Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
(Continued)
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Article 13: Implementation
Members are fully responsible under this Agreement for the observance
of all obligations set forth herein. Members shall formulate and
implement positive measures and mechanisms in support of the observance
of the provisions of this Agreement by other than central government
bodies. Members shall take such reasonable measures as may be
available to them to ensure that non-governmental entities within
their territories, as well as regional bodies in which relevant
entities within their territories are members, comply with the
relevant provisions of this Agreement. In addition, Members shall
not take measures which have the effect of, directly or indirectly,
requiring or encouraging such regional or non-governmental entities,
or local governmental bodies, to act in a manner inconsistent
with the provisions of this Agreement. Members shall ensure that
they rely on the services of non-governmental entities for implementing
sanitary or phytosanitary measures only if these entities comply
with the provisions of this Agreement.
Article 14: Final Provisions
The least-developed country Members may delay application of
the provisions of this Agreement for a period of five years following
the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect
to their sanitary or phytosanitary measures affecting importation
or imported products. Other developing country Members may delay
application of the provisions of this Agreement, other than paragraph
8 of Article 5 and Article 7, for two years following the date
of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect to their
existing sanitary or phytosanitary measures affecting importation
or imported products, where such application is prevented by a
lack of technical expertise, technical infrastructure or resources.
ANNEX A
DEFINITIONS 4
1. Sanitary or phytosanitary measure - Any measure applied:
(a) to protect animal or plant life or health within the territory
of the Member from risks arising from the entry, establishment
or spread of pests, diseases, disease-carrying organisms or disease-causing
organisms;
(b) to protect human or animal life or health within the territory
of the Member from risks arising from additives, contaminants,
toxins or disease-causing organisms in foods, beverages or feedstuffs;
(c) to protect human life or health within the territory of the
Member from risks arising from diseases carried by animals, plants
or products thereof, or from the entry, establishment or spread
of pests; or
(d) to prevent or limit other damage within the territory of
the Member from the entry, establishment or spread of pests.
Sanitary or phytosanitary measures include all relevant laws,
decrees, regulations, requirements and procedures including, inter
alia, end product criteria; processes and production methods;
testing, inspection, certification and approval procedures;
quarantine treatments including relevant requirements associated
with the transport of animals or plants, or with the materials
necessary for their survival during transport; provisions on
relevant statistical methods, sampling procedures and methods
of risk assessment; and packaging and labelling requirements
directly related to food safety.
2. Harmonization - The establishment, recognition and application
of common sanitary and phytosanitary measures by different Members.
3. International standards, guidelines and recommendations
(a) for food safety, the standards, guidelines and recommendations
established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission relating to food
additives, veterinary drug and pesticide residues, contaminants,
methods of analysis and sampling, and codes and guidelines of
hygienic practice;
(b) for animal health and zoonoses, the standards, guidelines
and recommendations developed under the auspices of the International
Office of Epizootics;
(c) for plant health, the international standards, guidelines
and recommendations developed under the auspices of the Secretariat
of the International Plant Protection Convention in cooperation
with regional organizations operating within the framework of
the International Plant Protection Convention; and
(d) for matters not covered by the above organizations, appropriate
standards, guidelines and recommendations promulgated by other
relevant international organizations open for membership to all
Members, as identified by the Committee.
4. Risk assessment - The evaluation of the likelihood of
entry, establishment or spread of a pest or disease within the
territory of an importing Member according to the sanitary or
phytosanitary measures which might be applied, and of the associated
potential biological and economic consequences; or the evaluation
of the potential for adverse effects on human or animal health
arising from the presence of additives, contaminants, toxins or
disease-causing organisms in food, beverages or feedstuffs.
5. Appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection
- The level of protection deemed appropriate by the Member establishing
a sanitary or phytosanitary measure to protect human, animal or
plant life or health within its territory.
NOTE: Many Members otherwise refer to this concept as the "acceptable
level of risk".
6. Pest- or disease-free area - An area, whether all of
a country, part of a country, or all or parts of several countries,
as identified by the competent authorities, in which a specific
pest or disease does not occur.
NOTE: A pest- or disease-free area may surround, be surrounded
by, or be adjacent to an area - whether within part of a country
or in a geographic region which includes parts of or all of several
countries -in which a specific pest or disease is known to occur
but is subject to regional control measures such as the establishment
of protection, surveillance and buffer zones which will confine
or eradicate the pest or disease in question.
7. Area of low pest or disease prevalence - An area, whether
all of a country, part of a country, or all or parts of several
countries, as identified by the competent authorities, in which
a specific pest or disease occurs at low levels and which is subject
to effective surveillance, control or eradication measures.
ANNEX B
TRANSPARENCY OF SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY REGULATIONS
Publication of Regulations
1. Members shall ensure that all sanitary and phytosanitary regulations
5 which have been adopted are published
promptly in such a manner as to enable interested Members to become
acquainted with them.
2. Except in urgent circumstances, Members shall allow a reasonable
interval between the publication of a sanitary or phytosanitary
regulation and its entry into force in order to allow time for
producers in exporting Members, and particularly in developing
country Members, to adapt their products and methods of production
to the requirements of the importing Member.
Enquiry Points
3. Each Member shall ensure that one enquiry point exists which
is responsible for the provision of answers to all reasonable
questions from interested Members as well as for the provision
of relevant documents regarding:
(a) any sanitary or phytosanitary regulations adopted or proposed
within its territory;
(b) any control and inspection procedures, production and quarantine
treatment, pesticide tolerance and food additive approval procedures,
which are operated within its territory;
(c) risk assessment procedures, factors taken into consideration,
as well as the determination of the appropriate level of sanitary
or phytosanitary protection;
(d) the membership and participation of the Member, or of relevant
bodies within its territory, in international and regional sanitary
and phytosanitary organizations and systems, as well as in bilateral
and multilateral agreements and arrangements within the scope
of this Agreement, and the texts of such agreements and arrangements.
4. Members shall ensure that where copies of documents are requested
by interested Members, they are supplied at the same price (if
any), apart from the cost of delivery, as to the nationals 6
of the Member concerned.
Notification Procedures
5. Whenever an international standard, guideline or recommendation
does not exist or the content of a proposed sanitary or phytosanitary
regulation is not substantially the same as the content of an
international standard, guideline or recommendation, and if the
regulation may have a significant effect on trade of other Members,
Members shall:
(a) publish a notice at an early stage in such a manner as to
enable interested Members to become acquainted with the proposal
to introduce a particular regulation;
(b) notify other Members, through the Secretariat, of the products
to be covered by the regulation together with a brief indication
of the objective and rationale of the proposed regulation. Such
notifications shall take place at an early stage, when amendments
can still be introduced and comments taken into account;
(c) provide upon request to other Members copies of the proposed
regulation and, whenever possible, identify the parts which in
substance deviate from international standards, guidelines or
recommendations;
(d) without discrimination, allow reasonable time for other Members
to make comments in writing, discuss these comments upon request,
and take the comments and the results of the discussions into
account.
6. However, where urgent problems of health protection arise or
threaten to arise for a Member, that Member may omit such of the
steps enumerated in paragraph 5 of this Annex as it finds necessary,
provided that the Member:
(a) immediately notifies other Members, through the Secretariat,
of the particular regulation and the products covered, with a
brief indication of the objective and the rationale of the regulation,
including the nature of the urgent problem(s);
(b) provides, upon request, copies of the regulation to other
Members;
(c) allows other Members to make comments in writing, discusses
these comments upon request, and takes the comments and the results
of the discussions into account.
7. Notifications to the Secretariat shall be in English, French
or Spanish.
8. Developed country Members shall, if requested by other Members,
provide copies of the documents or, in case of voluminous documents,
summaries of the documents covered by a specific notification
in English, French or Spanish.
9. The Secretariat shall promptly circulate copies of the notification
to all Members and interested international organizations and
draw the attention of developing country Members to any notifications
relating to products of particular interest to them.
10. Members shall designate a single central government authority
as responsible for the implementation, on the national level,
of the provisions concerning notification procedures according
to paragraphs 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this Annex.
General Reservations
11. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring:
(a) the provision of particulars or copies of drafts or the publication
of texts other than in the language of the Member except as stated
in paragraph 8 of this Annex; or
(b) Members to disclose confidential information which would
impede enforcement of sanitary or phytosanitary legislation or
which would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular
enterprises.
ANNEX C
CONTROL, INSPECTION AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES 7
1. Members shall ensure, with respect to any procedure to check
and ensure the fulfilment of sanitary or phytosanitary measures,
that:
(a) such procedures are undertaken and completed without undue
delay and in no less favourable manner for imported products than
for like domestic products;
(b) the standard processing period of each procedure is published
or that the anticipated processing period is communicated to the
applicant upon request; when receiving an application, the competent
body promptly examines the completeness of the documentation and
informs the applicant in a precise and complete manner of all
deficiencies; the competent body transmits as soon as possible
the results of the procedure in a precise and complete manner
to the applicant so that corrective action may be taken if necessary;
even when the application has deficiencies, the competent body
proceeds as far as practicable with the procedure if the applicant
so requests; and that upon request, the applicant is informed
of the stage of the procedure, with any delay being explained;
(c) information requirements are limited to what is necessary
for appropriate control, inspection and approval procedures,
including for approval of the use of additives or for the establishment
of tolerances for contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs;
(d) the confidentiality of information about imported products
arising from or supplied in connection with control, inspection
and approval is respected in a way no less favourable than for
domestic products and in such a manner that legitimate commercial
interests are protected;
(e) any requirements for control, inspection and approval of
individual specimens of a product are limited to what is reasonable
and necessary;
(f) any fees imposed for the procedures on imported products
are equitable in relation to any fees charged on like domestic
products or products originating in any other Member and should
be no higher than the actual cost of the service;
(g) the same criteria should be used in the siting of facilities
used in the procedures and the selection of samples of imported
products as for domestic products so as to minimize the inconvenience
to applicants, importers, exporters or their agents;
(h) whenever specifications of a product are changed subsequent
to its control and inspection in light of the applicable regulations,
the procedure for the modified product is limited to what is necessary
to determine whether adequate confidence exists that the product
still meets the regulations concerned; and
(i) a procedure exists to review complaints concerning the operation
of such procedures and to take corrective action when a complaint
is justified.
Where an importing Member operates a system for the approval of
the use of food additives or for the establishment of tolerances
for contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs which prohibits
or restricts access to its domestic markets for products based
on the absence of an approval, the importing Member shall consider
the use of a relevant international standard as the basis for
access until a final determination is made.
2. Where a sanitary or phytosanitary measure specifies control
at the level of production, the Member in whose territory the
production takes place shall provide the necessary assistance
to facilitate such control and the work of the controlling authorities.
3. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent Members from carrying
out reasonable inspection within their own territories.
Continue on to
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
4 For the purpose of these definitions,
"animal" includes fish and wild fauna; "plant"
includes forests and wild flora; "pests" include weeds;
and "contaminants" include pesticide and veterinary
drug residues and extraneous matter.
5 Sanitary and phytosanitary measures such
as laws, decrees or ordinances which are applicable generally.
6 When "nationals" are referred
to in this Agreement, the term shall be deemed, in the case of
a separate customs territory Member of the WTO, to mean persons,
natural or legal, who are domiciled or who have a real and effective
industrial or commercial establishment in that customs territory.
7 Control, inspection and approval procedures
include, inter alia, procedures for sampling, testing and
certification.
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