. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/W/208 
9 October 2006 
 (06-4833) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 18  
OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF THE  
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ("CHINA") 
 
Questions from the European Communities to China concerning 
 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
 
 
1. The European Communities wishes to thank th e People's Republic of China (hereinafter 
referred to as "China") for its commitment to th e TRM process and appreciate the efforts deployed by 
China to answer the questions during the previous  TRM exercises.  The European Communities is 
transmitting comments and questions in advance of the meeting of the SPS Committee, in order for 
the Chinese authorities to reply to and co mplete any outstanding information. 
2. The European Communities notes with satisfac tion the increased cooperation between China 
and the European Communities on SPS issues.  This is manifested in an increasing number of contacts 
and the establishment of formal cooperation mechan isms aimed at promoting increased trade flows 
under safe conditions.   
3. The European Communities has noted a sharp fa ll in the number of Chinese notifications to 
the SPS over the past year.  This may be simply in contrast with the large number of notifications 
made as part of the WTO accession process but clar ification on this point  would nonetheless be 
welcome.   
4. The European Communities would like to enc ourage China to apply international (OIE) 
standards in accordance with its obligations under Article 3 of the WTO Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary M easures (the "SPS Agreement").  The European 
Communities notes in particular that China tends to be quick to apply international standards when 
problems arise, but often delays far beyond the gui delines when lifting the measures.  This is, for 
instance, the case for Chinese meas ures in relation to BSE.  
5. The European Communities would like also to take this opportunity to mention other long-
standing specific trade concerns with China.  The European Communities also consider the very slow 
progress in negotiations of certain bilateral protocols between China and EC member States as a key 
factor hampering trade in agricultural products be tween the European Communities and China.  The 
European Communities invites Chin a to follow the obligations of the SPS Agreement, including the 
obligations to avoid undue procedural delays, and to maintain import restrictions only if those are 
scientifically based.  It invites Ch ina to accelerate these negotiations.  
6. China's ban on certain animal products from cer tain EC member States is based on a single 
isolated and completely controlled incident of c ontamination with dioxin.  In the absence of proper 
scientific justification, the European Communities believes that the SPS Agre ement gives no basis to 
maintain this ban in place.  The European Commun ities asks China to respect the provisions of the 
SPS Agreement, in particular Article 2, paragraph 2.  G/SPS/W/208 
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  7. The European Communities would also like to refer to China's 100 per cent testing import 
requirements on dairy products for E. sakazakii .  Once again the European  Communities believes that 
these requirements are not scientifically based and not proportional to the risk in accordance with the 
provisions of the SPS Agreement.  
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