Technical assistance for SPS measures: protect health, not trade.

• Author: Gujadhur, Shyam K.

Barriers to international commerce--particularly technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures--are a key concern of developing countries. A joint ITC/Commonwealth Secretariat study uncovers what's on the minds of exporters, government and standards experts in six developing countries.

Many countries of the South want to earn more from exporting both processed and fresh agricultural products. That means meeting the technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures in export markets. But are these regulations being used to limit access to developed country markets for fresh and processed agricultural exports, as a number of developing countries fear? What sort of action is needed and what sort of technical assistance should donors be giving to help countries meet the technical requirements set?

Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) to protect human, animal and plant life or health and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), member countries need to base their technical regulations and SPS measures on "international standards" if they limit the imports from other countries.

The requirement is designed to provide a measure of uniformity in the way imports are treated. Governments are understandably concerned about health risks, which can range from salmonella poisoning to foot-and-mouth disease or sugar-plant pests. At the same time, the agreements recognize that meeting international standards may be a burden for cash-strapped, resource-short parts of the world. Sounder the agreements, countries also agree to "facilitate the provision of technical assistance to developing countries" to help them meet standards.

What is the situation in developing countries with regard to SPS, TBT and the aid they are supposed to be receiving? What are their priorities for technical assistance? We now have some answers, thanks to a study carried out by ITC with the Commonwealth Secretariat in six developing countries.

The study investigated whether these countries are participating in the development of international standards; how they are implementing the TBT and SPS Agreements; and what problems they face with regard to exporting.

Exports from many developing countries, especially least developed countries, are likely to be concerned by the SPS Agreement more than the TBT Agreement--particularly countries with a limited industrial base.

All face barriers

All of the case study countries--Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Namibia and Uganda--encounter sanitary or phytosanitary barriers to their exports.

The greatest problem for them is that importing countries often impose SPS requirements that are stricter than the international norm. For example, the European Union has special requirements concerning meat processing plants and Norway imposes tough controls against salmonella.

However, the study found that the developing countries have hardly ever raised these concerns in the WTO's SPS Committee. If they did take action, it was through bilateral negotiations.

Although there are examples where this strategy was successful, the study uncovered general frustration about the time taken for the importing country to respond or attend to the issue and revise any offending measures.

In control

It would be simplistic, however, to say that developing countries are not capable of meeting SPS measures. The study found that countries do maintain effective SPS control over some of the most immediate and important health risks--for example, Mauritius has measures to exclude sugar-cane pests from the country and Namibia to keep out foot-and-mouth disease.

The study found that "when SPS or TBT requirements threaten their economic interests, the countries are willing and able to take action". Jamaica, one of the developing countries studied, showed the kind of innovative solution that exporting countries find to...