WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/362
22 November 2002
(02-6487)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
SANITARY MEASURES ADOPTED BY HONDURAS
IN CONNECTION WITH ITS AVIAN HEALTH SITUATION
Statement by Honduras at the Meeting of 7-8 November 2002
Background1. Owing to the avian health situation in Hondur as, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
established a national avian programme, the key objective of which was to initiate a campaign for the
prevention, control and eradication of avian diseases (Newcastle disease, avian influenza, avianlaryngotracheitis, pullorum disease and fowl typhoid), as notified at the time to all WTO Members in
document G/SPS/N/HND/3.
2. As a result of a consistent programme and a major, joint effort by the poultry sector and the
Government, in October 2001 Honduras declared itself free of the above diseases.  Throughout this
process begun in 1999, Honduras regularly kept the OIRSA Animal Health Directorate and its tradingpartners informed of progress in this national campaign, by communicating and publishing its
Regulations, sample designs and avian epidemio-surveillance programmes.  Developments were also
reported to various technical fora, one of which – as recorded in the Report of the Sixteenth Special
Session of the Technical Commission of the Regional International Agricultural Health Committee
(HCIRSA) – was attended by the Ministers of Agriculture of Central America and the Caribbean.
Honduras had provided the Costa Rican health author ities with the relevant documentation at the time.
3. Having made the above notification and in view of the change in the country's health status,
Honduras informed its trading partners of the adoption of sanitary measures to protect its domestic
poultry, substantiated by technical and scientific evidence which was shared with the trading partners.
4. Since Costa Rica's avian health status regarding these diseases was not known and the
requested information could not be provided at the time, Honduras technically determined the lack of
equivalence between the two countries' avian heal th programmes;  indeed, Costa Rica was unable to
guarantee Honduras an adequate level of protecti on – a right of which Honduras, as the importing
country, avails itself in this case, as notified in document G/SPS/N/HND/3 at the outset of the
campaign for the prevention, control and eradication of avian diseases, the relevant section of which
reads as follows:  " Only poultry, products and by-products thereof, from countries with
equivalent legally-established animal health  programmes for the prevention, control and
eradication of avian diseases may be imported ".
5. So as not to jeopardize trade between the two c ountries while abiding by its strict undertaking
to protect domestic poultry;  pursuant, moreover, to Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;  and Costa Rica having stated that it lacked
funds to establish a national avian disease eradication and control programme, Honduras stated itsreadiness to recognize disease-free or low-prevalence areas, on which it asked Costa Rica to supply
all the requisite information;  a 10-point protocol was drawn up by Honduras and sent onG/SPS/GEN/362
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6 March 2002 for use as a reference by the Costa Rican authorities with a view to re-activating trade
in the areas concerned.  To date, Honduras has not received the technical information requested.
6. Despite the numerous discussions and meetings that had taken place, Costa Rica lodged a
complaint against Honduras through the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration
(SIECA), accusing Honduras of applying disguised restrictions on trade.  The matter was discussed ata meeting in Guatemala on 17 April last, at which Costa Rica withdrew items 7 and 8 from the
agenda, for lack of technical evidence.  Honduras told the representatives present that if Costa Rica
already had all the information requested, this should be made available to Honduras, which would
immediately entrust a commission with the task of reviewing the documents, conducting an on-site
inspection of the areas to be certified as disease free, and, if such were the case, initiating trade.  The
Costa Rican authorities, represented by Dr. Hugo Sánchez, requested another 45 days to supply the
information to the Honduran health authorities, the date being set at around 3 June 2002.  When thetime came, Costa Rica postponed the deadline and the m eeting until 3 July (i.e. a month later).  At the
bilateral meeting that took place on that date, Honduras was told that Costa Rica was under no
obligation to provide any further information.
7. The Costa Rican authorities asked various technical fora to extend the deadlines for the
presentation of Costa Rica's avian programmes, so as to be able to inform them of the systematic andpermanent monitoring of avian diseases – especially those of which Honduras had declared itself free.
So far, Costa Rica has not supplied the documentation to Honduras' satisfaction.  Honduras has
repeatedly asked to conduct an on-site inspection but has not been allowed to proceed.  The foregoing
shows that Costa Rica has been unable to provide evidence of its actual avian health status, which
Honduras, as a country free of the four diseases in question, deems indispensable.  The Costa Ricanhealth authorities have acknowledged this situ ation, as indicated at the following meetings:
(a) Meeting of the Regional Avian Technical Commission in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, in
2002 (at which Costa Rica presented the sample designs it intends to apply).
(b) Bilateral meeting within the framework of the HCIRSA meeting on 17 and 18 April
2002 in Mexico (with OIRSA attending as  an observer), at which Costa Rica
explained that its avian health control programme was not ready – mainly on account
of follow-up problems in the monitoring sphere – because the programme had only
recently been established and was still being organized.
(c) The situation was further confirmed at the following bilateral meetings:
c.1 Meeting on 3 July 2002 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
c.2 Meeting on 6 August 2002 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
c.3 Meeting on 30 August 2002 in San José, Costa Rica
The above meetings showed that Costa Rica did not have a systematic and permanent avian
disease follow-up programme, which is why it had failed to present the systematic and regular
samples that would have given Honduras a real and technically substantiated picture of its avian
health status, especially regarding the four avian diseases of which Honduras has declared itself free.
8. On 3 July, Costa Rica presented a provisional document outlining its avian programme, and
on 6 August, the Costa Rican health authorities reported on progress made in training technical
personnel so that they could start with monitoring and sampling tasks.G/SPS/GEN/362
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9. At the bilateral meeting on 30 August, Costa Rica undertook to monitor avian salmonellosis
and avian laryngotracheitis and provided Honduras with a preliminary report, on which Honduran
technical personnel gave their comments (Note SAG-1075-2002) and asked to receive further
information since the document specified that the study had not been completed, with laboratory
results still pending.
10. At the regional level, it is important to mention that an Avian Regional Technical
Commission, including representatives of the Costa Rican health authorities and the private sector,
has been established at the request of the region's Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock.  This
Commission is in charge of harmonizing requirements in respect of sample designs, and at the
meeting subsequently held in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, the Costa Rican health authorities were urged to
abide by the agreements concluded.
11. It clearly emerges from the above that the Costa Rican health authorities have not yet satisfied
Honduras' technical requirements, which is why th e technical process has not been completed and
Honduras deems that the Costa Rican health author ities should comply by providing the appropriate
technical and scientific documentation regarding the country's avian health status.  In this
connection, Honduras reiterates its request to conduct an on-site inspection , which has so far
been denied by Costa Rica and which is a right of which Honduras avails itself as the importingcountry.
12. As regards fresh poultry products, Honduras is merely asking the Government of Costa Rica
to supply the information requested so that access can be granted in accordance with regional
conditions and Costa Rica's avian disease-free areas can be duly accredited.  As soon as Costa Rica
provides the necessary evidence and the relevant on-site inspection has been conducted and its resultsestablished, as stipulated by the WTO SPS Agreemen t, Honduras will allow access to fresh poultry
meat.
13. None of Honduras' poultry products has been allowed access to the Costa Rican market,
although Honduras has been demonstrated to run a consistent avian health programme.
1  The Costa
Rican health authorities have all the information relating to Honduran programmes from 1999 to date.
14. Moreover, Costa Rica's veterinary services have lost credibility in Honduras' eyes because of
their lack of transparency, having issued official certificates for breeding animals (cattle) that tested
positive for brucellosis and leukosis  during quarantine in Honduras;  this caused the municipality in
question to lose its brucellosis- and leukosis-free status and entailed significant financial losses for the
Honduran Government.  Honduras consequently asked to carry out an on-site inspection in Costa
Rica, having noted irregularities in official documents, the accreditation of laboratory results not
conducted in official facilities and the signing of documents by technicians without official status oraccreditation by the Costa Rican Government.
Additional comments
15. As regards document G/SPS/GEN/347 circulated by Costa Rica, section 1 on page 4 refers to
Newcastle disease, stating that Honduras has recogn ized Costa Rica as a country free of the disease.
In this connection, the Government of Honduras formally requests the Government of Costa Rica toprovide the official documents validating that affirmation.  Moreover, in section 2, Costa Rica refers
to avian influenza, stating that Costa Rica "se ha declarado libre de esta enfermedad" (has declared
itself free of this disease) and stating that it is in a position to export poultry meat to international
markets.  Honduras asks Costa Rica to supply the offi cial documentation in support of that assertion.
                                                     
1 OIE Bulletin No. 6, November 2001, pp. 810 to 815 (attached).G/SPS/GEN/362
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16. Lastly, Honduras wishes to make clear that it is not applying restrictive measures "in absolute
terms" on imports of poultry meat from Costa Ri ca.  The Honduran Government is merely asking
Costa Rica – as indeed all countries – to present the documentation that certifies the equivalence of its
avian health status with that of Honduras and to allow Honduran technical personnel to conduct on-
site inspections, which Honduras, as the importing country, is entitled to do, pursuant to Article 4.1 ofthe SPS Agreement.
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