Lesson 1: Market Access Through Regulations
Topic 1: Each Country Has Its Own System
In this topic, you will learn why international sanitary and phytosanitary organizations recognize the different legal systems of member countries and allow for diverse approaches to implementing sanitary and phytosanitary policies and restrictions.
Objective:
- Explain why the World Trade Organization allows its members to develop their own systems to implement sanitary and phytosanitary policies and restrictions consistent with each member’s WTO commitments.
The World Trade Organization‘s (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) recognizes the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) as the standard-setting organization for plant health issues and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as the standard-setting organization for animal health issues. However, each country that participates in the WTO ultimately determines the restrictions on the importation of plant and animal commodities.
The SPS Agreement indicates that a participating country may set its own level of protection against various types of pests, suitable to circumstances in the country itself. The mechanisms by which countries impose restrictions also differ. It would be impossible to require countries to change their governance structures to become IPPC and OIE members. Instead, the IPPC and OIE allow their members flexibility to be consistent with the SPS procedures. Each country has its own system for imposing sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions, based on local statutes and other policies and procedures.
Although this module will examine the U.S. process in detail, it is important to keep in mind that the U.S. process is only one example of how a country can fulfill its commitments under the IPPC and OIE. The principles on which the U.S. process is based might be useful to keep in mind for any country seeking to develop or improve its market access process.
The above principles will be discussed in more detail later in this module, and a more expansive discussion is available in Module 1 of this SPS training. Review the SPS principles discussed in Module 1 in the assessment below.
A country may use any process to fulfill its commitments under the IPPC and OIE, as long as it is consistent with the WTO SPS Agreement.
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