Lesson 2: The SPS Agreement
Topic 1: What the SPS Agreement Covers
In this topic you will explore why the SPS Agreement was created. You will also learn what types of measures the SPS Agreement covers and how those measures can be applied in a way that does not unfairly restrict trade.
Objectives:
- Describe the goal of the SPS Agreement
- Define the term “SPS measure”
- Describe SPS measures which might, directly or indirectly, affect international trade
- Describe what an SPS measure may cover, and what it may not cover
- Describe the rights and obligations of WTO Members who wish to take action to regulate imports in order to protect human, animal, or plant life and health
What is the Purpose of the SPS Agreement?
Countries are responsible for protecting themselves and their consumers, but what happens when strict regulations are used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers? The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) was created to address this question. SPS measures protect human or animal health from food-borne risks, protect human health from animal-or plant-carried diseases, protect animals and plants from pests or diseases, and prevent or limit damage from the entry, establishment, and spread of pests. Let’s look at the specific language in the SPS Agreement that addresses this issue.
From Annex A of the SPS Agreement:
- “Sanitary and 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 processes; quarantine treatments including relevant requirements associated with transport of animals or plants, or with materials necessary for their survival during transport; provisions on relevant statistical methods, sampling procedures and methods of risk assessment; and packaging and labeling requirements directly related to food safety.”
SPS WTO. 1995.
The WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). World Trade Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
To summarize, the SPS Agreement allows countries to protect themselves from unwanted pests that could harm human, plant, or animal health, but not in ways that unfairly affect trade.
The SPS Agreement Promotes Sovereignty and Safety
All countries should strive to make certain that food is safe for consumers and to prevent the spread of pests or diseases among animals and plants. The right of a country to protect itself is a basic principle of the SPS Agreement. For example, countries may inspect products, require specific treatments or processing, or determine pesticide residue levels. The need and application of these measures must apply equally to both domestically produced products and products imported from other countries. Without rules governing the consistent application of SPS measures, domestic producers might pressure countries to use sanitary and phytosanitary measures on imported products, and these measures might not be based on health or pest risks and might instead work to reduce competition. The SPS Agreement addresses this by stating that regulations must be based on science and should only be applied as necessary to protect human, animal, or plant health. SPS measures must be applied consistently, ensuring that countries where similar conditions occur are treated equally. The SPS Agreement maintains the sovereign right of governments to determine and provide a level of protection they consider appropriate, while making sure that these rights are not misused for protectionist purposes.
What the SPS Agreement Covers
The SPS Agreement provides specific guidance that allows countries to protect themselves from a wide variety of injurious organisms. The purpose of measures covered under the SPS Agreement may be applied to protect human or animal health from food-borne risks. These risks include those arising from the presence of additives, contaminants, toxins, or other disease-causing agents found in food. SPS measures may also be applied to protect human health from animal- or plant-carried diseases, such as those that can travel from livestock to humans. Measures that protect animals and plants from pests or diseases are also covered under the SPS Agreement. These measures form the foundation for animal and plant import requirements. Finally, the SPS Agreement covers measures used to prevent or limit damage from the entry, establishment, and spread of pests.
Rights and Obligations of the SPS Agreement
SPS measures must be based on science and applied in a uniform and systematic manner. However, all countries determine their own appropriate food safety levels and animal and plant health protections. The WTO encourages countries to harmonize their national measures with standards that are internationally agreed upon. This topic will be covered in greater detail in a later section. Transparency requirements in the SPS Agreement are designed to ensure that domestic producers and the National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPO) of trading partners are aware of SPS measures that a country is using or is planning to use.
Governments are required to immediately publish all SPS regulations or measures. Other member governments may request an explanation and justification for the measure. All WTO member countries must create and maintain an enquiry point, which receives and responds to all requests regarding that country’s SPS measures. Before a country changes an existing measure or imposes a new measure or regulation that might affect trade, the country must notify the WTO. The WTO then circulates the notification, and trading partners have an opportunity to comment before the measure is implemented. This comment process may be bypassed in emergencies, but the country creating measures must immediately notify other Members of the measures it is taking.
In this topic, you learned the goals of the SPS Agreement and defined the term “SPS measure”. You also learned what an SPS measure may cover, and what the rights and obligations of WTO Members who wish to regulate imports in order to protect their human, animal, or plant life and health are.
To continue, select Topic 2 from the Topics menu above or click here.