WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/755 
1 November 2005 
 (05-5116) 
  
  
REPORT (2005) ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES 
   
1. The present report is being circulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures on his own responsibility.  This report provides a summary of the activities 
and decisions of the Committee through 24 October 2005. 
2. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Committee") has held two 
regular meetings in 2005:  on 9-10 March and 29-30 June.
1  A third regular meeting was commenced 
on 24 October 2005 to consider several agenda items ;  the meeting was subsequently suspended and 
will reconvene on 1-2 February 2006.   At the June meeting, Mr. Gregg Young (United States) was re-
appointed Chairperson for the period 2005/2006. 
3. As agreed in the Process for the Review of the Operation and Implementation of the 
Agreement adopted by the Committee in June 20042, the Committee further discussed, at its March 
meeting, issues related to the Second Review of the operation of the SPS Agreement.  At the June 
meeting, the Committee concluded the Second Review  of the Operation of the SPS Agreement, and 
adopted a report on this review including recommendations for future work.3  Issues arising from this 
report will be considered by the Commit tee at its February 2006 meeting.   
4. During the March and June meetings, the Co mmittee continued its examination of the 
implementation of the SPS Agreement and the c oncerns of developing countries.  Special and 
differential treatment re mained a standing agenda item for th e Committee in 2005.  Members were 
invited to share with the Committee their expe rience under the new procedure to enhance the 
transparency of special and differential treatment adopted in October 2004.4 
5. With respect to the proposals referred to the SPS Committee by the General Council, the 
Committee adopted, in June 2005, a report to the General Council on these proposals.5  The report 
expresses the Committee's commitment to continue to examine the proposals before it, and any 
revision of these proposals, with the aim of devel oping specific recommendations for a decision.  The 
report also identifies elements for discussion on fu rther work to assist the Committee to address the 
concerns underlying the proposals as identified by Members, with a view to fulfilling the Doha 
Development Mandate.  Discussion of these elements was commenced at the meeting of 24 October. 
6. At its regular meetings, the SPS Committee co nsidered a wide range of specific trade 
concerns, including many related to individual notifications.  The issues discussed included, inter alia , 
trade restrictions relating to general administrative SPS procedures;  concerns regarding maximum 
levels of pesticide residues in several products;  measures taken in response to avian influenza, bovine 
                                                      
1 The report of the March meeting is contained in G/SPS/R/36 and revision and corrigendum.  The 
report of the June meeting is in G/ SPS/R/37 and revision and corrigendum. 
2 G/SPS/32. 
3 G/SPS/36. 
4 G/SPS/33. 
5 G/SPS/35. G/L/755 
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 spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and classical swine fever (CSF);  
and various plant health concerns including fire bl ight.  A number of questions regarding the lack of 
recognition of animal disease-free and plant pe st-free status and the implementation of the 
international phytosanitary standard on wood pa cking material were also considered by the 
Committee.  Specific trade concerns raised in th e Committee during 2005 will be summarized in the 
sixth revision of G/SPS/GEN/204.  
7. In accordance with the transp arency provisions of the SPS Agreement, 620 notifications 
(including addenda, corrigenda and revisions) we re submitted in the period 1 January to 
30 September 2005, bringing the total number of SPS notifications submitted since the entry into 
force of the Agreement to almost 5,970.  Usi ng the mechanism agreed in the March 2004 Committee 
meeting, one Member notified the availability of an unofficial translation of a notified document 
during the same period.
6 
8. The operation of the transparency provisions of the Agreement has been a standing agenda 
item for the regular meetings of 2005.  The Co mmittee considered proposals for establishing a 60-day 
period for submitting comments on a notification and to encourage the voluntary notification of SPS 
measures when based on a relevant international standard.  The Committee also discussed ways to 
provide targeted technical assistance to those de veloping country Members still failing to meet the 
transparency provisions of the Agreement.  The S ecretariat reported on the status of development of 
its information management system (SPS-IMS) designed to improve the  management and analysis of the documentation received.  
9. Equivalence remained a standing item on the SPS Committee agenda.  As agreed in the 
Programme for Further Work, the observer organiza tions reported on their work with respect to 
equivalence and Members informed the Comm ittee about their experiences regarding the 
implementation of Article 4.
7 
10. At both March and June mee tings, numerous proposals regarding the implementation of 
Article 6 were considered by the Committee, including proposals that the Committee develop 
procedural guidelines to facilitate the recognition of pest- or disease-free areas.8  Many Members 
provided information regarding their achievement of pest- or disease-free status.  Several trade 
concerns related to the non-recognition of pest- or disease-free areas were also raised.  The Committee's discussions benefited from inputs from the OIE and IPPC.
9  The Committee agreed to 
continue work on this issue. 
11. Following the provisional procedures adopted in October 1997, the SPS Committee continued 
to monitor the use of international standards.  Since the implementation of the procedure, Members 
have raised eleven issues.  The Seventh Annual Report on the Procedure to Monitor the Process of 
International Harmonization was adopted by the Committee at its June meeting.10  
12. Members, observer organizations and the Secr etariat provided information regarding their 
technical assistance activities at each meeting of the SPS Committee.  By the June meeting of the 
Committee, 36 Members had submitted responses to  the questionnaire regarding their technical 
                                                      
6 G/SPS/GEN/487. 
7 G/SPS/20. 
8 G/SPS/W/162/Rev.1, G/SPS/W/164, G/SPS/W/ 165, G/SPS/W/166, G/SPS/W/167, G/SPS/W/168, 
G/SPS/W/170, G/SPS/W/171, G/SPS/W/172, G/ SPS/W/176, G/SPS/W/177, G/SPS/GEN/584 and 
G/SPS/GEN/588.  
9 G/SPS/GEN/542, G/SPS/GEN/568, G/SPS/GEN/569 and G/SPS/GEN/574. 
10 G/SPS/37.  G/L/755 
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 assistance needs.11  The Secretariat also reported regularly on the projects and project preparation 
grants supported by the Standards and Trade De velopment Facility (STDF) and provided details 
regarding its own SPS-related technical assistance training activities.12 
13. At the 24 October 2005 meeting, the Co mmittee conducted a transitional review under 
Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accessi on of the People's Republic of China.13 
14. The SPS Committee continued to grant ad hoc ob server status on a meeting-by-meeting basis 
to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Latin American Economic System (SELA), the 
Inter-America Institute for Cooperation on Agricultu re (IICA), the Regional International Agricultural 
Health Organization (OIRSA), the ACP Group and th e OECD.  Consideration continued of requests 
for observer status from the Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), the Convention on 
Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Cartagena Pr otocol on Biosafety, and the International 
Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). 
15. The SPS Committee maintained its close working relationships with the IPPC, the OIE and 
Codex and received regular updates on their activities.   Other observer organizations also provided 
information on their activities, including technical assistance activities. 
16. The meeting of 24 October 2005 will be rec onvened on 1-2 February 2006.  The Committee 
agreed to the following tentative calendar of regul ar meetings for 2006:  29-31 March, 28-30 June, 
and 11-13 October. 
__________ 
 
 
 
                                                      
11 The questionnaire is contained in G/SPS/W/113, and the responses to the questionnaire have been 
circulated as addend a to G/SPS/GEN/295. 
12 G/SPS/GEN/545 and G/SPS/GEN/572. 
13 The report by the Chairperson to the Council  for Trade in Goods is contained in G/SPS/39.