. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/W/129
21 March 2003
(03-1651)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
COMMENTS ON CHAPTER 6 OF THE SPS AGREEMENT –
REGIONALIZATION
Communication by Chile
Article 6. Adaptation to Regional Conditions, including Pest- or Disease-Free Areas and
Areas of Low Pest or Disease Prevalence
1. Members shall ensure that their sanitary or phytosanitary measures are adapted to the
sanitary or phytosanitary characteristics of the area – whether all of a country, part of a country, or
all or parts of several countries – from which the product originated and to which the product isdestined.  In assessing the sanitary or phytosanitary characteristics of a region, Members shall take
into account, inter alia, the level of prevalence of specific diseases or pests, the existence of
eradication or control programmes, and appropriate criteria or guidelines which may be developed
by the relevant international organizations.
2. Members shall, in particular, recognize the concepts of pest-or disease-free areas and areas
of low pest or disease prevalence.  Determination of such areas shall be based on factors such as
geography, ecosystems, epidemiological surveillance, and the effectiveness of sanitary or
phytosanitary controls.
3. Exporting Members claiming that areas within their territories of pest- or disease-free areas
or areas of low pest or disease prevalence shall provide the necessary evidence thereof in order to
objectively demonstrate to the importing Member t hat such areas are, and are likely to remain, pest-
or disease-free areas  or areas of low pest or disease prevalence, respectively.  For this purpose,
reasonable access should be given, upon request, to the importing Member for inspection, testing and
other relevant procedures.
Comments
This principle of the WTO SPS Agreement has been largely developed with reference to OIE
and IPPC guidelines.  Even in the case of the OIE, it makes on-the-spot verifications of some diseases
in order to guarantee an area's status.
Nevertheless, when Member countries do reach such sanitary status, usually after great cost
and effort, they find that the process of recognition is delayed, chiefly for two reasons:
- The importing countries do not give effect to the recognition by the international
organization (OIE);
- the administrative procedures required by the importing countries, are usually very
complex, slow and differ from the one established by the international organization in
question.G/SPS/W/129
Page 2
The normal stages in the procedure should be:
- Obtaining the sanitary or phytosanitary status;- declaration of the area as such by the competent international organization;- communication of the status to trading partners;- a formal request for recognition of this status;- initiating the bilateral process of recognition, which depends on the pest or disease
involved.
From then on, the periods for fulfilling each of the recognition stages varies, depending on the
country and its system.
Suggestions:- Work should be done on this matter in order to clarify the valid procedure to be
followed in such cases, in an effort to b ack up the work of the competent international
organizations in preparing standards that are used and recognized by Member
countries;
- the OIE should in future incorporate other important diseases in its verification
procedure;
- the IPPC should in future incorporate this on-site verification and recognition by
experts, or a similar mechanism;
- work should be done on reviewing the corresponding standards in order for all
countries to be able to raise any doubts, so as to update standards that are adopted
without difficulties about subsequent application.
__________