. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/R/26/Corr.1*
13 June 2002
(02-3295)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
SUMMARY OF THE MEETING HELD ON  19-21 MARCH 2002
Note by the Secretariat
Corrigendum
The following corrections are made to the su mmary report of the Twenty-Third Meeting of
the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures held on 19-21 March 2002.
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The text of paragraph 1 is amended to read as follows:
1. The Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "Committee") held its twenty-
third meeting on 19-21 March 2002.  The meeting was chaired by Mr. William Ehlers (Uruguay).
The agenda proposed in WTO/AIR/1741 and WTO/AI R/1741/Corr.1 was adopted with amendments.
The Chairman welcomed China and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and
Matsu ("Chinese Taipei") as new members of the Committee.
The text of paragraph 51 is amended to read as follows:
51. The representative of Chinese Taipei stated that safety assessment of all GM products should
be based on scientific evidence to ensure that the products were as safe as their conventional
counterparts.  He stressed the need for all Members to work together in particular to strengthen risk
communication.  Chinese Taipei considered that an appropriate labelling scheme was necessary to
respect consumers' right to know and to choose.  Voluntary labelling had been introduced in Chinese
Taipei, in January 2001, and mandatory labelling would be applied in three phases starting in
January 2003.  Information about the regulations of Chinese Taipei, was available at
www.doh.gov.tw.
The text of paragraph 112 is amended to read as follows:
112. The Secretariat reported that its technical assistance activities since the last meeting of the
Committee included national workshops in China and in Chinese Taipei, and regional workshops for
the Golf Corporation Council countries hold in the UAE and another for the Baltic states held inEstonia.  The countries involved in these workshops clearly had a good, albeit uneven, understanding
of the basic provisions of the SPS Agreement, but interest in specific areas.  For example, participants
                                                     
* In English only.G/SPS/R/26/Corr.1
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in the Dubai workshop identified the need for better  internal coordination and the lack of effective
implementation of the transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement as particular problems.  These
national and regional workshops also showed the value of good cooperation between the WTO, OIE,
Codex and IPPC secretariats.  In addition, an information session on the work of the SPS Committee
was held in the margins of the Codex CCFICS meeting in Brisbane, where the equivalence decision
by the SPS Committee was of critical concern and importance.  The WTO Secretariat alsoparticipated in the FAO/WHO Global Forum for Food Safety Regulators in Marrakech in January,
and drew attention to the valuable documents regarding national food safety programmes that were
prepared for that occasion.
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