The Wto Agreement On The Application Of Sanitary And Phytosanitary Measures (Sps Agreement)

Health and plant health measures can, by their very nature, lead to trade restrictions. All governments accept that certain trade restrictions may be necessary to ensure food security and the protection of animal and plant health. However, there is sometimes pressure on governments to go beyond what is necessary to protect health and to use health and plant health restrictions to protect local producers from economic competition. This pressure is expected to increase as the Uruguay Round agreements remove new trade barriers. A health or plant health restriction, which is not really necessary for health reasons, can be a very effective protectionist device and, because of its technical complexity, constitute a particularly misleading and difficult obstacle. These include health and plant health measures to protect the health of fish and wildlife, as well as forests and wild plants. Improve human status, animal health and plant health medicine in all members; The decision to start the Uruguay Round trade negotiations was taken after years of public debate, including within national governments. The decision to negotiate an agreement on the application of sanitary and plant health measures was taken in 1986 at the beginning of the cycle. The SPS negotiations were opened to the 124 governments that participated in the Uruguay Round. Many governments were represented by their food safety or animal health officers. Negotiators also drew on the expertise of international technical organizations such as FAO, the code and the OIE. 1 In this agreement, the reference to Article XX point b) also includes the chapter of this article. (Return to text) 2 For the purposes of Article 3, paragraph 3, a scientific justification is available when a member finds, on the basis of a review and evaluation of the available scientific information, in accordance with the relevant provisions of this agreement, that the relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations are not sufficient to achieve its appropriate level of health or plant health protection.

(Back to text) 3 For the purposes of Article 5, paragraph 6, a measure is no more restrictive than necessary for trade, unless there is another reasonably available measure, given the technical and economic feasibility, which reaches the appropriate level of health or plant health protection and is significantly less trade-restrictive.