Introduction to International Treaties and Standards in Phytosanitary systems

To create awareness and enhance knowledge on:

1. WTO-SPS agreement
2. The role of IPPC in regulating Phytosanitary issues
3. The use of ISPMs in Phytosanitary systems
4. The existing national and regional phytosanitary frameworks
5. The private standards, other international standards and treaties that are linked to agricultural trade and plant health

1. World Trade Organization – Sanitary and Phytosanitary (WTO-SPS) Agreement
2. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
3. International Standards on Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs)
4. National and regional phytosanitary frameworks
5. Private standards that are linked to trade and plant health
6. International standards and treaties linked to trade and plant health

1.3.1 WTO-SPS Agreement (5 Hours)

1. Introduce WTO and WTO-SPS agreement: background of the WTO, WTO structure, WTO SPS Agreements, role of IPPC, Codex and OIE standard setting bodies (the ‘3 sisters’), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Non-Technical Barriers to Trade (NTB) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS) .
2. The WTO-SPS committee: membership, roles and responsibilities, structure, role of the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) in national, regional and international training.
3. WTO-SPS agreement:- principles and articles in the agreement; general provisions, basic rights and obligations, risk assessment, non-discrimination, equivalence, scientific justification, technical assistance, harmonization, transparency [including SPS-IMS], regionalization, SPS notifications, dispute resolution [including legal assistance – Advisory Center on WTO law – ACWL] and others.
4. Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF): Background, structure, roles of STDF such as funding for Phytosanitary capacity building, conferences, funding procedures and examples of funded projects like COPE, Uganda-Floriculture, COMESA-Breaking Barriers Project.
5. Practical Case studies - ‘Trading Safely’ video; WTO case studies – major decisions and reference documents for WTO; major trade disputes (WTO dispute settlement and agreement: index of list, current issues on WTO SPS agreements) and how they have been resolved.
6. Exercises: Notifications using the SPS-IMS; quizzes on different aspects of WTO SPS agreements, TBT and NTB measures; dispute resolution like role playing on principles of negotiation.

1. Introduction to IPPC: Background, membership, functions, contracting parties obligations, country compliance, Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) and impact on national and international trade, ISPM No. 1 and 5.
2. IPPC administrative framework: Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), Standards Committee (SC), Subsidiary body on dispute settlement, strategic planning and technical assistance.
3. International Plant Protection (IPP) Portal: role in exchange of information and implementation of standards.
4. IPPC standard setting process: steps in standards development, technical panels (expert working groups), and adoption of IPPC standards.
5. Scope and objectives of the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs)
6. Dispute settlement: procedures, informal and formal consultations, selection of dispute settlement procedure, formation of expert committee, report preparation, others; examples of IPPC mediated disputes and their resolution.
7. Exercises: visit the IPPC website and download information including ISPM updates, technical assistance, new pest reports, contact points, and preparation of country member comments; discussion on dispute settlement, and other relevant exercises.

1. Overview of the adopted ISPMs (ISPM 1-41)
2. ISPM development process
3. Groupings ISPM based on application: pest risk analysis (PRA), imports, exports, pathways, surveillance, pest free areas and areas of low pest prevalence, diagnostic protocols and pest reporting, phytosanitary treatments,

1. National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO): formation, framework and responsibilities, ISPM implementation, opportunities for member participation, member consultation process.
2. National coordination mechanism: national coordinating committees, international trade, notifications and communications’ structure.
3. Regional coordination mechanisms: Phytosanitary agreements, harmonization of regional standards, one border concept, migration to single window for increased trade (COMESA, EAC, Inter-Africa Phytosanitary Commission (IAPSC), SADC, ECOWAS, NAPPO, EPPO-); COMESA green pass (green channel) and Phytosanitary issues in the implementation of guidelines to alleviate bottle necks to regional trade; global trends on information sharing cross border information exchange for regional integration and role of state agencies and private sector, and other new phytosanitary regulation
4. Other standards: National standards for different countries, for example fruits and vegetable standards;Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) standards and Horticultural Crop Directorate (HCD) code of conduct for Kenya and equivalent for other participating countries; traders associations and horticultural producers associations, grain traders associations and capacity building initiatives.
5. Exercises: Group discussions and presentations on the national phytosanitary framework and codes of conduct for fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds or flowers by participants from different countries represented in the training.

The details of the topic will be tailor-made to the Countries represented in the training

1. Types of private standards, importance, concerns and implications; harmonization (bench marking), equivalence, transparency, control, inspection, approval procedures, consultation/appeal mechanisms.
2. Position of SPS committee on private standards- status of private standards in WTO, relations, rules and disputes
3. Examples of international and national private standards: – GlobalGAP, Tesco’s Natures choice, BRC, Fairtrade labeling organization (FLO), SAI, RSPO, BCI, BSCI, FSC, UTZ certified, KenyaGap, KFC code of conduct, ISO and others.
4. Case studies: impact of a particular private standard on trade and plant health
5. Exercises – Group discussions on advantages and disadvantages of private standards, different country experiences, role plays or simulation exercises, and proposed solutions/impacts, presentations on equivalent standards used in different countries participating in the training.

1. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Background, Cartagena Protocol and its effects on international trade, Nagoya protocol on access and benefit sharing
2. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
3. The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV): Background, membership, guidelines and effects on international trade
4. Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX): Background, membership, CODEX Food Standards and effects on international trade, Maximum Residual Limita (MRLs)
5. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Background, membership, different schemes and effects on international trade
6. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE):: Background, membership, UNECE standards for fruits and vegetables and effects on international trade
7. International Seed Testing Association (ISTA): Background, membership, role in seed certification and effects on international trade.
8. International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Background, membership, role in setting international standards, examples (17025, 22000, 9001, 17020 and others), importance in international trade
9. Case studies: Impact of certain standards trade, plant health and food security for example UNECE, ISTA and CBD
10. Exercises: Identify problems from participants’ countries and relate to any of the above standards (country group discussions), comparison between private and international standards.

1. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) website: http://www.ippc.int/
2. The WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/spsagr_e.htm
3. Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD). http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles.shtml?a=cbd-00
4. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. https://www.cites.org/
5. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/
6. Crop Protection Compendium. http://www.cabi.org/cpc/
7. World Trade Organization. www.wto.org
8. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
9. International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). http://www.seedtest.org/en/home.html
10. International Organization for Standardization (ISO). http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html
11. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). http://www.unece.org/
12. GlobalGAP. http://www.globalgap.org/cms/front_content.php?idcat=9
13. Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). http://www.fairtrade.net/
14. Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC). http://r4dreview.org/2011/04/iapsc-protecting-africas-plant-health/
15. The Southern African Development Community (SADC). www.sadc.int/
16. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). www.comesa.int/
17. The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF). http://www.standardsfacility.org/en/index.htm
18. CODEX Alimentarius. Current Official Standards. http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/standard_list.jsp
19. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). http://www.oie.int/
20. World Trade Organization, May 2009, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Reference documents; World Trade Organisation, Geneva Switzerland.
21. World Trade Organization, September 2011, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Major Decisions and Documents; World Trade Organization, Geneva Switzerland.
22. World Trade Organisation, 2010, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; the WTO Agreements Series, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; World Trade Organization, Geneva Switzerland.
23. Common Market for Eastern and Sothern Africa; Protocol on rules of origin, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Lusaka Zambia.
24. World Trade Organization, February 2009, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Procedural Step by Step Manual for SPS National Notification Authorities and SPS National Enquiry points; World Trade Organisation, Geneva Switzerland.
25. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). http://www.oie.int/
26. WTO Publications online https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/publications_e.htm
27. IPPC publications: www.IPPC.int
28. EAC SPS Protocol: https://www.eac.int/
29. The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). https://www.upov.int/portal/index.html.en