RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SPS/GEN/17
24June1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2597)
Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
EXPERIENCES FROM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND
COOPERATION INDEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Note bytheSecretariat
Article 9
Technical Assistance
1. Members agree tofacilitate theprovision oftechnical assistance toother Members, especially
developing country Members, either bilaterally orthrough theappropriate international organizations.
Such assistance maybe,interalia,intheareas ofprocessing technologies, research andinfrastructure,
including intheestablishment ofnational regulatory bodies, andmaytaketheform ofadvice, credits,
donations andgrants, including forthepurpose ofseeking technical expertise, training andequipment to
allow such countries toadjust to,andcomply with, sanitary orphytosanitary measures necessary to
achieve theappropriate level ofsanitary orphytosanitary protection intheirexport markets.
2.Where substantial investments arerequired inorder foranexporting developing country Member to
fulfil thesanitary orphytosanitary requirements ofanimporting Member, thelatter shall consider
providing suchtechnical assistance aswillpermit thedeveloping country Member tomaintain andexpand
itsmarket access opportunities fortheproduct involved.
1. Atthe19-20 March 1997meeting oftheCommittee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
(the"SPS Committee"), theSecretariat wasrequested toprepare abriefpaper identifying issues of
concern brought toitsattention inthecontext oftechnical assistance todeveloping countries. This
noteoutlines, onafactual basis, thenature ofthese concerns asperceived bytheAgriculture and
Commodities Division during missions undertaken since November 1994.
2. Thetechnical assistance provided bytheSecretariat hashadtwophases. Intheinitial phase
thefocus hasbeen onenhancing theawareness andunderstanding ofMembers 'basic rights and
obligations under theSPSAgreement. Thisincludes themanner inwhich theSPSCommittee works
andemphasizes theimplementation ofnotification procedures aswellasother transparency provisions
oftheAgreement.AsawarenessoftheAgreementincreases,theassistanceneedsofdevelopingcountries
isbecoming increasingly more specific, andthesecond phase oftheSecretariat 'stechnical assistance
isfocusing onthose needs specifically identified byMembers.
3. Inthefirstphase, inaddition totheconsiderable assistance provided atandfrom(i.e.through
telecommunications withcapitals) headquarters, thebulkofthetechnical assistance provided bythe
Agriculture andCommodities Division intheSPSareahastaken theformofregional seminars. The
target audience havebeenmid-tohigh-level officials directly responsible fortheapplication offood
safety, animal orplant health trade requirements, aswellasrepresentatives ofinterested industry
associationsandconsumerorganizations.TheSeminarshavebeenorganizedandpresentedincooperation
withtheCodex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), theOffice international desépizooties (OIE) and
theInternational Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). Todate, regional seminars havebeenheldinG/SPS/GEN/17
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Bangkok (November 1994), Mexico City(May 1995), Pretoria andDakar (November 1995), Prague
(March 1996), Moscow (July 1996) andDubai andCairo (December 1996). Onaverage seven
developing countries wererepresented ateachseminar; attendance averaged about 50officials. Further
regional seminars areplanned inWest Africa andIndia inlate1997, and,tentatively, intheSouth
Pacific andSouth EastAsian regions in1998.
4. Aspartofthesecond, more demand-specific phase, technical assistance regarding theSPS
Agreement hasalsobeen provided onanational level inBogota (July 1995), Ghana andKenya
(June 1997), aswellasonaregional levelinHarare (November 1996), Mexico City(January 1997)
andBudapest (June 1997).
5. Inthecourse ofthistechnical assistance, developing countries haveidentified different needs
andconcerns, which arelisted below.
(a) There continues tobeaneedforexpanding theknowledge andunderstanding ofthe
Agreement. Insome countries, agencies directly affected bytheAgreement arestill
notsufficiently familiar withit,norareinterested producer andconsumer associations.
Uncertainties remain, inparticular, withregard tothedifference between thecoverage
oftheSPSAgreement andtheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade. Inthearea
oftransparency, therecommended notification procedures arenotalways fully
understood.
(b) Inmany countries, coordination andexchange ofinformation onanational level, within
andamong thethree sectors -foodsafety, animal health andplant health -needs to
befurther developed. TheSPSAgreement setsoutprovisions which arecommon to
foodsafety, animal, andplant health regulations, requiring effective inter-agency
coordination. Better coordination within thedifferent sectors isalsoneeded toensure
efficient communication andtheexchange ofinformation among those officials who
attend, forinstance, SPSCommittee meetings, those whoattend Codex sessions and
those directly responsible fortheimplementation offoodsafety regulations intheir
country.
(c) Asawareness oftheSPSAgreement increases, there isagrowing need formore
technical assistance withregard totheestablishment ofnational regulatory frameworks,
including thedevelopment oflegislation. Technical assistance iscurrently provided
bytherelevant international standard-setting organizations with regard tothe
establishment ofnational regulatory procedures andmodel legislation. Some Members
alsoprovide technical assistance ofthiskind.
(d) Inaddition, riskanalysis andtheconcepts pertaining toit(such asriskassessment and
riskmanagement) areseenascomplicated andthereisinsufficient practical knowledge
inthisarea. Assistance withriskassessment methodologies andtheirapplication is
being provided bytheinternational organizations andbysome Members.
(e) There appears alsotobeaneedtobroaden awareness of,andmake fuller useof,
existing international standards, guidelines andrecommendations. Insome cases, the
implementation ofthese standards mayrequire technical assistance, particularly from
thestandard-setting international organizations.G/SPS/GEN/17
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(f) There isespecially agrowing demand forfield-related, specific technical assistance.
Suchtechnical assistance mayinvolve thetraining ofpersonnel intheareasofveterinary
andquarantine services, thecreation ofreference laboratories, development of
appropriate testing procedures, etc. Forsome Members, thesituation isaggravated
inthatthecommitment ofnational resources tothefoodsafety, animal andplanthealth
sectors isnotalways seenasapriority relative tootherconcerns. Suchspecific technical
assistance canbeprovided bytherelevant standard-setting international organizations
aswellasbilaterally byMembers.
6. Inthelightoftheresource constraints faced bymany developing countries, inparticular the
leastdeveloped among them, andthetechnical assistance provisions oftheSPSAgreement (Article 9),
Members andtherelevant international organizations maywish toconsider theexpansion oftheir
technical assistance programmes. Inturn,there maybescope fordeveloping countries tomake better
useofthetechnical assistance provisions oftheSPSAgreement andtotakeadvantage ofexisting
opportunities fortechnical assistance from theappropriate institutions.
7. AmongtheconcernsraisedbyMembersistheneedforimprovedcoordinationamongtherelevant
international organizations intheirapproach totechnical assistance indeveloping countries, toensure
adequate geographic coverage, toensure consistency intheadvice offered andtoavoid unnecessary
overlap. Similarly, improved coordination among Members providing bilateral orregional technical
assistance would bebeneficial.
8. Another needwhich hasbeenidentified isformore active participation byappropriate officials
andexperts fromdeveloping countries intherelevant international organizations. Active participation
inthese organizations isparticularly important inthelightofconcerns expressed bysome developing
countries thatthese international organizations arenotgiving sufficient priority tothedevelopment
ofinternational standards, guidelines andrecommendations which address theirprimary needs.
9. Anumber ofregional organizations alsoprovide technical assistance bothwithregard to
regulatory processes andin-the-field needs. Some Members havesuggested theneedforincreased
coordination onaregional basis. Thiscould, forinstance, entail thesetting upofacentral laboratory
fortesting within aregion, orcreating common regional entry ports withcentral testing, inspection
orquarantine facilities. Thedevelopment ofregional standards canbevaluable interms ofthescientific
evidence andriskassessment theycontain, andtheirspecific relevance intheregion where theyapply.
However, itmust beclearly understood thatregional standards donothave thesame status as
international standards. They arenotexplicitly recognized bytheSPSAgreement.