Download or read book Reviewing the SPS Agreement written by Michael Friis Jensen and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countries appear to see clear benefits from the Agreement while most countries do not possess the financial, human, and technical resources necessary to use it. Some especially least developed countries are excessively burdened by the implementation costs of the SPS Agreement. In the paper the opportunities offered in the Agreement are analysed, problems are identified, and proposals that have surfaced on how to improve the Agreement are discussed.

Download or read book The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures written by Lukasz Gruszczynski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-07-25 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1995 WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) is concerned with trade and food safety regulation, and with the regulation of pests and diseases in agriculture. It establishes legal standards while affirming the right of each member to choose its own level of SPS protection. However, the question of whether the balance has been properly struck remains a matter of ongoing debate. The Commentary provides a detailed update of the first edition authored by Joanne Scott in 2007. It reflects 15 years of change in SPS case law and practice. It critically examines current issues such as use of experts in the dispute settlement process, applicable standard of review, or legal treatment of private standards in food safety. Moreover, the Commentary assesses the suitability of the current regime to address the existing needs of developing countries The commentary also examines how science-based criteria and the traditional GATT standards (non-discrimination and least-trade-restrictive means) are used to discipline national SPS measures. It explores the transparency obligations and procedural rules that govern control, inspection, and approval processes in importing countries. A separate section is dedicated to the operation of the SPS Committee as an arena for transnational governance in the SPS field. The book also investigates the agreement's attempt to establish a framework to draw together the diverse institutions and regulatory regimes already populating the food safety arena. Two new chapters are also included: one reviewing Article 5.7 SPS in greater detail, and one dealing with the SPS rules in selected regional trade agreements (the CETA, EU-Japan EPA, USMCA, RCEP, and CPTPP).

Download or read book The Economics of Quarantine and the SPS Agreement written by Kym Anderson and published by University of Adelaide Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, culminating in the GATT Secretariat being transformed into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, has altered forever the process of quarantine policymaking by national governments. On the one hand, WTO member countries retain the right to protect the life and health of their people, plants and animals from the risks of hazards such as pests and diseases arising from the importation of goods. On the other hand, the WTO's Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) requires that quarantine measures be determined in a manner that is transparent, consistent, scientifically based, and the least trade-restrictive. This collection resulted from an international workshop funded and organised by Biosecurity Australia, the agency of government responsible for analysing Australia's quarantine import risks and for negotiating multilateral SPS rules and less restrictive access to overseas markets for Australian produce. The workshop, which was held at the Melbourne Business School on 24-25 October 2000, brought together a distinguished group of applied economists and quarantine policy analysts whose focus involves regions as disparate as Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and New Zealand, in addition to Australia.

Download or read book Reviewing the SPS Agreement written by Michael Friis Jensen and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Transparency in the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements written by Marianna B. Karttunen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-23 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents transparency as a key tool for managing trade disputes on regulatory barriers between WTO Members.

Download or read book The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures written by Joanne Scott and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commenting on the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which allows WTO members to implement barriers to trade, for example on food or pharmaceutical products, in order to project public health, provided that the measure is based on established guidelines or backed by scientific evidence.

Download or read book The WTO Agreements written by Bhagirath Lal Das and published by Zed Books. This book was released on 1998-06 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This companion volume to An Introduction to the WTO Agreements looks at how the WTO agreements represent progress over the GATT rules they have replaced. The author also analyses their deficiencies and imbalances from the point of view of the developing countries. And he proposes detailed changes (and strategies) which, in his view, the countries of the South ought now to be putting forward in the next round of negotiations on trade and related issues which have already commenced.

Download or read book International Trade and Health Protection written by Tracey Epps and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This detailed and fully referenced text is a valuable resource both for practitioners and academics. Michael Blakeney, International Trade Law and Regulation Interspersing law with societal context, this volume by Dr Epps stands out among WTO analysis. The author offers a delightfully balanced view on the nature and origin of SPS measures (including references to history) whilst at the same time mastering the hard law of the SPS Agreement in detail. Practitioners will enjoy the detailed analysis of WTO dispute settlement. A reference book for practice and academia, and also a very, very good read. Geert Van Calster, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium This book examines and critiques the WTO s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), asking whether it strikes an appropriate balance between conflicting domestic health protection and trade liberalization objectives. It pays particular attention to situations likely to occur but not yet fully examined either in the literature or in WTO law; most importantly, where public opinion demands regulation in the face of scientific uncertainty as to the existence or otherwise of a health risk. Tracey Epps concludes that the SPS Agreement s science-based framework is capable of dealing with the differing objectives of health and trade, and that it provides countries with more flexibility to respond to scientific uncertainties and public sentiment than many critics contend. This conclusion is strongly influenced by a positive analysis of domestic regulatory decision-making, which finds potential for regulatory capture by domestic protectionist interests and thus emphasizes the importance of ensuring that decisions are made on a sound and principled basis. Including a historical overview of disputes over trade and health since the 1800s, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of and new perspective on an important area of intersection between international trade law and domestic policy. It will be of interest to a wide-ranging audience including legal and non-legal academics, policy makers and analysts in the field of risk regulation, trade law practitioners in governments, and lawyers and analysts in international institutions.

Download or read book How Deep Should We Go Searching for an Appropriate Standard of Review in SPS Cases written by Lukasz Gruszczynski and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the applicable standard of review under Articles 2.2/5.1 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) is not de novo, investigation by WTO panels is nevertheless quite intrusive in terms of objectivity and coherence of risk assessment. Moreover, the panel's review does not end with the final conclusion reached by the WTO Member in its risk assessment; it also extends to the quality of the reasoning employed and the intermediate interferences that led to the conclusion. If a WTO Member relies on expert judgment in its risk assessment, this needs to be sufficiently transparent and well documented. The obligations of Articles 5.1 and 5.6 SPS are distinct and independent from each other. Thus a violation of one provision does not imply infringement of the other.

Download or read book Incorporating Science Economics and Sociology in Developing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards in International Trade written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-05-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapid expansion of international trade has brought to the fore issues of conflicting national regulations in the area of plant, animal, and human health. These problems include the concern that regulations designed to protect health can also be used for protection of domestic producers against international competition. At a time when progressive tariff reform has opened up markets and facilitated trade, in part responding to consumer demands for access to a wide choice of products and services at reasonable prices, closer scrutiny of regulatory measures has become increasingly important. At the same time, there are clear differences among countries and cultures as to the types of risk citizens are willing to accept. The activities of this conference were based on the premise that risk analyses (i.e., risk assessment, management, and communication) are not exclusively the domain of the biological and natural sciences; the social sciences play a prominent role in describing how people in different contexts perceive and respond to risks. Any effort to manage sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues in international trade must integrate all the sciences to develop practices for risk assessment, management, and communication that recognize international diversity in culture, experience, and institutions. Uniform international standards can help, but no such norms are likely to be acceptable to all countries. Political and administrative structures also differ, causing differences in approaches and outcomes even when basic aims are compatible. Clearly there is considerable room for confusion and mistrust. The issue is how to balance the individual regulatory needs and approaches of countries with the goal of promoting freer trade. This issue arises not only for SPS standards but also in regard to regulations that affect other areas such as environmental quality, working conditions, and the exercise of intellectual property rights. This conference focused on these issues in the specific area of SPS measures. This area includes provisions to protect plant and animal health and life and, more generally, the environment, and regulations that protect humans from foodborne risks. The Society for Risk Analysis defines a risk as the potential for realization of unwanted, adverse consequences to human life, health, property, or the environment; estimation of risk is usually based on the expected value of the conditional probability of the event occurring times the consequence of the event given that it has occurred. The task of this conference and of this report was to elucidate the place of science, culture, politics, and economics in the design and implementation of SPS measures and in their international management. The goal was to explore the critical roles and the limitations of the biological and natural sciences and the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and political science in the management of SPS issues and in judging whether particular SPS measures create unacceptable barriers to international trade. The conference's objective also was to consider the elements that would compose a multidisciplinary analytical framework for SPS decision making and needs for future research.

Download or read book WTO written by Rüdiger Wolfrum and published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. This book was released on 2007 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume gives a detailed account of the parameters for technical standards and measures seeking to protect health and environment

Download or read book Standard of Review of Health and Environmental Regulations by WTO Panels written by Lukasz Gruszczynski and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This chapter assesses the applicable standard of review in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) disputes with complex factual issues. In particular, the chapter analyzes how the new deferential standard, set out by the Appellate Body (AB) in US/Canada - Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC - Hormones Dispute, is actually applied in practice (determining reasonableness of risk assessment, not its correctness). To this end, the AB report in Australia - Measures Affecting the Importation of Apples from New Zealand is scrutinized. The conclusion is reached that although the applicable standard of review under the SPS Agreement (particularly under Articles 2.2 and 5.1) is not de novo, the investigations of WTO panels remain intrusive when assessing the objectivity and coherence of the reasoning used in a contested risk assessment. The same is true with respect to the permissible inquiry into the underlying methodology. The chapter concludes that this may indicate that WTO dispute settlement bodies are unwilling to resign from their investigative prerogatives when adjudicating on national SPS measures.

Download or read book Standards and Agro food Exports from Developing Countries written by Steven Jaffee and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The proliferation and increased stringency of food safety and agricultural health standards is a source of concern among many developing countries. These standards are perceived as a barrier to the continued success of their exports of high-value agro-food products (including fish, horticultural, and other products), either because these countries lack the technical and administrative capacities needed for compliance or because these standards can be applied in a discriminatory or protectionist manner. Jaffee and Henson draw on available literature and work in progress to examine the underlying evidence related to the changing standards environment and its impact on existing and potential developing country exporters of high-value agricultural and food products. The evidence the authors present, while only partial, suggests that the picture for developing countries as a whole is not necessarily problematic and certainly less pessimistic than the mainstream "standards-as-barriers" perspective. Indeed, rising standards serve to accentuate underlying supply chain strengths and weaknesses and thus impact differently on the competitive position of individual countries and distinct market participants. Some countries and industries are even using high quality and safety standards to successfully (re- )position themselves in competitive global markets. This emphasizes the importance of considering the effects of food safety and agricultural health measures within the context of wider capacity constraints and underlying supply chain trends and drivers. The key question for developing countries is how to exploit their strengths and overcome their weaknesses such that they are gainers rather than losers in the emerging commercial and regulatory context. This paper--a product of the International Trade Department, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network--is part of a larger effort in the network to understand the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries associated with evolving international standards for food and other products.

Download or read book The Development of World Trade Organization Law written by Gregory Messenger and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As one of the pillars of economic globalisation, the WTO is at the heart of a complex network of rules and institutions. This volume analyses WTO law in light of the influence of globalised actors, identifying causal language as an indispensible component in understanding the development of WTO law.

Download or read book The Impact of WTO SPS Law on EU Food Regulations written by Chris Downes and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings a fresh perspective on the emerging field of international food law with the first detailed analysis of the process and implications of domestic compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. It investigates the influence of WTO disciplines on the domestic policy-making process and examines the extent to which international trade law determines European Union (EU) food regulations. Following controversial WTO rulings on genetically-modified foods and growth hormones in beef, awareness and criticism of global rules governing food has grown considerably. Yet the real impact of this international legal meta-framework on domestic regulations has remained obscure to practitioners and largely unexplored by legal commentators. This book examines the emergence of transnational governance practices set in motion by the SPS Agreement and their role in facilitating agricultural trade. In so doing, it complements and challenges conventional accounts of the SPS regime dominated by analysis of WTO disputes. It reviews legal commentary of the SPS Agreement to understand why WTO rules are so commonly characterised as a significant threat to domestic food policy preferences. It then takes on these assumptions through an in-depth review of food policies and decision-making practices in the EU, revealing both the potential and limits of WTO law to shape EU policies. It finally examines two important venues for the generation of global food norms – the WTO SPS Committee and Codex Alimentarius – to evaluate the practice and significance of transnational governance in this domain. Through detailed case studies including novel foods, food additives, vitamin and mineral supplements and transparency and equivalence procedures, this book provides a richer account of compliance and exposes the subtle, but important influence of WTO obligations.

Download or read book Facilitating Trade Through Regulatory Cooperation written by World Trade Organization and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The WTO plays an important role in supporting efforts to achieve international regulatory cooperation (IR C) and to facilitate trade. First, the WTO provides a multilateral framework for trade among its 164 members, with a view to ensuring that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. Second, the WTO's Agreements provide important legal disciplines, helping to promote good regulatory practice and IR C at the domestic level as a means of reducing unnecessary barriers to trade. This publication highlights how the WTO's Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the work of their related Committees promote opportunities for regulatory cooperation among governments and ease trade frictions. It demonstrates how members' notification of draft measures, harmonisation of measures with international standards, discussion of specific trade concerns and other practices help to facilitate global trade in goods. The study also makes recommendations on how to benefit further from the transparency and cooperation opportunities provided by the TBT and SPS Agreements.

Download or read book Handbook of Phytosanitary Risk Management written by Charles Yoe and published by CABI. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phytosanitary risk management is essential to the global economy as well as the world's ability to feed itself. This book is about understanding the fundamentals of phytosanitary risk management for trade and non-trade issues, and how to manage those risks in an effective and efficient manner that is consistent with the international regulatory framework. Its purpose is to provide the international phytosanitary community and its principal stakeholders with a strong foundation in risk management concepts and a thorough guide to best practices.