The Agreements on the Application of
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and
Technical Barriers to Trade

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) applies to all measures that countries put in place to protect their human, animal and plant life or health, and which may directly or indirectly affect international trade. Essentially, SPS measures are food safety and animal and plant quarantine measures.

The TBT Agreement was developed principally for the purpose of ensuring that technical standards, and procedures for assessing the conformity of those technical standards as well as related regulations, do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.

A number of FAO divisions, including the Animal Production and Health Division, the Food and Nutrition Division, the Plant Production and Protection Division and the Research, Extension and Training Division, have extensive experience in assisting member countries with all aspects of the technical and scientific areas of animal health and production, food standards and plant protection embraced by the SPS and TBT Agreements. In general, their activities include providing assistance in:

the strengthening of national veterinary services to provide them with the capacity and skills to adopt and apply risk analysis techniques effectively;
the development of national food legislation, taking into account the SPS and TBT Agreements;
the establishment and strengthening of national food control systems for both imports and exports;
the formulation of food standards and related measures; and
the updating of national plant and animal quarantine programmes, taking into consideration the SPS and TBT Agreements and international trade requirements.

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS AND INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION CONVENTION STANDARDS IN
THE APPLICATION OF THE SPS AND TBT AGREEMENTS

It is noteworthy that the SPS and TBT Agreements both acknowledge the importance of harmonizing standards internationally so as to minimize or eliminate the risk of sanitary, phytosanitary and other technical standards becoming barriers to trade.

Article 3.1 of the SPS Agreement states:

"To harmonize sanitary and phytosanitary measures on as wide a basis as possible, Members shall base their sanitary and phytosanitary measures on international standards, guidelines or recommendations, where they exist, except as otherwise provided for in this Agreement, ..."

In its pursuance of harmonization, the SPS Agreement has chosen the international standards, guidelines and recommendations of three organizations as the preferred measures for adoption by WTO members. The secretariats of two of those organizations, the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Plant Protection Convention, are located within FAO. The former is in the Food and Nutrition Division and the latter is in the Plant Production and Protection Division.

Codex Alimentarius standards

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is committed to protecting the health of consumers, ensuring fair practices in the food trade and facilitating international trade in food. CAC comprises 157 member countries and, through international negotiation, it has formulated many standards for a wide range of individual food commodities, food safety, pesticide residues, food additives, veterinary drug residues, food contaminants and labelling. It has also elaborated Codes of Hygienic Practice and Principles for food import and export inspection and certification.

The specific recognition of CAC standards, guidelines and recommendations within the SPS Agreement, as well as the place of CAC as an international standardizing body within the context of the TBT Agreement, has stimulated considerable interest in the commission's activities, and developing countries' attendance at Codex meetings has markedly increased. This is a welcome development in the context of both Agreements which direct members, within the limits of their resources, "to play a full part" in the work of relevant international organizations and their subsidiaries.

Article 2.2 of the SPS Agreement states:

"Members shall ensure that any sanitary or phytosanitary measure is applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, is based on scientific principles and is not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence ..."

A feature of the SPS Agreement is the emphasis it places on the adoption of scientifically based sanitary and phytosanitary measures by member countries.

Who comes to Codex?

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Through both its global and country-level activities over the past five decades, based on the best scientific evidence available, FAO has provided a wide range of policy and technical guidance to Member Governments.

In the case of food quality and safety issues, for example, a large amount of the food data available to members has been generated by expert consultations, committees and meetings of internationally eminent, independent experts, convened and serviced by FAO. Two such groups are the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.

The activities of FAO-sponsored expert consultations, committees and meetings have done much towards achieving international harmonization of scientifically based and risk-assessed standards; a cardinal objective of both the SPS and TBT Agreements.

In the area of food standards, guidelines and recommendations, FAO provides assistance to member countries by:

establishing and strengthening national food control systems including the formulation and revision of food legislation (acts and regulations) and food standards in the context of the SPS and TBT Agreements;
conducting a wide range of workshops and training courses, not only for transferring information, knowledge and skills, but also with the intention of increasing awareness among developing countries, in particular, of the importance of their complying with SPS and TBT measures if they are to benefit from participating in the international food trade;
strengthening laboratory analysis and food inspection capabilities;
providing training in all aspects of food control associated with SPS and TBT requirements, including the skills necessary to ensure compliance with those requirements;
presenting papers at conferences and symposia on the relevance of SPS and TBT measures to the international food trade;
extending guidance on matters directly generated by the SPS and TBT measures, including the safety assessment of food produced with biotechnology;
providing advice, information and documents on a wide range of SPS- and TBT-related matters such as the concepts of "equivalency", "transparency" and "risk";
developing and publishing the Manuals of food quality control, which provide recommendations for the development and operation of food quality and safety systems - matters of extreme importance in the context of the SPS and TBT Agreements. These manuals are aimed primarily at providing advice to developing countries, and they document current approaches to food quality control directed at protecting the health of consumers and facilitating international trade, which are principal objectives of the SPS Agreement. Key titles in the series include Food inspection, Food for export, Management of food control programmes and Imported food inspection;
assisting with the establishment and strengthening of food control agencies and with the technical and administrative and technical skills necessary to ensure their effective operation;
developing and publishing training manuals in the area of fish inspection and quality assurance, particularly concerning application of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept in the fish industry. Key titles include: Assurance of seafood quality, The need for fish inspection and quality assurance, and Quality and quality changes in fresh fish;
providing assistance in the strengthening of administrative structures such as:

- Codex Contact Points in member countries to ensure effective information exchange and communication in matters related to food standards and other CAC activities;
- National Codex Committees to encourage and support participation in the international pursuit of harmonization of food standards;

Food quality control

FAO technical assistance in food control and food standards is being delivered at global, regional and country levels. The Manuals of food quality control are used internationally, while workshops, seminars and meetings have been and are being conducted in the regions of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Near East and North Africa on SPS- and TBT-related subjects such as strengthening food control and its administration as well as the implications of these two Agreements for food control and the international food trade. SPS- and TBT-related technical training has been conducted at both national and regional levels in food inspection, food analysis and laboratory management, all aspects of food hygiene and safety and import/export food control strategies.

promoting enhanced cooperation between government food control agencies and the food industry to ensure that, through an understanding of and compliance with SPS and TBT measures, food trade is facilitated rather than obstructed; and
assisting both governments and national food industries in minimizing the risk of health hazards associated with food for local consumption and for export (in order to meet the requirements of importing countries) by providing training in overall food quality systems, including the HACCP system for controlling hazards that are significant for food safety.

In pursuing the harmonization of plant health measures, the SPS specifies adoption by members of international standards, guidelines and recommendations developed under the auspices of the IPPC secretariat in cooperation with regional organizations operating within the framework of the Convention.

International Plant Protection Convention

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) came into force in 1952, was amended in 1979 and revised again in 1997. The IPPC currently lists 106 contracting parties, and the revision allowed for the European Community also to become a contracting party.

Recent changes to the Convention reflect the relationship it now has with WTO through the SPS Agreement. A revised text was adopted by the Conference of FAO in November 1997.

As a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations, the IPPC's information, collection and dissemination function, as well as its role of coordinating Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs), has been extended to setting international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs).

Consequently, contracting parties to the Convention and RPPOs requested FAO to create an IPPC secretariat. The secretariat was established within FAO in 1992. Its functions are to:

promote the development and use of international standards for phytosanitary measures;
facilitate the sharing of information concerning phytosanitary requirements, pest status, national contact points and other relevant data;
organize technical consultations among RPPOs; and
provide technical assistance in implementing the provisions of the Convention.

The secretariat is assisted by the Committee of Experts on Phytosanitary Measures (CEPM), an international panel of experts on harmonization and plant quarantine and various ad hoc working groups with particular areas of expertise.

Standards drafted by the secretariat and working groups are reviewed by the CEPM before being submitted to the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures for adoption.

Plant protection

FAO technical assistance for plant protection in relation to international trade is being delivered at global, regional and country levels. The development through the IPPC and RPPOs of international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs) to be adopted globally is directed at facilitating safe international trade and eliminating the use of unjustified phytosanitary measures as barriers to trade. At the regional level - for example, East Africa - cooperation between national plant protection inspectorates has resulted in "networking", involving the sharing of information and resources and resulting in an increased harmonization of measures and procedures. In many countries, such as Ghana, the training of plant quarantine officers, the drafting of new plant protection regulations and the preparation of training manuals are substantially improving the ability of the national plant protection organization to provide for safe trade in an expanding plant industry.

The IPPC secretariat is developing standards in a seven-part framework encompassing import regulations, export certification, compliance procedures, pest surveillance, exotic pest response, pest management and post-entry quarantine. Within this framework, the secretariat has completed Guidelines for Pest Risk Analysis, a Code of Conduct for the Import and Release of Exotic Biological Control Agents, Requirements for the Establishment of Pest-Free Areas, Principles of Plant Quarantine as Related to International Trade and Guidelines for Surveillance and Export Certification Systems.

Provision is made in the revised Convention for the establishment of a Commission on Phytosanitary Measures which advises the secretariat concerning the activities, direction and priorities of the IPPC, and approves and adopts standards which, in the past, were adopted and approved by the governing bodies of FAO.

The revised Convention also expands the concept of phytosanitary measures to provide for both quarantine pests and regulated non-quarantine pests. This change reflects a high degree of alignment with the scope of protection found in the SPS Agreement.

In the area of plant protection, as related to international trade, FAO is providing assistance to member countries by:

explaining and interpreting the relationship between plant protection and international trade, particularly with respect to obligations under international agreements, especially the IPPC and SPS;
helping with the adjustment and administration of plant protection and plant quarantine programmes to conform to IPPC and SPS obligations;
helping upgrade the plant quarantine services of members by improving infrastructure, increasing the technical skills of staff and streamlining administrative procedures;
providing training for personnel, at both national and regional levels, in scientifically based plant quarantine procedures as well as pest risk analysis and related methodologies to help ensure that adopted phytosanitary measures are scientifically sound and justified;
reviewing and strengthening quarantine legislation to harmonize it with internationally acceptable principles and standards;
providing member countries that are developing pest control and quarantine services with basic facilities for inspection and pest treatment;
guiding the planning and establishment of survey systems to determine the nature and extent of pest and quarantine problems; and
developing international standards for phytosanitary measures for global adoption and encouraging the harmonization of such measures with the aim of facilitating safe trade and avoiding the use of unjustified phytosanitary measures as barriers to trade.

ANIMAL HEALTH

The SPS Agreement emphasizes the importance of assessing risk as a prerequisite to the determination of appropriate levels of sanitary and phytosanitary protection.

The SPS Agreement also requires members to ensure that the sanitary and phytosanitary measures they apply are not more trade-restrictive than is required to achieve the appropriate level of protection.

Article 5.1 of the SPS Agreement states:

"Members shall ensure that their sanitary or phytosanitary measures are based on an assessment, as appropriate to the circumstances, of the risks to human, animal or plant life or health, taking into account risk assessment techniques developed by the relevant international organizations."

Risk assessment is particularly relevant in the trading of animals. Under the SPS, the complete negation of risk by arbitrarily placing a comprehensive prohibition on the entry of all livestock from selected countries is no longer acceptable. Consequently, it has become essential for all animal health services to be proficient in quantitative import risk analysis (QIRA) techniques. Countries must be able to demonstrate that their disease surveillance is sufficiently capable and their control capacity adequate to meet the requirements of importing countries.

In the field of animal health, FAO is assisting member countries by:

providing assistance through consultants and training in basic risk analysis, disease risk analysis and risk communication at training courses and workshops conducted regionally and nationally;
helping to strengthen the infrastructure and expertise of animal health services to enable them to undertake disease surveillance proficiently and effectively;
giving advice and guidance on regional training required to improve disease control and achieve acceptable levels of incidence in the context of importing country requirements and SPS principles;
at both national and regional levels, assisting with the design of disease control programmes that are based on risk analysis and take into account epidemiological principles;
presenting papers at conferences and meetings on risk assessment associated with animal health in general and in such subjects as veterinary vaccines;
assisting countries of Africa in the rationalization of public and private sector veterinary service responsibilities in order to meet WTO requirements for the reduction of agricultural subsidies, the liberalization of animal health inputs, the privatization of selected services and strengthening the public sector for carrying out its animal and public health responsibilities. Similar activities have been or will be undertaken in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Near East and North Africa, Europe, and Asia and the Pacific;
assisting with the organization of regional animal disease networks, involving both the supply of equipment and the training of personnel;

Animal health

FAO technical assistance in animal health is being delivered at global, regional and country levels. FAO provides the secretariat for the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP) as well as providing the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal Diseases (EMPRES). A global system (EMPRESGEWS) for the surveillance and reporting of transboundary animal diseases is being developed as part of EMPRES. At all three levels, FAO provides training, conducts workshops and prepares manuals on a wide range of animal health matters. Manuals produced cover quality control of the manufacture of veterinary vaccines and phar-maceuticals, animal disease diagnosis, animal quarantine, disease control, feed and forage safety, animal health laws and regulations and disease control strategies.

providing training in the strengthening of disease surveillance and quantitative epidemiology, and in the organization and implementation of related services in both animal-importing and animal-exporting countries;
its membership of the secretariat of the Programme Against African Trypanosomiasis (PAAT) for coordination among research institutions, national trypanosomiasis and tetse control services and funding and technical development organizations that aim to promote agriculture and health in trypanosomiasis-affected areas;
in conjunction with the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) and WHO, assembling and disseminating global animal disease status data and assisting member countries to improve the quality of disease surveillance information;
on request, advising member countries' veterinary services departments on the control or prevention of specific infectious, non-infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as on the delivery of veterinary services at the field level, and rationalizing veterinary service departments at the national level; and
providing recommendations for avoiding farm livestock infections and intoxications associated with feed and forage, particularly with regard to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

Animal and fishery production

FAO technical assistance in animal and fishery production has mostly been delivered at regional and country levels. In sub-Saharan Africa and the English-speaking Caribbean, for example, regional training courses have been conducted in meat inspection.

At the country level, in Thailand and Jamaica professionals have been trained in analytical techniques relating to meat and meat products. In Laos and Barbados assistance has been given in the formulation of meat sanitation laws and regulations.

In fisheries it is estimated that, since 1989, more than 3 000 government and industry fish technologists, inspectors and other quality controllers from more than 80 developing countries in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean have been trained at different levels in HACCP-related workshops and seminars organized by FAO's Fish Utilization and Marketing Service.

ANIMAL PRODUCTION

The quantities of meat and meat products moving in international trade are substantial and of economic importance to both exporting and importing countries. As a consequence of disease and food safety considerations associated with meat and meat products, provisions of the SPS Agreement are of particular significance, and it is essential that importing and exporting countries ensure that their trade operations are within the bounds of those provisions.

In the area of animal production, FAO is providing assistance to developing countries by:

training veterinarians and veterinary assistants in meat inspection in both importing and exporting countries;
helping establish laboratories for residue testing (pesticide and veterinary drug residues and contaminants) and training of analysts in related methodology;
helping to establish and upgrade abattoirs and meat processing plants to meet importing countries' requirements; and
providing technical assistance to improve meat quality and meat product handling and inspection so that it complies with the most stringent import requirements.

FORESTRY

The SPS and TBT Agreements have a special relevance to forestry. The SPS Agreement addresses issues of concern relating to trade in unprocessed or slightly processed products such as logs, sawnwood, wood chips and particles. These products are regularly the subject of trade disputes concerning phytosanitary issues. Forestry biodiversity, biotechnology and genetic issues also have linkages with the SPS Agreement.

The provisions of the TBT Agreement are of significance to trade in wood products such as sawnwood and wood-based panels, which are often used as structural materials for buildings and furniture and therefore have safety implications. Additionally, of considerable interest to forestry are TBT technical regulations and standards covering packaging, marking and labelling, especially those connected with certification and ecolabelling, all areas where there are many uncertainties for forest products at present.

FISHERIES

FAO's Fish Utilization and Marketing Service operates a comprehensive training programme in the field of fish utilization and quality control. The main objective of the programme is to train other trainers. This means training those who are in a position to apply the knowledge gained, and hence contribute to countries' self-reliance and sustainability.

In 1986, the programme started to focus on the HACCP system as applied to the fishery industry. The core activities of this programme are the execution of courses, workshops and seminars and the development of training material relevant to developing countries' needs.

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The Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS AND INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION CONVENTION STANDARDS IN THE APPLICATION OF THE SPS AND TBT AGREEMENTS