultry carcasses from the 
state of Durango, Mexico (G/SPS/N/THA/126) 
85. The representative of Mexico requested Thaila nd to conclude the emergency measures which 
had led to the temporary suspension of imports of live poultry and poultry carcases from the Mexican 
state of Durango.  The strain of avian influenza (AI)  detected in the Mexican poultry products (H5N2) 
was low pathogenic.  Thailand's measures were not compliant with Chapter 2.7.12 of the OIE 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code on avian infl uenza.  In accordance with the OIE, prior to 
implementing such measures, Thailand should have  demonstrated that it was free of the low 
pathogenic strain at issue and that it had put in pl ace a monitoring programmes able to detect this type 
of subtype despite the absence of clinical symp toms.  Mexico's programme for AI control and 
eradication, which had been in force for ten years, ensured the eradication of all subtypes of AI.  The 
state of Durango had complied with all the OIE requi rements to regain a disease -free status in the case 
of a low pathogenic AI infection and was AI-free fo r all subtypes.  Thailand should therefore remove 
its temporary restrictions, established in 2005. 
86. The representative of Thailand indicated that  the Thai sanitary authorities had found it 
necessary to adopt a precautionary approach sin ce Thailand had also experienced AI outbreaks over 
the last two years.  Active surveillance had been put in place to control an d eradicate the disease.  
Areas at risk had been scanned and movements of poultry and poultry products within the country G/SPS/R/39 
Page 18  
 
  were under control.  Thailand had temporarily  banned some Mexican poultry exports from the 
infected state only.  
Costa Rica's phytosanitary requirements on fresh  oranges from Nicaragua (G/SPS/N/CRI/43) 
87. The representative of Nicaragua reported that in mid-2005, further to outbreaks of the disease 
Citrus leprosis  in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, competent authorities from both countries had put in 
place a bi-national technical team responsible for th e prevention and eradication of the disease as well 
as the maintenance of citrus leprosis -free areas.  As a result, bot h national territories were under 
official control and the team had confirmed the presence of the citrus leprosis in the south of Costa 
Rica and in the north of Nicaragua, as well as the citrus leprosis -free status of south Nicaragua.  South 
Nicaragua was where the commercial citrus fruits groves for export were located.  A bi-national 
commission aimed at ensuring the continuity of both  production and marketing of fresh citrus fruit 
between the two countries had also been established.   
88. In assessing the risk of importing fresh orang es from Nicaragua, Costa Rica should have 
taken into consideration the scientific evidence av ailable and the prevalence of the same disease in 
their own territory.  The risk analysis by Costa Ri ca indicated mature fruits were not the pathway for 
the spread of the disease, hence imported fruits, wh ich were mature, did not present any phytosanitary 
risk.  No information was given on internal measures  by Costa Rica to avoid the spread of the disease 
from the south to the north of Costa Rica.  The adoption by Costa Rica of an emergency prohibition 
on imports from Nicaragua was not justified and mo re than required to maintain Costa Rica's 
appropriate phytosanitary level of protection. 
89. The representative of Costa Rica indicated that th e technical details of Nicaragua's concerns 
had only been received and would be  conveyed to the appropriate authorities.  The purpose of Costa 
Rica's notification was to facilitate trade between  the two countries.  Nicaragua complied with the 
requirements as its fresh oranges originated from a pest-free area and Costa Rica had not prohibited 
oranges entering from Nicaragua. 
(d) Information on Resolution of Issues 
90. The Chairman recalled the importance of providing reports on the resolution of issues in order 
to better track the effectiveness of the operation of the Agreement.  
Argentina's import restrictions on semen and bovine embryos due to BSE  
91. The representative of the Europ ean Communities reported that Argentina’s import restrictions 
on bovine semen and embryos due to  BSE had recently been lifted and that some EC member States 
had already benefited from this change. 
IV. OPERATION OF TRANSPARENCY PROVISIONS 
92. The Chairman drew attention to the most recent list of national notification authorities 
contained in G/SPS/NNA/9; the most recent lis t of national enquiry points contained in 
G/SPS/ENQ/19;  an update of Members' implementati on of the transparency provisions contained in 
G/SPS/GEN/27/Rev.15 and notifications received since the last meeting of the SPS Committee 
summarized, on a monthly basis, in G/SPS/GEN/590, G/SPS/GEN/592, G/SPS/GEN/593 and Corr.1, 
G/SPS/GEN/598, G/SPS/GEN/603, G/SPS/GEN/614 and G/SPS/GEN/616.  Although two Members had recently notified an enquiry point and/or a na tional notification authority, there were still 19 
Members who had not complied with these requirements.  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 19 
 
 
  93. The Secretariat reported on the development of the SPS information management system 
(SPS-IMS).  All the specifications and technical d escriptions were now completed and most of the 
structure and functions had been installed on the WTO server and tested.  The Secretariat was now working out the transfer of all historic and current SPS documents, including notifications, GEN 
documents, reports of the Committee meetings and  specific trade concerns.  The SPS-IMS would be 
integrated into the overall WTO management sy stem including documents online and the central 
registry of notifications.  It was expected that by the end of the year the SPS-IMS would be accessible 
for Members to search all types of SPS documen ts and produce reports.  Eventually, the SPS-IMS 
would also enable Members to enter their notifications electronically online. 
94. The representative of Cuba suggested that Me mbers be provided with a general overview of 
the database at the March workshop, so that both de legates from capitals and those participating in the 
workshop would become more familiar with it. 
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
95. At the meeting of 24 October 2005, the re presentatives of Cuba, Egypt, Kenya and India 
stressed that the Committee should fi rst focus future work on the orig inal proposals and any revisions 
to these and consider the elements identified in pa ragraph 43 of the Report on Special and Differential 
Treatment (G/SPS/35) as complementary to the di scussions on the proposals.  Revisions to the 
original proposals were being developed and would hopefully be submitte d in advance of the 
February meeting. 
96. The representative of the United States recalle d that G/SPS/35, adopted by the Committee in 
June 2005, reflected the lengthy and careful delib erations of the Committee.  Section 7 of the 
document, in particular, clearly set out the approach that the Committee should follow. 
97. The representative of India, referring to the sixt h bullet point of paragraph 43(d) of G/SPS/35, 
mentioned that the integration of SPS capacity-buildi ng into national developmen t plans should be left 
for national governments to decide and requested cl arifications on was what meant by that language.  
The representative of Kenya emphasized that the A frican Group had not commented on paragraph 43 
of G/SPS/35 because the African Group thought it s hould first revise its proposals and then assess 
how the actions identified in para graph 43 could help address the con cerns identified in the revised 
proposals. 
(a) Chairman's report on the informal meeti ng and on special and differential treatment 
98. The Chairman reported that the informal mee ting on special and differential treatment (S&D) 
held on 30 January 2006 had focused on the prop osals referred by the General Council, possible 
elements for further work by the Committee iden tified in G/SPS/35 and Members' experience under 
the new G/SPS/33 procedure on transparency. 
S&D proposals referred by the General Council
 
 99. With regard to the proposals referred by the General Council, the representatives of Egypt, 
Kenya and Cuba had recalled the mandate which th e Committee had to discharge when reporting to 
the General Council by December 2006.  They had re ferred to paragraph 44 of  the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration, in which it was agreed that all S& D provisions would be reviewed with a view to 
strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational;  and to paragraph 12.1 
of the Doha Decision on Implementa tion-Related Issues and Concerns. 
100. Several developing country Members had expressed  the view that discussion of the elements 
in paragraph 43 of document G/SPS/35 should not replace discussion of the proposals referred by the G/SPS/R/39 
Page 20  
 
  General Council.  The proposals were still valid an d the recommendations of paragraph 43 did not 
reflect all the concerns of developing country Memb ers.  In G/SPS/35 the Committee had also agreed 
to further discuss these proposals.  Kenya, had stated that, inter alia , the lack of progress of 
discussions on the proposals had prevented the African Group from preparing revisions to their 
proposals.  These revisions were expected to refl ect on the consensus achieved within the Committee 
on some of the issues raised in the proposals. 
101. The European Communities, recalling the shor t time available before December 2006, had 
expressed disappointment that no revised proposals had yet been submitted.  A number of Members 
had considered that the work programme described in paragraph 43 provided a very good basis for 
identifying practical ways to address the underlying concerns of the developing country Members.  If 
these were not addressed, there was an urgent need  for developing country Members to clearly 
identify other underlying concerns.  Until revised versions of the proposals were available, 
discussions should focus on adding substance to the recommendations in paragraph 43.  The European 
Communities had noted, as one example, that ther e were concerns that the technical assistance 
provided did not address the real needs of developing country Members;  it was the recipient countries 
that were in the best position to make sp ecific suggestions to address this issue. 
102. Canada had questioned the requests of some developing country Members to make certain 
provisions of the SPS Agreement binding altho ugh these provisions had never been invoked.  
Although Mexico recognized that provisions of th e SPS Agreement which had not been used might 
still be of concern, before requesting that some  provisions be made mandatory, developing country 
Members should think about why these provisions sh ould be mandatory and the implications for all 
Members.  The five groups of recommendations laid out in paragraph 43 addr essed many of Mexico's 
concerns and it was of fundamental importance to Mexico that the Committee start discussing these 
recommendations without delay. 
103. The European Communities had noted that althou gh the special and differential treatment it 
granted was very specific and targeted, the recomme ndations in document G/SPS/35 could only be of 
a general nature to cover all situations.  The Eu ropean Communities had expressed the view that many 
elements of the original proposals had been taken into account in paragraph 43, and those not included 
would require changes in the text of the SPS Agreement.  Although the European Communities 
considered that the Committee had agreed to not pr opose changes to the text of the SPS Agreement, 
Kenya disagreed and maintained that changes might be needed to fulfil the mandate of paragraph 44 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. 
Elements for actions by the SPS Committee
 
104. Several Members had noted that some steps had already been taken to address some of these 
elements.  In response to a question about the progress of the establishment of enquiry points and national notification authorities in developing count ry Members, the Secretariat had informed the 
Committee about a JITAP programme aimed at strengt hening the national enquiry points of sixteen 
African countries.  There was also an STDF project  underway to identify practical mechanisms to 
manage the flows of SPS-related information recei ved by a Member, not only from the notifications 
but also from the IPPC, OIE and Codex contact point s.  In addition, a number of bilateral activities 
were providing aid specifically to enquiry points a nd notification authorities in developing country 
Members. 
105. Chile and Cuba had mentioned that Members'  answers to the questionnaires on technical 
assistance requested and delivered, circulated by the Secretariat were an important source of 
information about bilateral technical assistance programmes.  These questionnaires, along with the 
sharing of information on bilateral technical assi stance experiences, could be of help to other 
developing country Members with similar technical assistance needs.  They ha d also noted that the  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 21 
 
 
  recommendations of paragraph 43 were  very broad and needed to be attributed deadlines in order to 
be turned into action plans.   
106. Kenya had asked for clarification on how the elements of the recommendations proposed in 
paragraph 43 had been identified.  Recommendation (a) for instance, dealt with transparency, an issue 
that was already discussed by th e Committee on an ongoing basis.  I had noted that despite many 
workshops on transparency-related topics, some Members still had never notified any measure since 
1995.  The Secretariat had clarified that doc ument G/SPS/35 was a decision adopted by the 
Committee.  The content of paragraph 43 reflected the issues that Members had identified to be of 
concern to developing country Members.  For in stance, recommendation 43(a) was trying to address 
the fact that many developing country Members were  not able to keep track of the ever-increasing 
number of notifications circulated, an issue directly linked to the lack of use of the G/SPS/33 
mechanism.  Recommendation 43(d) was trying to identify mechanisms to ensure that technical 
assistance provided was targeted to developing country Members’ needs.  
107. Referring to recommendations 43(a) and (b ) addressing problems with the flow of 
notifications, the United States had suggested the possi bility that international trade databases – such 
as that of the International Trade Center – could be  consulted to identify whether a notification had an 
effect on a Member's products. 
Review of G/SPS/33  
108. The Chairman had reminded Members that when  the Committee had adopted the procedure to 
enhance transparency of S&D treatment (G/SPS/33), it had agreed to review the procedure after one 
year.  Members were invited to report on their experience with this procedure and the Committee 
would need to make a decision on the pursuance or modification of the procedure. 
109. The European Communities had mentioned that  it was the only Member to have notified 
under the G/SPS/33 procedure, although it was not unco mmon for the delay before the application of 
a measure to be extended following a specific request from a developing country Member.  The European Communities had observed that many developing country Members apparently had 
difficulties anticipating the effect of a measure at the drafting stage;  when comments were received 
from developing country Members, it was mostly after the measure had been put in place.  At that stage, it was much more difficult to provide any fl exibility.  Issues identified in paragraph 43(a) and 
(b) of G/SPS/35 were directly linked to this problem. 
110. China had suggested that to help developing co untry Members keep track of the measures of 
interest to them, Members should more often notify wh en a measure was actually implemented.  Cuba  
had noted that the SPS database that the Secretariat was developing could be a useful tool for 
developing country Members to analyze notifications  properly and in a timely fashion.  Several 
developing country Members had emphasized the need to strengthen Members' enquiry points and the 
coordination between the various governmental agencies involved. 
111. Taking into account the fact that the G/SPS/33 procedure had been sparsely used, at the 
informal meeting Members were of the view that one year was too short a period to assess its 
usefulness.  It was suggested th at the Committee agree to extend th e procedure as is, and review its 
operation by the first meeting of the Committee in 2 008.  It was recalled that Members could, at any 
meeting, raise any issue related to the procedure under the agenda items on Special and Differential 
Treatment or Transparency. G/SPS/R/39 
Page 22  
 
  (b) Consideration of further actions by the Committee (G/SPS/35) 
112. The Secretariat provided a draft programme fo r the special workshop on the implementation 
of the SPS Agreement originally scheduled for October 2005, but postponed to 31 March 2006.  The workshop would focus on some specific actions that  might be taken at the national level to make 
better use of the SPS Agreement.  The results from an STDF-funded project on effective national 
SPS-related coordinating bodies and ways to screen and make use of the notifications would be 
presented at the March workshop.  Funding for the workshop was coming from  the WTO Global 
Trust Fund. 
113. The representative of the European Communiti es reported that the European Communities 
was in discussions with the African Caribb ean and Pacific (ACP) countries on a European 
development fund for 2008-2013.  The core of the discussions would be th e Millennium development 
goals.  This fund was mentioned in relation to th e discussions on whether aid should be donor driven 
or needs driven.  The European  Communities encouraged ACP countries to use this opportunity to 
submit ideas to address their SPS concerns. 
114. The representative of Cuba encouraged Member s to make counter-proposals to those put 
forward by the African Group and other Members.  Wo rk on the basis of the suggestions in paragraph 
43 could not substitute for an analysis of the speci fic proposals put forward by developing countries 
and primary attention should be given to these pr oposals to achieve concrete recommendations by 
December 2006.  Nothing concrete or specific had co me out of the previous informal discussions and 
there was a need for more focussed discussions. 
115. The representative of Canada noted that a lthough paragraph 43 might not encompass all of 
the underlying concerns that the proponents of the various proposals have been trying to address, it 
provided a constructive basis for practical discuss ions which should be particularly useful for 
developing and least-developed country Members.  To encourage practical and focussed discussion on 
solving real S&D-related  problems, Canada proposed  that the points identified in paragraph 43 of the 
report be included as a standing agenda item for future Committee meetings.  
116. The representatives of Mexico and of Barbados  observed that it was clear from paragraph 44 
of G/SPS/35 that the Committee did not establish any priority between consideration of proposals 
from certain Members and paragraph 43.  Both forms of actions could proceed in parallel, neither one 
should be a condition for discussing the other.  The re presentative of the United  States recalled that 
some Members had indicated their intention to revi se some of the proposals, and suggested it could be 
helpful to know the status of these revised proposal s prior to the meeting.  The representative of New 
Zealand noted that the actual deadline to propose recommendations was June 2006. 
117. The Committee agreed to hold an informal mee ting on special and differential treatment prior 
to the March regular meeting of the Committee.  He proposed a format for the informal meeting 
which outlined the balance that would be required for these issues. 
(c) Review of implementation of G/SPS/33 
118. The Committee adopted
 the Decision to extend the Procedure to Enhance Transparency of 
Special and Differential Treatment in Favour  of Developing Countries (G/SPS/33/Add.1).  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 23 
 
 
  VI. EQUIVALENCE  (ARTICLE 4) 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences  
119. No information was provided by Members on their experiences in seeking or granting 
recognition of equivalence.  
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
120. The representative of the IPPC had reported at  the June 2005 Committee meeting that the 
Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures ha d adopted an international standard for 
phytosanitary measures on Guidelin es for the Determination and Recognition of Equivalence of 
Phytosanitary Measures.  Recognizing the impor tance placed on this subject, an explanatory 
document had been developed to support th is standard and was near completion. 
VII. REGIONALIZATION (ARTICLE 6) 
(a) Report on informal meeting on regionalization 
121. The Chairman observed that a number of Member s had requested that an "enhanced" informal 
meeting be organized on regionalization.  This was done, and the Committee had heard presentations 
on their experiences from 15 Members:  European Communities, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, Colombia, 
Argentina, Peru, the Netherlands, Germany, Cana da, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Egypt and the United 
States.  The Committee also benefited from presen tations from representatives of the OIE and the 
IPPC. 
122. Many presentations had provided details rega rding importing and exporting Members’ 
experience with implementing the concept of re gionalization.  From the exporting Members’ 
perspective, investments in obtaining, and mainta ining, recognition of pest- or disease-free status 
could be substantial and require considerable time.  Many Members had noted the difficulty in 
committing to such long-term and sustained investme nts if recognition by their trading partners is 
unpredictable. 
123. From the importing Members’ perspective, ri sks associated with potential introduction of 
pests and diseases merited cautious approaches to re cognition of pest- or disease free status.  Many 
Members stressed that over time and through repeated interactions, mutual trust between trading 
partners could increase, thus substantially fac ilitating bilateral recognition of pest- or disease-free 
status.  In addition, experience with high quality ve terinary and plant health services and effective 
monitoring and surveillance of the exporting Memb er enhanced an importing Member’s willingness 
to recognize promptly pest- or disease-free status. 
124. The Chairman identified four themes which ha d arisen in presentations and were further 
developed in the Committee discussions:  (a) the re cognition of regions by international standards-
setting bodies and by Members;  (b) procedures a nd guidelines for the implementation of recognition 
of the concept of regionalization;  (c) predic tability (or undue delays) and (d) transparency. 
125. With regard to the current and proposed rec ognition by the international standards-setting 
bodies (ISSBs), the ways in which recognition by the OIE or IPPC affected bilateral recognition of 
pest- or disease-free status was highlighted as an importa nt area in need of further clarification.  Both 
the OIE and IPPC had described recent work within their organizations which was in direct response 
to requests from the SPS Committee for guidance in this  area.  Given the relevance of the work being 
carried out by the ISSBs, some Members indicated that it might be useful to further coordinate 
understandings of work by the OIE and IPPC at the next SPS Committee meeting with a view to G/SPS/R/39 
Page 24  
 
  avoiding duplication of efforts.  The IPPC had highlighted a series of questions which would be 
considered by a working group on the feasibility of  international recognition of pest-free areas.  
Several Members had noted that input from the OI E on these questions, particul arly those relating to 
legal issues, might also be useful.  
126. Regarding the second theme, procedures and guidelines, Members had recalled the long 
history of discussion in the Committee on this topi c.  Some Members recognized that harmonization 
of procedures in this area, including the clarifi cation of roles, could improve the recognition process, 
enhance predictability and thus facilitate the im plementation of Article 6.  Some Members had 
suggested that as a first step in development of th is type of guidance, the Committee could distinguish 
between administrative and scientific steps in the r ecognition procedures.  Others had noted the inter-
relationship between administrative and technical issu es, and the difficulty of trying to separate these.  
Several Members had called for the establishment of a working group, with the assistance of the 
Secretariat, to consider the devel opment of administrative guidelines.  
127. The issue of predictability, or undue delays, had received significant attention from Members 
in the informal meeting as well as in other r ecent Committee discussions on regionalization.  A 
number of Members continued to stress the ne ed for the development of timeframes by the 
Committee, particularly given the need to predict future benefits when considering investments in 
human resources and infrastructure.  Other Members had noted that the issue of administrative delays arises horizontally across many different aspects of Committee discussions, including in the context 
of the Review of the Implementation of the SPS Ag reement, and therefore argued that this issue 
merited a broader discussion.  Japan had reiterate d its opposition to the establishment of timeframes 
for the recognition of regionalization. 
128. Under the theme of transparency, several issu es had arisen in the discussions, including 
Chile’s proposal for notification of requests for recognition of pest- or disease-free status.  The 
European Communities had also highlighted the need  to enhance confidence between trading partners, 
and in this regard encouraged the OIE to advance in  its work on the evaluation of veterinary services.  
The United States had noted that it used the current  notification procedures to inform Members of 
actions on Article 6.  The IPPC had highlighted the possible development of a database which would 
collect data on recognized pest-free areas and areas of low pest prevalence .  The Chairman had 
encouraged Members to consider what types of tran sparency would be useful in clarifying timeframes 
and building confidence. 
129. Unfortunately, the Committee had ran out of ti me to continue the animated discussion on 
regionalization at the informal meeting.  The Ch airman had suggested that  Members should work 
together in various configurations to identify ways to address the concer ns that were discussed, and to 
seek ways for the Committee to move forward on this issue. 
130. The Secretariat would prepare a document summarizing  the key elements of the presentations 
with a compendium of all the presentations (G/SPS/R/38).  
(b) Discussion of issues related to the operation of the provisions of Article 6 
131. The representative of Brazil mentioned that a numbe r of Members were interested in formally 
setting up a working group, with the involvement of the Secretariat, to draft a proposal for guidelines to enhance the application of Article 6. 
132. In response to queries, the Secretariat noted  that the Committee's Rules of Procedures 
(G/SPS/1), based on those of the General Council, made provisions for special meetings of the 
Committee but no reference to working groups.  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 25 
 
 
  133. Many Members suggested a working group could group progress in the development of 
guidelines and avoid the multiplication of proposals.  Cuba proposed that the working group consider 
predictability, transparency and the strengthening of the Committee’s relations with the international 
standard-setting bodies. 
134. Other Members considered a formal worki ng group unnecessary for the development of 
guidelines without time-frames.  Should a working gr oup be established, its te rms of reference should 
clearly limit its scope to guidance in respect to the existing Article 6 provisions.  
135. The Chairman observed that the Committee’s di scussions had evolved around the issue of 
whether a procedure or a guideline was technical or administrative, scientifically-based, whether a 
time-frame could be associated with it and how that  time-frame would be established, but there had 
been no focussed discussion on procedures.  Wit hout an understanding of the nature of those 
procedures, it could be difficult to set time-frames.  The OIE and IPPC had worked expeditiously to 
develop guidelines at the request of the Co mmittee, and the Committee could examine those 
guidelines to better understand the process leading to a decision of recognition of regionalization.  
Members could also compare their own procedures of  recognition with those of the IPPC and OIE to 
determine gaps and overlaps.  These comparisons, as well as four elements identified by the 
Chairman, could serve as the focus of discussions in March. 
136. Many Members were of the view that the work of the OIE and IPPC was sufficiently mature 
to permit the Committee to discuss procedures.  They considered that the four issues identified by the 
Chairman, similar to those identified by Cuba, pr ovided a good basis to identify the main steps 
Members should follow in determining regionalizati on.  This  exercise would help identify if 
additional work was needed from the OIE and the I PPC.  The representatives of Argentina and Brazil 
emphasized that agreement on time-frames was the onl y way to solve the issue of undue delays.  The 
European Communities suggested the submissions from the OIE and IPPC could help assess to what 
extent the standard-setting bodies could provide gui dance to the SPS Committe e.  However, several 
Members noted that the IPPC work towards intern ational recognition of pest-free areas was slow and 
fraught with problems, while the results of OIE work were mixed. 
137. The United States, New Zealand and Australia re called that fundamental issues pertaining to 
regionalization, including those listed by the IPPC in Annex 1 of G/SPS/GEN/626, were under 
discussion in the OIE and IPPC.  The resolution of these issues could prov ide guidance for the 
development of an effective response to regionali zation problems.  The representative of Korea noted 
that Article 6 had to be balanced with Article 2, and Members needed to determined the confidence to 
put in the standard-setting bodies. 
138. The representative of Mexico stressed that the goal was to achieve a common understanding 
how Article 6 should be applied, and discussions should be as transparent and inclusive as possible.  
He suggested that the new proposals on regionalizati on should be considered at the next meeting, as 
this discussion could lead to some convergence of views. 
139. Some Members requested the Secretariat to  prepare a document for the March meeting 
including a compilation of all the ideas and proposal s received from Members, the OIE and IPPC and 
a flow chart with steps to help reach a common under standing of the way Article 6 should be applied.  
The Chairman recalled that the Secretariat had agr eed to prepare a report of the enhanced informal 
meeting that  would include summaries of each of  the 15 presentations, as well as a list of all 
documents relating to regionalization from Memb ers and Observers.  Should time permit, the 
Secretariat would prepare a background paper as requested. 
140. Several Members invited any Members interested to work with them to draft clear guidelines 
for the application of Article 6, building on the steps identified in the documents submitted, the G/SPS/R/39 
Page 26  
 
  concerns voiced by Members, and the four elements  identified by the Chairman.  The document could 
include more contributions from Members in the fu ture and should be submitted to the Committee for 
the June meeting. 
(c) Information from observer organizations regarding their work on regionalization 
141. The representative of the OIE  stated that OIE was keen to advance the development of 
standards for regionalization.  The OIE mandate wa s to develop and publish international standards 
but not to police the implementation of standards.   The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code and 
Aquatic Animal Health Code chapters on z oning and compartmentalization were adopted 
international standards on regionaliza tion that should form part of the basis for discussions.  To date, 
no comments on the existing international standards ha d been received by the OIE.  These standards 
resulted from discussions in the SPS Committee during 2005, and they contained guidance to Member 
countries on how to establish a region or zone or  compartment, and how to pursue agreement on 
distinct disease status with trading partners.  Progress on the standards could only occur through 
contributions from Members.  By March, both th e Terrestrial Code Commission and the Aquatic 
Code Commission would have held meetings at  which comments from Member countries on those 
standards would be addressed.  The OIE General S ession in May provided another occasion to discuss 
those standards. 
142. The representative of the OIE noted that doc ument G/SPS/GEN/625 described OIE's activities 
in zoning and compartmentalization.  OIE co nsidered these concepts as synonymous with 
regionalization because they all involved separation of  subpopulations of animals based on a distinct 
health status.  Subpopulation coul d be separated by natural or artif icial barriers or, in the case of 
compartments, by management.  OIE was currently gave official recognition for four diseases.  The 
General Session in May would discuss future OIE activ ities in this regard and with regard to the 
evaluation of veterinary services.  OIE had been  asked to identify the options for progressing on 
regionalization and the implications including res ource and legal implications for discussion at the 
May General Session.  The IPPC list in Annex 1 of  G/SPS/GEN/626 laid out many of the issues.  OIE 
was developing further concepts of compartmentalizati on that could be a valuable tool for developing 
countries to improve their disease status. 
143. The representative of the IPPC reported that at th e last ISPM meeting, top priority was given 
to the development of a generic standard on the r ecognition of pest-free areas.  The draft standard 
developed by the Expert Working Group in Oct ober 2005 recommended a procedure that could be 
followed.  It would be reviewed by the Standards Committee in May, then be circulated for country 
consultation in June.  The Standards Committee wo uld meet in November 2006, and the standard 
would be presented for adoption at the meeting of the CPM in April 2007. 
144. The IPPC was also doing a feasibility study on the international recognition of pest-free areas.  
A focus group had met in July 2005 and developed the terms of reference for a working group to 
undertake the feasibility study (Annex 1 of G/SPS/ GEN/626).  These would be presented for adoption 
at the first CPM in April 2006.  
145. The representative of Chinese Taipei reminded th e Committee and the IPPC that the opinions 
of Members who might not be able to participate in  the technical drafting should also be taken into 
account.  when developing international standards on regionalization.  He encouraged OIE to also 
provide an equal opportunity for all Members to participate in the development of international 
standards.  The representative of OIE noted that Chinese Taipei participated in OIE activities and 
several Chinese Taipei experts were members of OIE expert groups. 
146. The representative of Codex observed that regionali zation was not particularly relevant in the 
protection of consumer health as measures taken to  protect the health of people applied everywhere  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 27 
 
 
  and were not related to a notion of prevalence.  Codex had guidelines for risk analysis application 
within Codex but did not provide guidance to govern ments on risk management and risk analysis in 
general.  Guidelines for the application of HACCP were part of the Codex general principles of food 
hygiene.  The concept of regionalization had b een discussed in the Committee on Food Hygiene in 
relation to prevalence of microbiological pat hogens, and would be taken into account when 
developing principles and guidelines for microbiological risk management. 
VIII.  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION 
(a) Information from the Secretariat 
147. The Secretariat reported on the five regional workshops which had been held since the 
June 2005 meeting.  The first, which had benef ited from additional funding from the UK Department 
for International Development, had taken place on 1-5 August 2005 a nd had involved members of the 
Southern African Development Community (SADC).   The second activity had been delivered by the 
Secretariat to Francophone West African countries on  3-7 October in Mali.  A similar workshop for 
South-East Asian nations had been delivered in Thailand on 10-14 Oc tober 2005.  These two 
workshops had been organized within the framework  of collaboration with the OIE on training of 
trainers.  The OIE had provided a dditional in-depth training for veterinary officials from the region 
back-to-back with the SPS workshops.  Another regional workshop had been held in Fiji on 21-
24 November for Pacific Island Members.  A regi onal workshop in Nicaragua, from 30 November to 
2 December had benefited from the assistance of the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA), the In ternational Development Bank and the US Department of Agriculture, as 
well as participation by the European Communities. 
148. The Secretariat expressed its thanks to Codex, OIE and IPPC for their involvement in the 
regional activities of the WTO Secretariat this year and, hopefully, next year.  The technical assistance plan of the WTO Secretariat for 2006 had been adopted and included three regional workshops, again in collaboration with the OIE, for countries of the Middle East (in Egypt in June), Latin America (in Colombia in the fall) and th e Commonwealth of Independent States (in July) 
(WT/COMTD/W/142). 
149. With regard to the national SPS seminars, the Secretariat had outstanding requests from Egypt 
and Rwanda, as well as new requests from Cuba a nd Ethiopia.  Requests for national workshops 
should be addressed to the Director of the ITTC Division. 
150. Other technical assistance activities of the WT O Secretariat included ongoing collaboration 
with in-house colleagues on the Joint Integrated T echnical Assistance Progra mme (JITAP) for sixteen 
African countries.  Within this programme, workshops  had been held in Zambia and in Benin, at 
which FAO had also demonstrated its Internationa l Portal on Food Safety and Animal and Plant 
Heath.  Other technical assistance delivered include d a training for the Members of the Iraqi National 
Committee in Geneva and a briefing of Thai offici als.  A distance learning course in Spanish was 
under development in collaboration with IICA. 
151. With regard to the Standard and Trad e Development Facility (STDF), document 
G/SPS/GEN/595 gave an update on the operation of th e STDF, specifically the decisions which had 
been taken at the June meeting of the Policy Co mmittee and the Working Group.  Five projects and 
six project preparation grants ha d been approved in June, including a pest risk analysis workshop 
currently going on in Canada, for which the STDF had been able to provide funding for developing country officials to attend. 
152. The Working Group would meet again on 3 February and consider proposals for 14 projects 
and four project preparation grants.  Total re quests for STDF projects amounted to US$ 9.3 million G/SPS/R/39 
Page 28  
 
  whereas the STDF currently had US$ 2.1 million of f unds available.  Contributions to the STDF had 
been renewed by Denmark and France and new donors included the United States and Sweden.  
Fifteen projects and 16 project preparation grants were currently underway.  An evaluation of the STDF had been conducted in 2005 and would be discussed by the Working Group.  A number of 
STDF projects were approaching completion and it was the Secretariat's intention to form the 
Committee on the results of these projects, as well as on the results of the evaluation. 
153. The Secretariat further reported to the Committe e on the specialized training course held in 
Spanish at the WTO from 31 October to 11 Novemb er 2005.  This course had been developed to 
respond to Members' requests for more practical in-depth training as echoed in paragraph 43 of 
G/SPS/35.  It had been organized by the WTO In stitute for Training and Technical Cooperation in 
close collaboration with the Agriculture and Comm odities Division and the Inter-American Institute 
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and financed  out of the regular budget.  A total of 21 
participants, 18 from Latin America and the Caribbean, two from Africa and one from an economy in transition, had attended the course. 
154. The course, of a participatory nature, had been designed for SPS specialists with an advanced 
degree of familiarity with the SPS Agreement and was innovative in certain respects.  It had benefited 
from intensive preparatory work, including an early announcement at the SPS Committee, a careful 
selection of the appropriate partic ipants and on-going correspondence with them.  A prerequisite to 
the selected candidates' participation was completion of a questionnaire  on the implementation of the 
SPS Agreement in their countries.   The first week  of the course focused on some general information 
about the WTO; creating awareness at the na tional level; improving do mestic, regional and 
international coordination; and leadership.  The second week was dedicat ed to specific SPS 
provisions, Committee work, dispute settlement and technical cooperation.  A one-day workshop on 
communication skills, delivered by an external traine r, had been included.  Presentations were given 
by WTO and IICA staff, course participants, speci al guest speakers from developing and developed 
Member countries, the Advisory Center on WTO Law and the World Bank.  The coaches, two 
individuals with extensive experience in the SPS ar ea, had played an important role throughout the 
course.  Participants had been asked to develop a nd present a "practical action" to concretely address 
at least one of the implementation problems they  had identified.  Main topics covered were 
transparency, coordination, and capacity building. 
155. As a follow-up to the course, a webpage had be en developed for participants to provide 
updates every two months on their implementation of the lessons learned at the course and any other 
relevant information.  A stock- taking meeting with participants was also planned, possibly in 
connection with the June 2006 SPS Committee meeting.   Participants had provided useful inputs on 
the evaluation of the course through weekly and final evaluation forms, a final evaluation session, through informal comments.  Ninety per cent of the participants had rated the activity as successful or 
very successful.  Not enough feedback had been r eceived from the participants to date and the 
Secretariat strongly encouraged them to make use of the "follow-up" website to provide information 
on  how they had been able to use thei r experience upon return to their capital. 
156. A second specialized course would be held in English, back-to-back with the Committee 
meeting in the fall.  Information on this course would be provided during the March meeting and a 
call for candidates circulated in the spring.  The Secretariat noted that many delegates from Member 
countries had played key roles in the delivery of this course and called on them to similarly assist in 
the preparation of the English specialized course in the fall of 2006, and possibility a French language 
course in 2007. 
157. 
Participants in the specialized training course expressed their gratefulness to the Secretariat 
and IICA for a well-planned, well thought-out, inte resting and practical wo rkshop which had provided 
a fruitful opportunity for exchanges of ideas and not es.  The course had also provided tools to raise  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 29 
 
 
  national awareness from the decision making level dow n to the technical level.  Many delegates 
emphasized that the questionnaire on policies at national level was useful in preparing them for the workshop.  Mexico stressed the critical importance of making sure that the knowledge gleaned during 
the workshop was quickly and exhaustively shared w ith other relevant government offices in order to 
multiply the effects of the workshop. 
158. The Chairman noted that this specialized training  course was an effort by the Secretariat to try 
to be more precise, effective and operational in de livering technical assistance.  Appreciation of this 
effort had been eloquently expressed by the participants. 
(b) Information from Members 
159. The representative of the European Communities informed the Committee that two seminars, 
one for African countries and one for Caribbean and P acific countries, would be organized in Brussels 
in spring 2006 to assist developing countries become more familiar with the EC legislation on imports of agricultural products and on implementation of HACCP systems in EC food processing establishments.  
160. The European Communities would also organize, for the second time, two technical 
workshops for developing and least-developed c ountries in spring and summer 2006 on residues and 
aflatoxins.  The residue workshops would target la boratory specialists and would provide training on 
laboratory skills and control plans for residues in th ird countries, EC and international legislation.  
The aim of the two-week aflatoxins workshop w ould be to provide in-depth information on EC 
legislation on food contaminants as well as on the methodology applied to control aflatoxins and 
ochratoxin A content in food.  This workshop woul d also provide an occasion to build a network for 
further technical scientific coopera tion between developing countries. 
161. The European Communities also intended to pr ovide technical assistance to developing 
countries in the field of avian influenza.  This tr aining would take place in Europe and would provide 
information on management of diseases and laboratory training. 
162. The representative of the European Communiti es provided information on several other EC 
technical assistance programmes applied in developing countries to control and eradicate certain 
animal health diseases that had an important impact on their trade and to confine these diseases so that 
trade can take place from other regions.  The Sout hern Africa Development Community (SADC) Foot 
and Mouth Disease Programme, which would run for four years as of 2006, was aimed at reducing 
FMD occurrence in the region and better equipping a nd training the regional competent authorities for 
FMD epidemiological surveillance and export certif ication.  The objective of the Pan-African 
Programme for the control of epizootic diseases w as to strengthen national and regional capacities to 
assess the economic impact of animal diseases and to generate appropriate programmes for their 
control.  This aspect of the programme had alre ady been successfully implemented in the case of 
rinder pest.  The purpose of the Promotion of Regi onal Integration in the SADC Programme, running 
until 2007, was to strengthen the surveillance netw ork for some diseases and support the OIE work.  
In addition, several EC technical assistance projects were currently running in Asia with the objective 
of improving the animal health situation via in creasing the regional cooperation in the planning and 
management of the veterinary services, the marke ting of livestock and the implementation of animal 
disease control programmes.  These programmes illustrated the EC support to the proper implementation of the regionalizati on provisions of the Agreement. 
163. The representative of Japan reported on Japan's  emergency assistance on avian influenza for 
affected Asian regions, building on the successful erad ication of avian influenza in Japan.  Donations 
would be made to the OIE and FAO to strengthen veterinary services, notification systems and the 
effective control of outbreaks in Asia. G/SPS/R/39 
Page 30  
 
  (c) Information from Observers 
164. The representative of Codex recalled that documents G/SPS/GEN564 and G/SPS/GEN/565 
provided information on the technical assistance act ivities offered by the FAO and the WHO up to 
June 2005.  Furthermore, the FAO and the WHO trus t fund to facilitate the attendance of developing 
country Members at Codex meetings had been in operation since mid-2004.  The deadline for 
submission of applications for funding in 2006, to  be submitted through the local Codex contact 
points to the WHO secretariat, was 31 October 2005.  Requests for 2006 from countries which had already benefited from the trust fund the previous ye ars would only be considered after receipt of the 
countries' activity report of the previous year(s).  
165. The representative of the WHO reported that the trust fund had supported around 200 
participants from around 80 countries to attend 14 Codex meetings.  Th e fund had also held a two-day 
training session on enhancing particip ation in Codex activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, to 
provide participants with a strategy for their eff ective participation.  For 2006, requests had been 
received from 90 countries to support the attendance of 165 delegates at 16 Codex meetings and to 
conduct four additional training sessions. 
166. The representative of the World Bank reported on an e-learning course held in 2005.  This 
course would offered again in 2006 and the number of applicants already outnumbered the serving 
possibilities.  The course was co-sponsored by USAID.   Delivery of a French or Spanish version of 
the course was very difficult due to the lack of comp etent teachers fluent in either language.  To assist 
countries to formulate their prioriti es, the World Bank was preparing action plans at country level for 
capacity building in the SPS field.  A plan for Viet nam was now available, and seven other plans were 
in preparation.  
167. The representative of the IPPC highlighted the su ccess of the recent International Plant Health 
Risk Analysis Workshop that had taken place in Ca nada in October 2005.  This workshop, jointly 
organized by the IPPC secretariat and the Cana dian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), had been 
attended by 145 delegates from more than 60 c ountries and eight regional and international 
organizations.  Funding provided by the STDF, the CFIA, the Canadian International Development 
Agency, the USDA and the Intern ational Research and Developm ent Center, had allowed 50 
delegates from least-developed, low income and deve loping countries to attend.  The workshop had 
brought together risk assessors from around the world to address pest risk analysis-related issues.  The 
workshop had also provided training and tools to countries with little knowledge or capacity to carry 
out pest risk analysis.  Feed back received from participants indicated that the workshop was highly 
relevant and informative.  The IPPC secretariat wa s grateful for the funds and organizational support 
provided, since the regular IPPC budget did not pr ovide for the organization of such workshops 
although they were of great value.  
168. The European Communities emphasized that the leve l of interest generated by this workshop 
illustrated the need for more such workshops providing opportunities for experts from various 
countries to meet and exchange views, and invited th e IPPC to organize further activities of this kind.  
The representative of Canada expressed hope that this workshop would be tter enable developing 
countries to conduct pest risk assessment and manage risks more effectively.  Canada also hoped that 
similar workshops would be held in a variety of lo cations in the future and would further benefit from 
STDF funding.  The representative of Trinidad a nd Tobago mentioned that his region had benefited 
from three workshops organized by the IPPC last year, one on development of standards, one on the 
difficulties to implement standards and an inform ation exchange on the use of the IPPC portal. 
169. The representative of Chile reported that a workshop on food protection, safety and 
international trade had been held in December in  Costa Rica and the recommendations that emerged 
from that workshop could be found on the FAO webpage.  G/SPS/R/39 
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  170. The representative of Argentina mentioned that as, in her country, people attending technical 
assistance activities were experts in  the topic discussed but did not draft standards, a two-week 
exercise with the technical experts of the field and the technical experts for standards could be useful to ensure that both the risk analysis and the st andards were compliant with the SPS Agreement.  
Along with Chile and Brazil, she also highlighted  the importance of the follow-up of technical 
assistance activities, putting into practice th e knowledge gained at national level.  
IX. ISSUES ARISING FROM THE REVIEW OF THE OPERATION OF THE SPS 
AGREEMENT  
171. The representative of New Zealand proposed that the Committee should further discuss the 
relationship between the intern ational standard-setting orga nizations and the SPS Committee 
(G/SPS/GEN/179).  In light of comments received, New Zealand would amend its paper to further 
focus discussions in the future.  
172. The representative of Costa Rica proposed that  the Committee consider the establishment of 
detailed procedures and time-frames for the trade co ncerns submitted to the Committee and for the 
use of the good offices of the Committee chairperson in  order to make the mech anisms established in 
paragraph 12.2 of the SPS Agreement more effec tive (G/SPS/W/183).  Costa Rica also proposed to 
increase the participation of developing countries a nd LDCs to the SPS Committee in order to allow a 
greater number of Members to understand and make use of these mechanisms to resolve their trade 
concerns.  The theme of undue delays shoul d also be further examined (G/SPS/W/180). 
173. The representative of Mexico emphasized that the themes identified in document 
G/SPS/W/183 had also been raised by Mexico, and c onsidered paragraph 4 of this document to have 
particular importance.  The representative of th e OIE recalled that the OIE dispute settlement 
mechanism was a technical system that did not create legal precedents.  The system required the 
agreement of both parties in advance and the outco mes were not legally bindi ng, but they could be 
referred to in a WTO dispute. 
174. The representative of Brazil noted that some of the proposals in document G/SPS/W/182 had 
been discussed at this meeti ng, such as the need to clarify the relationship between the SPS 
Committee and the standard-setting bodies.  The im pact of undue delays on access to export markets 
should be further discussed. 
175. The Chairman recalled that this had been the first opportunity to discuss topics arising from 
the Review of the SPS Agreement (G/SPS/36).  Wh en the submissions on a topic warranted, an 
informal meeting or other appropriate mean s for further discussion would be scheduled. 
X. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF 
ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
176. The Chairman recalled that in accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of 
the People's Republic of China, the SPS Committee is to undertake an annual review for eight years of 
the implementation by China of the SPS Agreement.   He opened the floor for comments or questions 
from Members. 
177. The representative of the European Communitie s noted with satisfaction the increased 
cooperation between China and the European Co mmunities on SPS issues and mentioned that a 
Memorandum of Understanding with China on SPS i ssues was being finalized.  However, the 
European Communities would welcome further improve ment in the currently limited access to the 
Chinese market for EC food products.  Although the number of SPS notifications made by China to G/SPS/R/39 
Page 32  
 
  the WTO was increasing, Chinese regulatory measures still appeared sometimes to be non-transparent 
due to the lack of a formal legal framework.  
178. The representative of the European Communiti es indicated two market  access areas where 
enhancement of cooperation was needed:  removal of the current BSE-related ban on certain ruminant 
derivative products from the European Communities and a greater flexibility on the approval 
procedure for listing of EC establishments e ligible to export products into China. 
179. The European Communities had welcomed on previous occasions at this Committee the 
compliance of China's import policy for EC bovine semen and embryos with the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) standards on BSE.  The European Communities wanted to take the 
opportunity of this Transitional Review to re mind China that at the 2005 OIE annual meeting 
significant changes to the  OIE Terrestrial Animal  Health Code chapter on BSE had been made, in 
particular to the recommendations for the trade in  beef and blood and blood products.  Based on 
scientific information provided by world experts,  the OIE Code Commission had recommended that 
deboned skeletal muscle meat be in the list of co mmodities which, under certain conditions, could be 
safely traded regardless of the BSE status of the exporting country.  The European Communities 
invited China to implement these new OIE recommendations. 
180. China's current system of approval of EC establishments eligible to export bore some 
similarities with the EC system with one major exce ption:  China's request for a veterinary inspection 
mission to take place for every EC establishment, no t only meat establishments but also bovine semen 
and embryo production sites, wishing to export to China for the first time.  The European 
Communities did not require that an inspection mission be sent to China every time the Chinese 
authorities wished to add a new establishment to the list of establishments eligible to export to the 
European Communities.  The Eur opean Communities applied to China (and other WTO members) a 
procedure based on the guarantees provided by th e competent authorities of the exporting country 
regarding the safety of the food chain (from farm to  fork) rather than based on individual exporting 
establishment inspection.  The European Communities invited China to take a reciprocal approach 
and allow EC establishments to apply for pre-listing of establishments once the entire EC food safety 
system was assessed as satisfactory by the Chinese competent authorities.
2 
181. The representative of the United States reca lled that this was the SPS Committee's fourth 
annual transitional review of China's efforts to impl ement the commitments it has made in its Protocol 
of Accession to the WTO.  The transitional review  remained an important and useful mechanism, 
serving both the interests of China and the inter ests of other WTO Members as it provided Members 
with the opportunity to seek clarifications regardin g China's policies and practices.  China, in turn, 
had the opportunity to clarify these policies and prac tices in order to prevent misunderstandings that 
could lead to trade frictions.  The transitional re view mechanism also allowed Members to convey to 
China their views, expectations and concerns re garding China's efforts to comply with its WTO 
obligations.  China then had the opportunity to expl ain its views and to inform Members about how it 
had addressed their expectations and concerns.  Th e transitional review mechanism was therefore an 
important and useful exercise of transparency, one of the fundamental principles underlying the WTO Agreement.  
182. The representative of the United States further in dicated that in its submission for the 2005 
transitional review (G/SPS/GEN/594), the United St ates had presented China with written questions 
covering a number of areas, including (1) China's BSE -related bans on US beef and low-risk products;  
(2) China's fire blight restrictions on US apples, pears and plums;  (3) quarantine inspection permit 
procedures;  (4) China's zero pathogen requirement s on meat and poultry products;  (5) inappropriate 
avian influenza restrictions on US poultry and (6) inadequate regulatory transparency.  The themes 
                                                     
 
2 See document G/SPS/W/178.  G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 33 
 
 
  underlying these questions continued to be the same  as those underlying the submissions made at the 
three previous transitional reviews.  As shown in documents G/SPS/W/126, G/SPS/W/139 and 
G/SPS/W/153, the United States had consistently rai sed concerns regarding:  (1) China's failure to 
notify numerous SPS measures;  (2) the lack of tran sparency in China's application of SPS measures 
and (3) China's imposition of requirements that appear  to have no basis in science.  These concerns 
were most evident in two issues raised in th e United States 2005 submission, namely China's BSE-
related bans and China's fire blight restrictions. 
183. The representative of the United States further not ed that, with regard to BSE-related issues, 
the United States' strongest concern involved Ch ina's BSE-related ban on US beef.  China had 
provided virtually no information to the United St ates on the basic regulatory framework under which 
it would make science-based decisions to consider the US request for China to li ft this ban.  Dozens of 
countries had lifted their bans on US beef.  Each of them had, at a minimum, provided the United 
States with a detailed explanation of the regulatory steps necessary to make a decision on the US request to lift the ban.  It was now 22 months si nce China had imposed its ban on US beef, and China 
had still not offered any explanation of its actions or the necessary regulatory steps for lifting the ban.  
The United States strongly urged China to take steps to ensure that its regulatory authorities quickly 
address this problem. 
184. The United States was also concer ned that China maintained a de facto  BSE-related ban on 
low-risk, non-ruminant origin products from the Un ited States, including pet food, rendered products, 
porcine proteins and spray-drie d blood, although these products s hould never had been banned under 
existing OIE guidelines.  The General Administra tion of Quality Supervision, Inspection and 
Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (A QSIQ) had issued a notice in September 2004 
conditioning the lifting of this ban on the conclusi on of an import protocol.  The United States and 
China had signed an import protocol shortly ther eafter in November 2004, but China had since 
insisted on a series of additional information requi rements that were onerous, detailed, unnecessary, 
not science-based and still inconsistent with OIE gui delines.  They also contrasted sharply with US 
requirements for products of animal origin fro m China.  The United States urged China to 
immediately remedy this situation. 
185. Another important concern of the United States related to China's continuing fire blight-
related ban on imports of US apples, pears and plums.  As stated in the June 2005 Committee 
meeting, the United States encouraged all Members to review carefully their restrictions on these US 
fruit products in light of the decision of the Appellate Body in Japan – Measures Affecting the 
Importation of Apples  (WT/DS245/AB/R).  China was one of the Members that maintained these 
restrictions.  It was important that China moved qui ckly to modify its ban to allow the importation of 
mature symptomless fruit, consistent with the Japan-Apples  decision. 
186. In its written questions, the United States had also expressed ongoing concerns on several 
other matters which had been raised previously in  this Committee including:  (1) onerous quarantine 
inspection permit procedures;  (2) zero pathogen requirements on meat and poultry products;  (3) 
inappropriate avian influenza restrictions;  and (4) inadequate regulatory transparency, especially with 
regard to regulations of major scope.  The United States noted that it would like to see more progress 
in these areas.  
187. The representative of Australia noted that Austra lia valued its strong relationship with China 
and continued to make efforts to strengthen communication and cooperation with China on SPS 
matters.  Australia appreciated China's efforts to  develop and improve its quarantine and inspection 
systems and to ensure that quarantine procedures were based on risk assessment and sound scientific 
evidence.  While Australia understood the challenge s China faced, it continued to encourage China to 
bring its systems fully into compliance with th e SPS Agreement as quickly as possible, including 
ensuring consistency and transparency in its deve lopment and administration of SPS measures, at both G/SPS/R/39 
Page 34  
 
  a national and provincial level, as well as confor mity with notification obligations under the SPS 
Agreement.  This would benefit China and all WTO Members. 
188. The representative of Australia further observed that Australia had been pleased to offer a 
significant amount of technical assistance to China,  to assist development of its SPS capabilities and 
systems, and would continue to do so.  Australia was continuing to pursue a number of bilateral SPS 
issues with China, some of a long-standing nature.  Australia looked forward to early resolution of 
these issues to allow bilateral trade to expand to the mutual benefit of China and Australia. 
189. The representative of China thanked the Eu ropean Communities, the United States and 
Australia for their comments and questions.  He expr essed his appreciation for the technical assistance 
provided by Australia in the SPS area and welcomed an y further technical assistance in this area.  He 
further mentioned that, in response to the call from the chairperson of the General Council, China, as 
many other WTO Members, had shifted its resour ces and efforts to the new negotiations.  As a 
consequence, no capital-based delega tion was available to assist him today.  However, he was willing 
to provide the following information and responses to the comments and questions raised by the 
European Communities and the United States under the framework of Paragraph 18 of China's 
Protocol of Accession.  
190. In relation to transparency, since its acce ssion to the WTO China had notified 140 SPS 
measures promulgated before China's accession to the WTO.  From 2002 to 2005, China had circulated 94 notifications to the WTO Secretar iat which provided Members with a comment period 
of 60 days calculated from the date of circulation of the notification by the Secretariat, as requested in 
China's proposal on transparency (G/SPS/W/131 and corrigendum).  In China, the Ministry of 
Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOF COM) had established mechanisms to enhance 
coordination among ministries and agencies responsib le for SPS measures and had already organized 
various meetings, workshops and training courses on no tifications for officers from relevant ministries 
and agencies.  These actions had greatly improve d the SPS measures notification process in China.  
Moreover, MOFCOM, together with AQSIQ, had dr afted and adopted guidelines on notification of 
SPS measures. 
191. With regard to the seven decrees promulga ted by the State Environmental Protection 
Administration (SEPA), they were not SPS measures but some sort of regulations on registration of 
dangerous chemicals.  Therefore, China ha d not notified them under the SPS Agreement.  
192. Regarding BSE-related interna tional standards, China's SPS measures were drafted in a 
manner fully compliant with the SPS Agreement and were harmonized with the international 
standards of the three international standard-setting bodies of reference.  China had lifted its previous 
bans on importation of bovine semen, bovine embryo s and non-protein fat from countries affected by 
BSE, according to Chapter 2.3.13 of the OIE Te rrestrial Animal Health Code, on the basis of 
scientific studies carried out together with other countries, such as Canada.  Since China did not 
participate in the drafting of OIE standards, Chin a's decision to adopt a new OIE standard was based 
on the results of a Chinese experts' study of the sta ndard.  Chinese experts were currently studying the 
new OIE standard on BSE adopted at the 2005 OIE a nnual meeting.  China would review its current 
measures on the basis of the outcomes of this study. 
193. Concerning pathogen rules, China had no crite ria to require zero pathogens on fresh and 
frozen poultry products.  China's national sta ndard on fresh and frozen poultry products was 
GB16869-2005 rather than GB16869-2002.  As far as China knew, the OIE had no new standard on 
Salmonella , E. coli  and Listeria  in cooked products.  Should the United States provide China with 
detailed information on this topic, China would carry  out a study on the new OIE standards.  In the 
national standard (GB16869-2005), China did set the tolerance criteria for E. coli  in fresh and frozen 
poultry products but did not set any specific tolerance criteria for Listeria.    G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 35 
 
 
  194. In relation to food safety, although China w as of the view that the European Communities 
misunderstood some aspects of China's food safet y management system, including management of 
food manufacturing enterprises, China appreciated th e technical assistance provided by the European 
Communities and other Members in the area of food safety management.  China welcomed any 
further initiative by the European Communities and other Members to share their experiences on food 
safety management and the management of food manufacturing enterprises.  China would make 
reference to these good experiences when reviewing its current regulations.  
195. Concerning quarantine inspection permits, China had already explained its system to some 
Members on different occasions.  However, China was willing to take this opport unity to reiterate that 
its quarantine inspection permit granting system was a unified system throughout the country.  It was 
open to all applicants and transparent.  Applicants received a fair and quick service free of charge.  In 
order to facilitate the application procedure, app lications were also accepted through Internet since 
last year. 
196. Regarding bilateral cooperation.  China had already set up good cooperation mechanisms in 
the SPS area with numerous Members including the United States.  China would also sign a 
Memorandum of Understanding with the European Communities to enhance bilateral cooperation in 
the SPS area.  China was of the view that these coope ration mechanisms were very useful and helpful 
in bettering the understanding of both sides and f acilitating the settlement of specific issues.  China 
highly valued technical exchanges and cooperati on with WTO Members and was ready to further 
explore and strengthen coopera tion mechanisms with them.  
197. As to the specific questions mentioned by the representative of the United States, some 
progress had already been made through b ilateral discussions and negotiations.  
198. The representative of China concluded by e xpressing hope that his statement had covered 
most of the comments and questions raised by th e United States and the European Communities and 
that the information he had provided was useful and helpful to Members.  
199. The Chairperson thanked the representative of  China for the very thorough response and 
asked if any other Member wished to take the floor.  
200. The representative of the United States thanked the representative of China for his detailed 
responses and expressed appreciation of how China and the United States had been able to work 
together on issues.  He noted that, as no capita l-based delegation from China was attending this 
meeting, he might not get responses to his follow-up  questions.  He pointed out, however, that some 
of the US questions, although subm itted about one month in advance of the meeting, had not been 
answered today.  He specifically mentioned the US  questions about the BSE-related ban on low-risk 
products and fire blight restricti ons.  With regard to quarantine in spection permits, the United States 
had specific questions about AQSIQ Announcemen t 111 and AQSIQ Decree 73 which had not been 
answered.  No responses had been provided to questi ons on the remaining avian influenza restrictions.  
Should China have further responses, the Un ited States would welcome hearing them.  
201. The representative of the European Communiti es supported the US statement that all the 
issues might not have been addressed, in particul ar the issue on the new OIE guidelines for beef 
exports.  
202. The Chairman expressed some empathy for the representative of China not benefiting from 
the support of a capital-based delegation and mentione d that the representative of China might not be 
in a position to respond. G/SPS/R/39 
Page 36  
 
  203. The representative of China mentioned that, with regard to the US questions on fire blight, 
China had already carried out a risk assessment on fi re blight which also extended to all other pests 
and diseases.  On the basis of this risk assessment,  China had already approved importation of apples 
from the United States.  As to US plums, Chin a was undertaking a risk assessment in a smooth 
manner with friendly cooperation from the United States.   The risk assessment covered fire blight as 
well as other quarantine pests.  China was hoping that  both sides could further work and cooperate to 
improve their risk assessment procedures.  As to avian influenza, China had already unsuccessfully 
requested the United States to provide information on the Avian Influenza control system in place in 
the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Ch ina urged the United States to provide relevant 
information in order to allow further discussi ons.  Regarding AQSIQ Decree 73 for quarantine 
inspection permits, China had already answered this question last year and the representative of China 
invited the United States to refer to the 2004 Repor t to the Council for Trade in Goods on China's 
Transitional Review (G/SPS/34). 
204. The Chairman stated that he would make a shor t factual report on the transitional review to 
the Council for Trade in Goods, G/SPS/38. 
XI. MONITORING THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
(a) New issues 
205. The representative of Canada recalled that accord ing to the provisions of Chapter 2.7.12 of 
the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code 2005, count ries free of highly pathogenic avian influenza but 
which reported cases of notifiable low pathogenic avian influenza should be able to trade on the basis 
of appropriate veterinary certification.  However, these countries in fact faced restrictions imposed by 
their trading partners, as had recently occurred to Canada upon the discovery of a positive finding for 
an H5-type low pathogenic avian influenza in the province of British Columbia in November 2005.  
Countries that take appropriate surveillance and c ontrol measures in a transparent manner consistent 
with the OIE provisions should rather be treated by  other OIE Members in a manner also consistent 
with the provisions of the OIE.  Canada also not ed that several countries had introduced prohibitions 
on imports of birds, poultry and poultry products fro m all countries, one exempting only the European 
Communities.  Given the current international contex t, it was important that Members act on the basis 
of science when applying their measures so as not to deter countries from making appropriate investments in surveillance and reporting.  The re presentative of Colombia mentioned that Colombia 
had encountered similar problems.  
206. The representative of the OIE observed that Croa tia had also encountered a similar problem 
and stressed that this was not compliant with th e OIE standard.  When developing the standard, the 
issue was to find a balance between what countries were required to notify that was of sufficient 
importance to result in justified trade restrictions  and what information countries should notify to 
improve OIE's understanding of the evolution of the disease around the world.  The OIE strongly 
encouraged Members to follow the OIE recommenda tions and to not discourage countries to share 
information. 
207. The representative of Sri Lanka recalled that in the context of its proposal for a Codex 
international standard on sulphur dioxide in cinnamo n, mentioned in paragraph 55, Sri Lanka wished 
to raise the issue of the non-existence of a Code x standard on sulphur dioxide in cinnamon under this 
agenda item.  He requested the Committee to ma ke appropriate recommendations to Codex to 
expeditiously develop this standa rd.  Although according to the agr eed procedures such a request to 
the Committee should have been made ten days in  advance of the Committee meeting.  Sri Lanka 
requested the Committee to proceed  immediately in this case. 
208. The Committee agreed to proceed with Sri Lanka's recommendation.   G/SPS/R/39 
 Page 37 
 
 
  (b) Issues previously raised 
209. No comments were expressed regarding issues previously raised . 
XII. MATTERS OF INTEREST ARISING FROM THE WORK OF OBSERVER 
ORGANIZATIONS 
(a) Information from Codex 
210. The representative of Codex highlighted the a doption of several codes of practice for the 
prevention of aflatoxins contamination in tree nuts,  tin contamination and the establishment of some 
maximum levels for contaminants such as cadmi um (G/SPS/GEN/599).  In addition to the usual 
update of the maximum levels for additives and MRLs for pesticides, there had been a revision of the 
Code of Hygienic Practice for Meat.  The general C ode of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products had 
benefited from revised sections on the transport and retailing of shrimp and cephalopods and the 
addition of a Code of Practice for Aquaculture.  A Code of Practice to Minimize and Contain 
Antimicrobial Resistance, based on a similar code developed by the OIE, had also been adopted.  
Since this document had been provided in Octobe r, there had been one meeting of the Executive 
Committee.  The Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification had finalized the 
draft principles for traceability and product traci ng and the draft principles for imported food 
inspection based on risk, which would both be cons idered for final adoption at the next Codex 
Commission session in July 2006.  The Committee on Nutrition and Food for Special Dietary Uses 
had finalized the standard on cereal-based food.   The Committee on Additive and Contaminants 
would meet for the last time in April 2006, as it w ould be split into two Committees after the next 
session of the Codex Commission. 
211. The representative of Chile mentioned that draft Codex principles on which Members could 
still comment  included the determination of equivale nce and the objective basis for comparison.  At 
the April meeting of the Committee on General Prin ciples, the recommendations on risk analysis by 
governments would also be discussed. 
212. The representative of IICA recalled that document G/SPS/GEN/627 set out some of the 
activities carried out by IICA.  The SPS Initiative for the Americas had supported the participation of 
IICA members in ten consecutive meetings.  Around 36 experts from 26 countries were participating.  
One of the aims of the initiative was to strengt hen the institutional structures to improve the 
administration of the SPS Agreement.  A tec hnical committee had recently been approved in 
Paraguay.  A webpage presented some similar expe riences in other IICA countries.  IICA had also 
held workshops on enquiry points and notificatio ns in Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean 
countries and had benefited from FAO funds for some  training activities in Argentina and Trinidad 
and Tobago.  The representative of IICA furthe r emphasized that horizontal cooperation between 
countries and institutional stre ngthening were vital for the success of this initiative.  
213. The representative of the OIE noted that document G/SPS/GEN/624 described the issues 
contained in the reports of the Terrestrial C ode Commission and the Aquatic Code Commission, 
which had been circulated for comments to memb er countries and placed on the OIE webpage.  The 
deadline for comments was mid-February.  Member  countries' comments on these issues would be 
examined by the Commissions in March and consid ered for adoption at the OIE General Session in 
May.  This week, the OIE, FAO and WHO were  holding a tripartite meeting to discuss common 
issues, including avian influenza.  
214. The representative of ISO recalled that IS O was an international non-governmental 
organization composed of a federation of national st andards institutes.  ISO had technical committees 
open to representatives from industry, government, c onsumers and any stakeholder group relevant to G/SPS/R/39 
Page 38  
 
  the subject.  ISO published a catalogue of international standards covering, inter alia , food products.  
Although not referenced in the SPS Agreement, ISO developed voluntary food-related standards.  ISO 
did not provide any testing, certification or accr editation to the standards it produced but had 
developed international "conformity assessment" guides.   Hundreds of ISO test methods were used by 
Codex in drafting its own standards.  In Septem ber 2005, ISO published ISO 22000, a new standard 
using a systems management approach and based on the Codex HACCP system.  Two other technical 
specifications providing further guidance on ISO 22000 (ISO/TS 22004) and requirements for food safety management system certification were underway.  A new standard on traceability, as well as work in the field of milk and milk products and genetically modified orga nism in foodstuffs, were 
also underway. 
215. The representative of the United States observed th at if a Member adopted an international 
standard from the OIE, the IPPC or Codex, Article 3.2 applied.  Use of ISO standards did not fall 
within the provisions of Article 3.2 and therefore should a Member choose to adopt an ISO standard, a 
science-based risk assessment must be completed and the measure be notified in draft for Members' comments before being adopted and implemented.  ISO was not obligated, as were WTO Members, to 
base their SPS measures on science.  ISO standards were implemented by a voting procedure which 
included parties who had self-declared interests in  the development of a particular standard.  
Representatives to many of the ISO bodies came fr om the private sector and did not necessarily 
coordinate their views with the United States Gove rnment.  Codex, IPPC and OIE standards were 
available on the internet or upon request whereas ISO standards were only available through purchase.  
The representative of Canada noted that although IS O developed good standards that were used by 
Codex in developing Codex standard s, they did not have the same status under the SPS Agreement as 
those of the Codex, IPPC and OIE.  
216. The representative of OIRSA noted that document G/SPS/GEN/W/629 reported on OIRSA's 
activities.  A risk analysis workshop had been de livered in Honduras.  At the regional workshop in 
Nicaragua, OIRSA had developed, with participants , a practical case study for the implementation of 
dispute settlement in SPS measures.  In Panama, se minars and workshops on several animal health-
related issues had been given.  In Guatemala, s upport had been provided to a university to develop a 
post-graduate degree on international trade and agri culture and lectures had been given on SPS-related 
issues.  A simulation on avian influenza had been organized in Honduras.  In the context of OIRSA's support to the dissemination of  international sta ndards, a regional workshop had been organized in 
Costa Rica.  OIRSA was also currently carrying out, in the OIRSA countries, a review of control, 
inspection and approval procedures having an impact  on international  trade.  With regard to 
institutional building in the region, together with  all OIRSA country members, OIRSA had drawn up 
a five-year strategic regional plan for each country and proposed immediate actions.  The purpose of 
these plans was to ensure that th e internal domestic institutional  structures were appropriate.  The 
OIRSA region was free from HPAI, and meetings on avian influenza had been held in Brazil. 
217. The representative of the IPPC provided an update on the status of the IPPC standards 
(G/SPS/GEN/617).  IPPC now had 24 standards in place, the most recent being the guidelines for the determination and recognition of e quivalence.  Four draft standards were ready for adoption at the 
2006 meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary  Measures (CPM), including standards on the 
debarking of wood and the recognition of the estab lishment of pest-free areas and areas of low-pest 
prevalence.  In addition, IPPC agreed that there wa s a need for specific standards for particular pests 
and fruit fly was the first pest to be considered.  Technical panels were working on protocols for 
specific pests including diagnosis protocols for the causal organism for fire blight and the causal 
organism for citrus canker.  Pending topics incl uded efficacy of measures, surveillance for citrus 
canker and pest risk analysis for plants that are p ests, such as invasive species.  Revision of ISPM 15 
was given a high priority.   G/SPS/R/39 
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  218. A more recent summary of the work of th e IPPC was contained in G/SPS/GEN/618.  The 
most important thing was the amendment to the IPPC  that had came into force on 3 October 2005.  As 
a consequence, the FAO Conference and the ICPM had ceased to be the governing bodies and would 
be replaced by the CPM.  FAO members that were contracting parties would be allowed to attend 
CPM meetings  as observers only.  The Internati onal Phytosanitary Portal as been updated to allow 
navigation in the three WTO languages.  A total of  eight regional workshops had been held with 120 
countries represented and 130 auditors had been trai ned in those workshops.  The IPPC secretariat had 
not received any request for assistance in dispute se ttlement.  In addition to country consultations, a 
regional workshop on draft ISPMs had been organi zed and provided a fruitful opportunity to 
exchange views on the draft among the 140 participati ng countries.  A workshop on ISPM 15 had also 
been held with great success.  To follow-up on th is success, the IPPC secretariat was monitoring the 
SPS notifications of countries' implementation of ISPM 15.  To  date, 11 countries had notified 
implementation.  The IPPC budget for 2006 w ould not allow as many activities as in 2005.  
XIII.  OBSERVERS – REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
219. The Committee agreed to invite the organizati ons with current ad hoc observer status to 
participate in its next meeting (ACP Gr oup, EFTA, IICA, OECD, OIRSA and SELA).  The 
Committee also invited all interested observer organiza tions to participate in the informal meetings to 
be held in connection with the next Committee meeting. 
220. The Committee took no decision regarding the re quests for observer status from the Office 
International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), and 
the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD).  
XIV.  CHAIRPERSON'S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 
221. At the meeting on 24 October 2005, the Chairman announced his intention to make a brief, 
factual annual report on the activities of the SPS Co mmittee in 2005 for consideration by the Council 
for Trade in Goods.  The report provided informatio n on the main work undertaken at the meetings 
held in 2005 and would draw attention to the a doption of the reports on the S&D proposals and on the 
Review of the SPS Agreement.  In addition, the report would mention the large number of specific 
trade concerns discussed, the adoption of the Seve nth Annual Report on the Procedure to Monitor the 
Process of International Harmonization and would provide an overview of discussions under other 
agenda items.  The report to the Council on Trade in Goods was circulated as G/L/755. 
XV. OTHER BUSINESS  
Canada -  Greek inspection procedures for wheat 
222. The representative of Canada recalled that Cana da had previously iden tified concerns about 
Greece's requirements for inspection and testing of  wheat from third countries.  Although Greece had 
made some useful amendments, the issue had recently deteriorated.  Of concern were the frequency of 
inspections, which was beyond what a risk-based a pproach would require;  the lengthy detention 
periods of up to two months;  Greece's requirement for a 1.5 per cent limit on fusarium damaged 
kernels in grain shipment, although this was not a reliable indicator of the presence of harmful toxins.  
In addition, in December 2005, Greece had required th at 100 per cent of shipments be tested for the 
presence of GM wheat, although no GM wheat was registered in Canada or grown commercially 
anywhere in the world and therefore, therefore no vali dated test for the presence of GM wheat existed.  
These requirements were discriminatory as they on ly applied to cereals originating outside the 
European Communities.  Canada called on Greece to remove these requirements without further 
delay.  G/SPS/R/39 
Page 40  
 
  223. The representative of the European Commun ities noted that progress had been made 
following discussions in the Committee, and that Cana da's concerns would be transmitted to Greece. 
Paraguay – Information on the health situation 
224. The representative of Paraguay reported that in May 2005 Paraguay had recovered the OIE 
status of FMD-free with vaccination it had lost in 20 03.  Strong public and private involvement made 
it possible to adopt a new vaccination and registra tion policy, including implementation of two annual 
campaigns, registration of vaccination and moveme nt of livestock and adoption of a vaccination 
system which included updating of vaccination data.  Paraguay had technical agreements with Brazil 
and Argentina.  This work enhanced internationa l confidence in Paraguay's animal health situation 
and exports in meat and derivative pr oducts had significantly improved.   
Paraguay – Establishment of a na tional SPS coordinating committee 
225. The representative of Paraguay described the est ablishment of a national technical committee 
on  plant and animal health with representatives from ministries of foreign trade, foreign relations, the 
national technical bodies, and representatives from the private sector.  This committee would provide an important link between the public and private sectors, and contribute to the implementation of the 
national SPS agenda.  The representa tive highlighted the importance of IICA's involvement in this 
process. 
Chile – BSE situation 
226. The representative of Chile noted that while Chile  had never registered any cases of BSE, in 
2005 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) evaluated Chile as being a country where BSE was 
likely to occur or had been confirmed (category 3).  Chile disagreed with EFSA's analysis, particularly 
the time-frame and some of the data underpinning  the analysis.  Chile had sent documentation to 
EFSA and the European Commission but had not received any reply or comment.  EFSA's classification cast doubt on the BSE situation in Chile and had negative impacts on Chile's industry.  An ad hoc group of the OIE  had noted that Chile satisfied requirements for a country provisionally 
free of BSE.  Chile urged EFSA to recognize the OIE evaluation. 
227. The representative of the European Communities noted that while EFSA had classified Chile 
as a category 3 risk, the European Communities remain ed open to reassessing the status in the light of 
the OIE revised code on BSE.  If the OIE were to classify Chile as provisionally free, the European Communities would take this into consideration.  However only Argentina, Iceland, Singapore and 
Uruguay were in this particular category.  However,  even if a country was categorized as a category 3 
risk of BSE, trade could still take place if appropriate measures were in place. 
Mexico – Information on standardization  
228. The representative of Mexico drew attention to Mexico's notification of a supplement to the 
national standardization programme for 2005 (G/SPS /GEN/491/Add.3).  This programme included all 
official standards in the area of SPS, and volunt ary measures applicable to the private sector, 
including new draft regulations, modifications to existing regulations and the cancellation of 
regulations.  Mexico stressed the importance of  its proposal on "Good Regulatory Practice" which 
would allow improvement of the implementation of transparency provisions of the Agreement.   
Peru – National fruit-fly control programme  G/SPS/R/39 
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  229. The representative of Peru noted that his country had started the second stage of a national 
programme to eradicate the fruit fly.  The estima ted investment, supported in part by the Inter-
American Development Bank, was about US$ 37 million.. 
XVI.  DATE AND AGENDA OF NEXT MEETING 
230. As announced per fax on The Committee agreed  on the following provisional agenda for its 
next meeting:  
 
AGENDA FOR MEETING OF 29-30 MARCH 2006 
 
1. Proposed agenda 
2. Activities of Members 
3. Specific trade concerns 
(a) New issues 
(b) Issues previously raised 
(c) Consideration of specific notifications received 
(d) Information on resolution of issues in G/SPS/GEN/204/Rev.6 
4. Operation of transparency provisions 
5. Implementation of special and differential treatment 
(a) Report on informal meeting 
6. Equivalence – Article 4 
(a) Information from Members on their experiences 
(b) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
7. Pest- and Disease-free areas – Article 6 
(a) Report on informal meeting 
(b) Information from Members on their experiences 
(c) Information from relevant  observer organizations 
8. Technical assistance and cooperation 
(a) Information from the Secretariat 
(b) Information from Members 
(c) Information from observers 
9. Issues arising from the Review 
10. Monitoring of the use of international standards 
(a) New issues 
(b) Issues previously raised 
11. Matters of interest arising from th e work of observer organizations 
12. Observers - Requests for observer status 
13. Election of Chairperson 
14. Other business 
15. Date and agenda of next meeting 
 G/SPS/R/39 
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  16. The following deadlines are rele vant for the next meeting: 
(i) For identifying new issues for consider ation under the monitoring procedure: 
16 March 2006
 
(ii) For requesting that items be put on the agenda:  16 March 2006  
(iii) For the distribution of the airgram:  17 March 2006.  
__________