Lesson 4: Implementation of the SPS Agreement
Topic 2: Capacity Building
In this topic, you will learn how WTO Members help each other function in the international agricultural trade community through methods such as Technical Assistance and Capacity Building.
Objectives:
- Describe how the U.S. develops human resources and builds institutional capacity
- Describe different areas in which Technical Assistance can be provided
One of the secondary functions of the USDA is to support international capacity building. Capacity building is an explicit responsibility outlined in the SPS Agreement. As a WTO Member country, the United States supports capacity building in developing countries to help increase their trade capacity, so that they may fully participate in the global trading system. Building trade capacity is important because many countries do not have the human, institutional, and infrastructural capacity to participate effectively in international trade. Without the basics of trade capacity, countries are not able to expand the quantity and quality of agricultural commodities that they can export at competitive prices. Activities that help people understand complex WTO rules increase the implementation of treaties like the SPS Agreement and assist representatives in negotiating more effectively with their trading partners.
Article 9 of the SPS Agreement deals specifically with the responsibility of Members to provide and engage in technical assistance. From the Agreement:
- Members agree to facilitate the provision of technical assistance to other Members, especially developing country Members, either bilaterally or through the appropriate international organizations. Such assistance may be, inter alia, in the areas of processing technologies, research and infrastructure, including in the establishment of national regulatory bodies, and may take the form of advice, credits, donations and grants, including for the purpose of seeking technical expertise, training and equipment to allow such countries to adjust to, and comply with, sanitary or phytosanitary measures necessary to achieve the appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection in their export markets.
- Where substantial investments are required in order for an exporting developing country Member to fulfill the sanitary or phytosanitary requirements of an importing Member, the latter shall consider providing such technical assistance as will permit the developing country Member to maintain and expand its market access opportunities for the product involved.
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
The United States has several different programs that provide funds to groups and individuals for capacity building and technical assistance. For example, The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program (Borlaug Fellowship Program) helps developing countries strengthen sustainable agricultural practices by providing scientific training and collaborative research opportunities to visiting researchers, policymakers, and university faculty. The Borlaug Fellowship Program has provided over 500 fellowships for agricultural professionals from 64 developing countries worldwide.
Borlaug Fellows and other visitors from developing countries engage in a wide variety of activities when they visit the United States. Each activity can be modified to fit the needs of the researcher or policy maker. For example, a representative from a country’s National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) might visit the United States to learn more about Pest Risk Analysis (PRA). As part of the individual’s training program, visitors might work with U.S. colleagues to write a PRA for a commodity that the visitor’s country would like to export. This program provides important technical skills to visitors from developing countries, while creating professional relationships that will facilitate technical and government-to-government interactions in the future. These activities also adhere to SPS Agreement Article 9, by providing technical assistance to fellow Member countries.
how to write a Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) on a commodity of interest to their country.
In addition to hosting visitors, the USDA provides technical experts to train plant protection officials in countries that export to the United States or would like to do so in the future. Although some of these training sessions require financial support from the host country, they provide an excellent opportunity to learn about plant protection systems from world experts.
Additional U.S. capacity building programs include the Embassy Science Fellows Program, the International Graduate Studies Program, and the Faculty Exchange Program, to name just a few.
The SPS Agreement and the international trading system only work when Members engage with one another. Training and dialogue between trading partners help maintain productive, safe, and equitable relationships while avoiding possible misunderstandings and disagreement. Capacity building between nations is an excellent tool to promote healthy trade relationships.
In this topic, you learned about the different areas in which technical assistance can be provided. You also learned how the U.S. helps other nations develop human, institutional, and infrastructural capacity, and how these activities improve the overall function of the international agricultural trade community.
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