See
also:
> Agriculture
> Technical
barriers to trade
> World Trade
Report 2005: Exploring the links between trade, standards and the WTO
> WTO
Agreements and Public Health — A joint study by WHO and the WTO
Secretariat
SPS
news back to top
Includes unofficial and less technical summaries of SPS
Committee meetings
> See
also Work on SPS in the WTO, below
Introduction back to top
Introduction
to WTO rules on sanitary and phytosanitary
measures
Links to part of the agriculture section of the
WTO guide Understanding the WTO”
(Click
your browsers back button to
return to this page.)
Understanding
the SPS Agreement (text only)
A more technical introduction
Interactive course:
Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
Interactive course: How to apply the transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement
The
mandate back to top
Browse
or download the text of the SPS Agreement from the legal
texts gateway
WTO Agreements series: SPS
Find decisions of WTO bodies concerning the SPS Agreement in the Analytical Index — Guide to WTO Law
and Practice
Review of the operation and implementation of the
Agreement of the application of sanitary and
phytosanitary measures. Committee Report of the Second Review adopted in 2005 (MS Word format; opens a new window) .
The Doha mandate: SPS in the 2001 ministerial
decision on implementation
SPS Information
Management System
More interactive and
up to date information is available here on:
• Notifications,
specific trade concerns, SPS-related documents (search by
geographic/economic groups, product codes, keywords, comment
periods, etc. where applicable and generate reports)
• Each Member's Enquiry Points, Notification Authorities and
membership of Codex, OIE, and IPPC
> What is the SPS Information Management System?
Work
on SPS in the WTO, and official documents back to top
Work
on this subject is handled by the SPS Committee, which reports to the
Goods Council. The work is officially recorded in the committee’s
annual reports to the General Council and in summary reports
(equivalent to minutes) of the committee’s meetings.
> See
also SPS news, above
>
Current Chairperson
Work in the SPS Committee
Search
Documents Online
These links open a
new window: allow a moment for the results to appear.
Annual reports of the committee to the General
Council (Document
code varies) > search
> help
Summary reports
(minutes) of regular meetings of the SPS Committee (Document
code G/SPS/R/*) > search
> help
Decisions
of the SPS Committee (Document code varies)
> search
> help
Documents associated with the SPS Committee meeting of
Please
select a meeting...
11-13 October 2006
29-30 March 2006
1-2 February 2006
29-30 June 2005
9-10 March 2005
27-28 October 2004
22-23 June 2004
17-18 March 2004
29-30 October 2003
24-25 June 2003
2-3 April 2003
7-8 November 2002
> search
> help
Other official SPS documents
Full
list of all official SPS documents circulated since 1995
(updated September 2005 ) Download
in MS Word format (53 pages, 1632KB, opens in a new window)
Receive
unrestricted SPS documents by e-mail: All unrestricted documents related to the
SPS Agreement are
now being sent via e-mail, usually twice a week, to a mailing
list. The documents are normally sent only in
the original language (English, French or Spanish).
> subscribe
Search
Documents Online
SPS documents use
the code G/SPS/* (where * takes additional values)
These links open a new window: allow a moment for the
results to appear.
> help with downloading these
documents
General
documents of the SPS Committee (Document
code G/SPS/GEN/*)
> search
Annual round-up of specific trade concerns: Secretariat
note (Document code G/SPS/GEN/204/*) > search
Working
documents of the SPS Committee (Document
code G/SPS/W/*)
> search
Disputes (requests for consultations) involving SPS (Document code varies)
> search
International
Harmonization : Documents on procedure to monitor harmonization
(Document code varies) > search
Delegates :
List of members’ representatives in the SPS Committee (Document
code G/SPS/INF/*) > search
Notifications
on SPS:
Monthly list of notifications received (searches
for document code G/SPS/GEN* and keyword “notifications”)
> search
The actual notifications (Document
code G/SPS/N/*)
> search
Cooperation
with other organizations : Director-General’s
reports to the General Council (Document codes vary, in General Council series WT/GC/*)
> search
Member
governments enquiry points on SPS back to top
For transparency, WTO members are required to notify SPS enquiry points and national
notification authorities. The enquiry points are
responsible for answering relevant questions in the SPS
area. The notification authorities are responsible for
ensuring that new or changed SPS measures are notified to
the WTO.
The
latest lists can be viewed or downloaded from the Documents Online
database. Look at updated
information in addendum documents as well.
Enquiry points (Document code
G/SPS/ENQ/*)
> search
Notification authorities (Document code
G/SPS/NNA/*) > search
You
can perform more sophisticated searches from the Documents
Online search facility (opens in new
window) by defining multiple search criteria
such as document symbol (i.e. code number), full text search or document date.
Transparency back to top
New
mentoring system available for national notification
authorities and enquiry points
Workshop
on Transparency, 15-16 October 2007
Notification formats
Download the SPS notification
formats
here .
Download the SPS notification
formats
separately:
Handbook:
How to apply the transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement
A practical guide for member governments’ officials on how to notify measures to the WTO, establish an enquiry point, and respond to enquiries. Download in MS Word (74 pages, 357KB, opens in a new window) or pdf format (74 pages, 278KB, opens in a new window) .
Published September 2002.
> Interactive course :
SPS Handbook
Links
to member governments SPS websites
back to top
> See
also enquiry points and notification authorities, above
Events back to top
SPS/STDF/OECD Workshop on Good Practice in SPS-Related Technical
Cooperation , 6 October 2008
> News
item
STDF Information Session on Private Standards , 26 June 2008
STDF Workshop on SPS-Related Capacity Evaluation Tools , 31 March 2008
> News
item
Workshop on Transparency ,
15-16 October 2007
Third Specialized SPS Course to be held in French on 22 October — 2 November 2007, following the October meeting of the SPS Committee
Joint UNCTAD/WTO Informal Information Session on Private Standards , 25 June 2007
Workshop on the implementation of the SPS Agreement , 31 March 2006
>
Agenda
of the workshop
> Presentations made at the workshop
> A summary report of the workshop will be made available shortly
SPS enhanced informal meeting on Article 6
(regionalization) , 30-31 January 2006
Specialized Course on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, in
Spanish only, 31 October — 11 November 2005.
Special meeting on the implementation of the SPS Agreement,
March 2006.
Special meeting on the
operation of the SPS Enquiry Points , 31 October 2003
Seminar on technical assistance
and capacity building related to the SPS agreement ,
5 November 2002
Workshop
on risk analysis ,
19-20 June 2000
Standards and Trade Development
Facility (STDF) back to top
The STDF was established as a joint
initiative between the World Trade Organization, World Health
Organization, World Bank, World Organization for Animal Health and
Food and Agriculture Organization in September 2002. A medium term
strategy for the STDF was agreed in December 2006 (G/SPS/GEN/748 ).
The STDF is both a co-ordinating and a financing mechanism. As a
co-ordinating mechanism, the STDF acts as a forum for information
sharing on past, present and planned SPS-related technical
co-operation activities. TDF provides grant financing for projects and
the preparation of projects which aim to enhance the capacity of
developing countries to meet SPS standards. Further information
on the STDF is available at the STDF
website .
Electronic transmission of
unrestricted SPS documents back to top
All unrestricted documents related to the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) are
now being sent via e-mail, usually twice a week, to a mailing
list. You can subscribe to the mailing list by following the
instructions below. The documents are normally sent only in
the original language (English, French or Spanish). > subscribe
External
links back
to top
(links open in a new window)
Relevant standard-setting bodies
Observer
organizations
Others