Technical Assistance to Developing Countries on SPS Issues

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary

and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) sets out the basic rules for the regulation of
food safety and animal and plant health in international trade. This Agreement
recognizes the special needs of developing member countries in order for them
to compete effectively in international trade according to the terms of the
Agreement (see: ‘Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary
measures’ [.pdf], Article 10, Page 6, found in the Support Documentation area of
this Section). These countries may encounter special difficulties in complying
with the sanitary or phytosanitary measures of importing Members, and also in
the formulation and application of sanitary or phytosanitary measures in their
own territories.

Monitoring technical assistance to developing countries in SPS matters:

The SPS Committee normally holds three regular meetings each year which
provide useful opportunities for informal discussions between trading countries
on problems that they may have encountered in the area of food safety or
another sanitary or phytosanitary matter. In addition, there is a formal meeting
agenda and special workshops, e.g. on risk assessment, are occasionally
organized.

The draft agenda of each SPS Committee meeting includes a standing item on
‘the SPS Agreement and Developing Countries’. There are regular discussions of
technical assistance needs of developing countries and reporting of technical
assistance provided by the more industrialised member countries.

FAO technical assistance in SPS matters:

FAO supports its member countries in their efforts to strengthen their food
control programmes and activities. FAO technical assistance in SPS matters
covers: policy advice on specific issues; institutional development and/or
strengthening; review and updating of food legislation; harmonization of food
regulations and standards with Codex and other international regulatory
instruments; training of technical and managerial staff in different food safety
related disciplines; and studies and applied research on specific food related
subjects. FAO organizes, often in cooperation with other organizations, national
and regional workshops and seminars on food safety related matters, develops
and disseminates manuals, guidelines, training materials and other tools needed
to support food control and food safety development programmes.

FAO also provides technical assistance in the areas of animal and plant health.

Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF):

The Standards and Trade Development Facility is a new partnership of the World
Bank, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) World Trade Organization

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(WTO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). The Facility represents a unique opportunity to strengthen
donor coordination in the involvement of developing countries in standard setting
related to food safety, and plant and animal health. It also provides small grants
for innovative capacity building projects in developing countries.

The Facility has three primary objectives:

a. Provision of small grants for pilot projects that build capacity in standards
in developing countries;
b. Assistance to government and private sector in meeting international
standards, such as those referenced in the WTO Agreements; and
c. Strengthened inter-agency coordination and donor collaboration in the
delivery of technical assistance in standards.

The Facility represents a concrete contribution in linking technical assistance to

trade opportunities in the fight against poverty.

The STDF database has been established by the WTO jointly with the World
Bank, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), World Health Organization
(WHO), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to provide information on
SPS-related technical assistance and capacity building projects. It covers national
as well as regional projects. It is an on-going activity and at present the period of
coverage is 2001 to 2003. Data is reported from the five partner institutions,
multilateral agencies, regional and bilateral donors and taken from the existing
WTO/OECD Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity Building database.
The purposes/objectives of the STDF database are as follows:

ƒ To provide an overview of planned and delivered SPS-related technical

assistance;

ƒ To assist coordination between the partners institutions of the STDF;

ƒ To enable information sharing between institutions thereby creating

opportunities to identify gaps and exploit synergies; and

ƒ To minimize and/or avoid duplication in the provision of technical

assistance.

Click here for further information on the STDF [www].

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