Sanitary and Phytosanitary SPS Agreement

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Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement
International Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures (ISPMs)

• Ms. Asna Booty Othman
• Mr. Ho Haw Leng
• Department of Agriculture, Malaysia
• Workshop on Significance of Testing and
  Conformity Assessment in Global Trade
  Challenges for Research Technology
  Organizations (RTOs)
• SIRIM Berhad, Selangor, 20 April 2005

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CONTENT

• What is SPS Agreement
• Why SPS
• Requirements and rules of SPS
• Constraints to implement SPS
• IPPC
• - What is IPPC and the purpose
• - Role in developing standards
• ISPMs
• - What is standard
• - Standards - objectives
• - Development approval of standards
• - What are the approved standards
• RD roles in relation to ISPMs
• Conclusions

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SPS Agreement

• Agreement on the
• Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
  Measures
• sanitary human animal life health
• phytosanitary plant health

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SPS AGREEMENT

• One of the WTO Agreement
• - on Quarantine rights and
• obligation (1995)
• A change in philosophy in trade
• Trade cannot be prohibited without
• good reason
• Must use scientific evidence
• Not create unnecessary barriers to trade

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SPS measures

• TO PROTECT
• human or animal life
• human life
• animal or plant life
• a country

• FROM
• risks from additives, contaminants, toxins,
  pathogens in feed and beverages
• zoonoses and plant carried diseases
• pest, diseases and pathogens
• damage caused by entry, establishment or spread
  of pests

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Why SPS Agreement Matters

• Principles that countries committed to
• uphold when trading
• Countries are more vigilant against pest
• and diseases
• Food/products import meet their safety
• standards
• Freedom on trade must be balance with countries
• to protect on health and safety
• Determine their own level of protection

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WTO/SPS Agreement

• The WTO oversees the implementation of the SPS
  Agreement
• Provides for a common approach by applying to
  all sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPMs)
  which many directly or indirectly affect
  international trade (Article 1)
• Permitting government to maintain
• - appropriate SPS protection
• - reduces possible arbitrariness of decisions
• - encourages consistent decision making

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A Countrys Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
(SPMs)

• Must apply only when necessary
• Based on scientific principles
• Must not be maintained without sufficient
  scientific evidence (Article 2 .2)
• SPMs must also not arbitrarily or unjustifiably
  discriminate between countries
• SPMs cannot be applied in a manner that would
  constitute a disguised restriction on
  international trade (Article 2 .3)

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SPS Agreement

• Requires
• i) Measures to ensure food safety and to
• protect the health of animals and plants
• should be based as far as possible on the
  
• analysis and assessment of objectives
• and accurate scientific data

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SPS Agreement

• Requires
• i) Risk assessment techniques development
  by
• relevant international organisations
  must be
• taken into account
• ii) Risk are to be assessed taking into
  account of
• a number of enumerated factors including
• available scientific evidence (Article
  5.2)

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SPS Agreement

• other factors to take into consideration when
  establishing the ALOP
• should include minimising negative trade effects
  (Article 5.4)
• avoid arbitrary or unjustifiable distinctions in
  level it considers appropriate in different
  situations (if they result in discrimination or a
  disguised restriction in international trade
• (Article 5.5)
• ensure SPMs are not more trade restrictive than
  required for an ALOP (Article 5.6)

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SPS Agreement

• provide some flexibility for countries to
• adopt SPMs provisionally when scientific
• evidence for the measures is insufficient
• (Article 5.7)
• Provisional SPMs can be adopted on the
• basis of available pertinent information
• derived from a variety of sources
• However, countries must subsequently seek
  additional information to more objectively assess
  the risk and to review the SPMs within a
  reasonable period of time

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SPS Agreement

• Government are required to notify other
• countries of any new or changed sanitary
• phtosanitary requirements which affect
• trade, and to set up enquiry points to
• response to request for more information
• on new and existing measures
• (Annex B para 3)
• They also must open to scrutiny how they
• apply their food safety and animal and
• plant health regulations

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SPS Agreement

• One of the primary goals is to encourage
• harmonization of SPMs on the basis of
• international standards, guidelines and
• recommendations promogulated by
• international organizations

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SPS Agreement

• Allows countries set their own standards
• Standards must be based on science
• Encourages use of international standards,
• guidelines and recommendations

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SPS Agreement

• Allows member countries to adopt different
• or higher standards where scientifically
• justified
• Include provisions on control, inspection and
• approval procedures
• Complement the agreement on technical
• barriers to trade
• Three sisters
• IOE International Office of Epizootics
• CODEX Codex Alimentarius Commission
• IPPC -- International Plant Protection
  Commission

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CONSTRAINTS TO IMPLEMENTATION of SPS

• DEARTH OF INFORMATION
• ORGANISATIONAL NEEDS
• CAPACITY TO UNDERTAKE RISK ASSESSMENT LACKING
• LACK OF RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE/INFOSTRUCTURE

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GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR AGRI-FOOD TRADE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
AGRICULTURE
TBT
SPS
OIE
IPPC
CODEX
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International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)?

• A multilateral treaty for international
  cooperation in plant protection
• The global instrument for the harmonization of
  phytosanitary measures in commerce and the
  environment
• The phytosanitary standard-setting organization
  named in the WTO-SPS Agreement

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IPPC

• Adopted by Conference of FAO at its Sixth
• Session in 1951
• Total contracting parties 117
• Current version of the Convention dates
• back in 1979
• Recent version (1997) - process of
• acceptance by contracting parties

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IPPC - Purpose

• to secure common and effective
• action to prevent the spread and
• introduction of pests of plants and
• plant products, and to promote
• appropriate measures for their control

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What organizations administer or implement the
IPPC

• Interim Committee of Phytosanitary
• Measures (ICPM) or
• Committee of Phytosanitary Measures
• (CPM)

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Roles of ICPM/CPM

• Global coordination
• Develop and adopts ISPMs development
• Establishes procedures for dispute settlement
• Adopt guidelines for RPPOs
• Technical assistance for LDCs
• Cooperation with international organizations

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IPPC Secretariat

• Implementing the policies and activities
• of the CPM including standard setting

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International Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures (ISPMs).

• ISO Definition of a standard
• Standard Documentation, established by
  consensus and approved by a recognized body, that
  provides, for common and repeated use, rules,
  guidelines or characteristics for activities or
  their results, aimed at the achievement of the
  optimum degree of order in a given context.
• Note Standards should be based on the
  consolidated results of science, technology and
  experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum
  community benefits

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ISPMs

• An International Standard adopted by the
  Conference of FAO, the ICPM/CPM on phytosanitary
  measures established under the IPPC

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Standards - Objectives

• International harmonization
• Reduce resources needed to justify measures (PRA)
• Avoid and/or resolve disputes
• Provide models

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ISPMs

• - ISPMs are developed through the work
  programme
• of the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary
• Measures (ICPM).
• - The IPPC, 1997 and the WTO Agreement on the
  
• SPS Agreement provide the legal framework
  under
• which the ISPMs are developed.
• - They are adopted by the ICPM after
  development over a period of time through agreed
  and defined process of draft development and
  country consultation. The standard-setting
  process is managed by the standards committee
  (SC).

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ISPMs 3 development stages

• drafting
• consultation
• approval
• Approved ISPMs 21 ISPMs

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of ISPMs Established?

• 21 ISPMs Approved
• Key ISPMs
• - 1 Principles of PQ
• - 2 Pest risk analysis (PRA)
• - 4 Pest free area
• - 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms
• - 6 Guidelines for Surveillance
• - 8 Pest status
• - 11 PRA quarantine pest
• - 15 Regulating wood packing material
• - 20 Phytosanitary import regulatory
  system

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Role of R D - ISPMs

• Technical information/data for scientific
  evidence/justification
• Fill information gap
• Avoid or resolve dispute
• Compliance to international standards
• Better market access
• Imposed phytosanitary measures

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DOMINO EFFECT

• surveillance

pest listing
pest categorisation
pest risk analysis
scientific justification for phytosanitary
measures
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CONCLUSIONS

• SPS Agreement
• -transparent, base on rules all same
  rights
• - facilitate trade
• A need to strengthen and establishing R D
• capacity to generate scientific information to
  
• meet the IPPC standards (ISPMs) for
• - i) compliance, ii) - risk management
• iii) market access
• Strengthening of infrastructure and
  infostructure
• Collaboration and Networking - key to enhance
• implementation

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• THANK YOU