Overview of the WTO and SPS Agreements
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Transcript of Overview of the WTO and SPS Agreements
Overview of the WTO and SPS AgreementsOverview of the WTO and SPS Agreements
Gretchen H. Stanton
Senior Counsellor
Agriculture and Commodities Division
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Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Membership:
153 countries (July 2008)
Budget: 182m Swiss francs, 2007
Secretariat staff: ~650
Head: Pascal Lamy (director-general)
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WTO Members 2008(153)
WTO Members 2008(153)
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• Negotiate trade rules
• Implement trade agreements
• Resolve trade disputes
• Review national trade policies
What is the WTO?
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The basic principlesThe basic principles
• No discrimination– Most favoured nation principle (MFN)
– National treatment principle
• Predictability– Respect of tariff “bindings” (goods and services)
– Transparency (notification, TPR)
• Freer trade (suppression of barriers through negotiations)
– Tariff reductions
– Prohibition of using quantitative restrictions (quotas)
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The structureThe structure
Ministerial Conference
Dispute Settlement Body
General Council
Trade Policy Review Body
Council - Services Council - TRIPSCouncil - Goods
SPS Committee
TBT Committee
Agriculture Committee
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Overall, import weighted tariff on industrial products≈ 40%
> 4%
8
%
20071947
?NTBstariffs
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Non-tariff measuresNon-tariff measures
Technical barriers to trade
Sanitary and phytosanitarymeasures
Trade in services
Government purchase
Quantitative restrictions
Subsidies
Trade-related intellectualProperty rights
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Agreement on Technical Barriers to TradeAgreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
It applies to all goods .... – technical regulations (mandatory)– standards (voluntary)– conformity assessment procedures
TBTTBTSPS
But: its provisions do not apply to sanitary or phytosanitary (SPS) measures
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The right to protecthuman, animal or plant life or health
Avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures
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“Members have the right to take sanitary and phytosanitary measures necessary for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement”
SPS Agreement - Basic RightArticle 2.1
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SPS MeasuresDefinition - Annex ASPS MeasuresDefinition - Annex A
Human or risks arising from additives,
animal health contaminants, toxins or disease
organisms in food, drink, feedstuff
A measure taken to protect:
Human life plant- or animal-carried diseases
Animal or pests, diseases, disease-causing
plant life organisms
A country other damage caused by entry,
establishment or spread of pests
from
from
from
from
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SPS measures: laws, decrees, regulations… including:SPS measures: laws, decrees, regulations… including:
• end product criteria• processes and production methods• testing, inspection, certification approval
procedures, etc.• quarantine treatments• animal transport• packaging and labelling requirements directly
related to food safety
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Key Provisions of the SPS AgreementKey Provisions of the SPS Agreement
1. Non-discrimination
2. Scientific justification • harmonization
• risk assessment
• consistency
• least trade-restrictiveness
3. Equivalence
4. Regionalization
5. Transparency
6. Technical assistance/special treatment
7. Control, inspection and approval procedures
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No unjustifiable discrimination– between Members with similar conditions– between own territory and other Members
Non-discriminationArticle 2.3
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Members shall
ensure that any
SPS measure
is:
Scientific justification Article 2.2
applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health (least trade restrictive)
based on scientific principles
not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence
except as provided for in Article 5.7
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Scientific Justification Articles 3 & 5Scientific Justification Articles 3 & 5
OR
International standards
Risk assessment
Measures must be based on
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Standard-setting organizations
food safetyCODEX
plant healthIPPC
animal healthOIE
Codex = Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius CommissionOIE = World Organization for Animal HealthIPPC = International Plant Protection Convention (FAO)
Scientific justification HarmonizationArticle 3
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Members shall ensure that their SPS measures are based on
– an assessment, as appropriate, of the risks to human, animal or plant life or health,
– taking into account risk assessment techniques developed by the relevant international organizations.
Scientific justification Risk AssessmentArticle 5.1
Scientific justification Risk AssessmentArticle 5.1
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Scientific justification ConsistencyArticle 5.5
Scientific justification ConsistencyArticle 5.5
Members shall
avoid arbitrary distinctions
in appropriate level of SPS protection (ALOP) considered in different situations
if distinctions result in discrimination or disguised restrictions on trade
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Scientific justification Least trade restrictiveArticle 5.6
Scientific justification Least trade restrictiveArticle 5.6
Once have determined the NEED for
an SPS measureAND
Have determined the LEVEL of protection needed
must select
Least-trade restrictive measure
(technically and economically feasible)
to achieve level of health protection
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Members may provisionally adopt SPS measureswhen relevant scientific information is insufficienton the basis of available information
In such circumstances, Members shallseeks to obtain additional information to assess riskreview the measure within a reasonable period of
time
Scientific justification Exception: Provisional measuresArticle 5.7
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EquivalenceArticle 4EquivalenceArticle 4
Members shall
accept SPS measures of other Members as equivalent
If the exporting country objectively demonstrates that its measures achieve the ALOP of the importing country
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Pest- or disease-free areas Article 6 (Regionalization)Pest- or disease-free areas Article 6 (Regionalization)
Members shall ensure that their SPS measures are adapted o the SPS characteristics of an
“area”
all of a country part of a country all or parts of several countries
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TransparencyArticle 7 & Annex BTransparencyArticle 7 & Annex B
Members shallestablish an Enquiry Point
ANDdesignate a Notification Authority
notify other Members of new or changed SPS regulations when
no international standard exists OR
the new regulation is different than the international standard
regulation may have significant effect on trade
AND
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Special & Differential Treatment and Technical Assistance Articles 9 & 10
Members...
• ...shall take account of the special needs of developing countries
• ...should accord longer time frames for compliance
• ...agree to facilitate provision of Technical Assistance