Developing veterinary legislation in a WTO context

1. Developing veterinary legislation in a WTO context OIE Global Conference on Veterinary Legislation 7-9 December 2010 (Djerba, Tunisia) Melvin Spreij Counsellor Agriculture and Commodities Division

2. Location: Geneva, Switzerland Established: 1 January 1995 Membership: 153 countries Budget: 185m Swiss francs, 2008 Secretariat staff: ~650 Head: Pascal Lamy (Director-general)

3. WTO Members 2010(153)

4. Functions • Negotiate trade rules • Implement trade agreements • Resolve trade disputes • Review national trade policies

5. The 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)

6. Relevant WTO Agreements • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – basic principles • Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) Member states must respect obligations under WTO agreements when developing veterinary legislation

7. Objective of the SPS Agreement? recognizing right to protect human, animal, plant life or health avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade

8. from from from from SPS MeasuresDefinition - Annex A A measure taken to protect: Human or risks arising from additives, animal health contaminants, toxins or disease organisms in food, drink, feedstuff Human life plant- or animal-carried diseases Animal or pests, diseases, disease-causing plant life organisms Territory of other damage caused by entry, Member establishment or spread of pests

9. from SPS Measures -ExamplesDefinition - Annex A A measure taken to protect: Human or risks arising from additives, animal health contaminants, toxins or disease organisms in food, drink, feedstuff limits on residues in fish & shellfish limits on aflatoxin residues in nuts HACCP to limit risks from salmonella

10. from SPS Measures -ExamplesDefinition - Annex A A measure taken to protect: Human life plant- or animal-carried diseases BSE-related restrictions requirement that susceptible animals be vaccinated against rabies

11. from SPS Measures -ExamplesDefinition - Annex A A measure taken to protect: Animal or pests, diseases, disease-causing plant life organisms measure to prevent introduction of FMD measure to prevent introduction of fruit flies

12. from SPS Measures -ExamplesDefinition - Annex A A measure taken to protect: Territory of other damage caused by entry, Member establishment or spread of pests measure to prevent introduction of zebra mussels through ballast water of ships seed regulation to avoid introduction of exotic weeds

13. SPS measures include all relevant laws, decrees, regulations, requirements and procedures, including inter alia: • product criteria • quarantine treatments • production and processing requirements • certification and approval procedures • inspection • testing

14. Key provisions of the SPS Agreement • Non-discrimination • Scientific justification • harmonization • risk assessment • consistency • least trade-restrictiveness • Equivalence • Regionalization • Control, inspection and approval procedures • Transparency

15. Scientific JustificationArticle 2.2 based on scientific principles Members shall ensure that any SPS measure is: applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence except as provided for in Article 5.7

16. Scientific JustificationArticles 3 & 5 Measures must be based on Risk assessment OR International standards

17. Standard-setting organizations food safety plant health animal health OIE CODEX IPPC HarmonizationArticle 3, Annex A Codex = Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission OIE = World Organization for Animal Health IPPC = International Plant Protection Convention (FAO)

18. Risk assessment 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 Definitions in Annex A: • Food/beverage/feed borne risk • Disease or pest risk

19. Risk assessment - exception Provisional measures, Article 5.7 Members may provisionally adopt SPS measures • when relevant scientific information is insufficient • on the basis of available information In such circumstances, Members shall • seeks to obtain additional information to assess risk • review the measure within a reasonable period of time

20. 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

21. Least trade-restrictive – Article 5.6 • SPS measures not to be more traderestrictive than required to achieve the appropriate level of protection • Alternative measure... • reasonably available • technically and economically feasible • significantly less trade restrictive

22. EquivalenceArticle 4 If the exporting Member objectively demonstrates that its measures achieve the ALOP of the importing country Members shall accept SPS measures of other Members as equivalent SPS Committee Guidelines (G/SPS/19/Rev.2)

23. RegionalizationArticle 6 • Adapt SPS measures to characteristics of area (all or part of a country, all or parts of several countries) taking into account • prevalence of diseases or pests • existence of eradication or control programmes • criteria/guidelines developed by OIE, IPPC • Recognize concept of pest- or disease-free areas • Exporters=>proof SPS Committee guidelines (G/SPS/48)

24. Control, Inspection and Approval Procedures - Article 8 and Annex C • No undue delays • Information requirements: limited to what is necessary • No less favourable treatment for imports: • Fees – no discrimination, only to cover costs • Procedure to review complaints

25. TransparencyArticle 7 & Annex B establish an Enquiry Point AND designate a Notification Authority Members shall 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

26. When to notify? When modifications are still possible (draft text) Regular measures Allow 60 day comment period!! IMMEDIATELY!! Provisional measures

27. The SPS Committee 3 regular meetings per year – Geneva • Implementation of SPS Agreement • Reviews compliance • Potential trade impacts • Co-operation with technical organizations Codex, OIE and IPPC have observer status

28. Conclusions: • Veterinary legislation should facilitate implementation of provisions of the SPS Agreement and application of relevant guidelines developed by the Committee • New or changed legislation should be notified to the WTO Secretariat in a draft stage • Countries are encouraged to participate actively in the work of the ISSBs and SPS Committee

29. Where to find SPS information? • SPS gateway: http://www.wto.org/sps • SPS Information Management System (SPS-IMS): http://spsims.wto.org/ • http://www.wto.org/“Docs-on-line”