Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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WTO News Item, 14 July 2023
WTO members have made further progress in carrying out the Work Programme of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Declaration, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), which aims at identifying and addressing challenges in the implementation of the Agreement on the Application of SPS Measures. At a meeting of the SPS Committee on 12-14 July, members also addressed a large number of specific trade concerns relating to food safety and animal and plant health and elected Mr Tayutic Mena of Costa Rica as the Committee Chair for 2023-2024.
The MC12 SPS Declaration instructed the SPS Committee to launch a Work Programme to further enhance the implementation of the SPS Agreement in light of new opportunities and emerging challenges, following which five thematic groups were set up.
Based on inputs from members and discussions in the thematic groups and in the Committee over the past year, two draft outcome documents were produced: a factual summary of the MC12 SPS Declaration Work Programme and a draft report to be presented to ministers at the WTO's 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) to be held in Abu Dhabi on 26-29 February 2024.
The revised documents will be discussed during intersessional consultations in September, with the aim of adopting them at the next formal meeting in November 2023. Further background information is available on the dedicated webpage of the SPS Declaration Work Programme.
Information sharing
Ukraine provided detailed information on the current functioning of its SPS infrastructure and other SPS aspects of the food security situation. Several members took the floor to condemn the war in Ukraine and to stress the importance of renewing the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Russian Federation regretted that some members continued to raise issues outside the scope of the WTO and invited the Chair to moderate the discussions.
The European Union provided information on the European Commission proposal on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed, which sets out specific rules for the use of such plants as part of EU sustainability initiatives. The EU also reported on its recommendations to combat antimicrobial resistance as part of the One Health approach.
Argentina updated members on its international technical cooperation for global food security between 2012 and 2022, highlighting activities in over 65 countries, primarily focused on capacity building in areas such as agriculture, biotechnology and genetics, and livestock breeding.
In addition, Japan provided an update on the Fukushima nuclear power station accident — a topic regularly discussed in the SPS Committee.
Specific trade concerns
A total of 46 specific trade concerns (STCs) were discussed at the Committee — one new and 45 previously raised — addressing issues such as pesticide residues, COVID-19 related restrictions, delays in approval procedures, and animal health-related restrictions. Members withdrew three additional STCs after progress in bilateral consultations.
Other issues
The WTO Secretariat provided an update on the ongoing discussions in the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development regarding the G-90 special and differential treatment proposals on the SPS Agreement and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. Some members voiced their opinion that discussions on the functioning of the Committee should take place in the SPS Committee.
The Committee also received an update on the ongoing discussions in the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) on MC12 implementation matters related to WTO reform and COVID-19. The Chair will circulate a draft report for members' comments, to be submitted to the CTG in early November.
The Committee also asked the Secretariat to prepare a process and timeline for the 6th Review of the Operation and Implementation of the SPS Agreement, scheduled to take place in 2024. The review will provide an opportunity to continue discussing the topics of the MC12 SPS Declaration Work Programme.
Next meeting
The next regular meeting of the SPS Committee is scheduled for the week of 13 November 2023, to be preceded by an informal meeting and a thematic session on risk communication, misinformation and disinformation.
