Lesson 3: SPS Agreement Principles

Topic 7: Transparency

An important factor to stable international trade is open communication between trading partners. Open communication is especially important when communicating new rules or asking questions about existing policies. In this topic, you will learn how the SPS Agreement promotes communication and transparency.

Objectives:

  • Describe the requirements for transparency covered under the SPS agreement
  • Differentiate between notification authority and enquiry points

Transparency provisions of the SPS Agreement are designed to ensure that SPS measures are made known to all potentially interested parties, from the general public to trading partners. In addition to promptly publishing new or altered requirements, countries are responsible for providing an explanation of their reasons for establishing specific SPS measures if requested by another country.

Article 7 outlines Member obligations related to transparency. The Agreement simply states that, “Members shall notify changes in their sanitary or phytosanitary measures and shall provide information on their sanitary or phytosanitary measures in accordance with the provisions of Annex B.” Annex B, Transparency of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Regulations, reads as follows:

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
  1. 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.

  2. 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
  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Notifications to the Secretariat shall be in English, French or Spanish.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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
  1. 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.

Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

It is necessary for Members to make their regulations public and to notify other Members when they plan to establish or substantially alter a regulation. In many cases, the notification authority is an existing government department or agency that is responsible for managing areas that are covered by the SPS Agreement. There should be only one SPS notification authority, even if SPS functions are the responsibility of more than one government agency. Members must also establish an enquiry point. The enquiry point is an official or office designated to respond to regulation enquiries from other WTO Members and the public. The enquiry point system allows countries to easily obtain information about SPS and related issues without having to identify and directly contact the individual agencies responsible for any given function in another country. The enquiry point is the single contact point to which any relevant enquiries can be made. It has the responsibility of obtaining the answers from the relevant national bodies and replying to the country making the enquiry.

The WTO should be informed when a Member’s notification authority or enquiry point has been established. The WTO Secretariat should also be informed if the notification authority or enquiry point is changed. The WTO Secretariat regularly circulates a list of all Members’ notification authorities and enquiry points. This list is updated three or four times a year.

What are the benefits of transparency? By requiring the publication of regulations, trading partners know in advance what is required for their goods to enter a particular country. If an exporting country has questions or needs clarification about a regulation, the official enquiry point facilitates that process and, in turn, facilitates trade. Finally, the obligation to notify Members of new regulations or of substantial changes provides stability for the marketplace and for exporters by ensuring that regulations do not change without warning.

The following video will help illustrate the concept of Transparency.

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course_01/lesson_03/topic_07/asset_001

In this topic, you learned about notification authorities and enquiry points. You learned that Members must identify where questions about SPS issues can be directed. Members must also notify the international trading community when they plan to change or enact new regulations.

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