Food Law News - FAO/WHO/WTO/Codex - 2007


WTO News item, 25 June 2007

PRIVATE STANDARDS - Joint UNCTAD/WTO informal information session on private standards

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) jointly organized an informal information session on private standards on 25 June 2007. The purpose was to give UNCTAD and WTO members the opportunity to familiarize themselves with different private standards schemes, particularly in the area of food safety.

A first session gave an overview of different private standards schemes. A second session focused on case studies, presenting different national experiences and the opportunities and challenges encountered. A final session addressed trade and development implications.

The session took place at the WTO headquarters in Geneva and was open to all UN and WTO members. It was organized on the margins of the meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), which has been discussing private standards in recent meetings. UNCTAD's Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries has prepared about a dozen country-case studies and held several regional workshops on the developmental and market access impact of private voluntary standards.

Presentations

[Note: the presentations can be accessed from the WTO page at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/private_standards_june07_e/private_standards_june07_e.htm]


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