SPS agreement

Under the SPS agreement, if an importing country s MRL is more stringent than the Codex MRL for the same drug/commodity combination, the importing country may be required to justify scientifically why it cannot accept the Codex MRL. These provisions will improve the flow of international trade and help reduce the number of different national MRLs. Default tolerances will be subject to the same treatment as MRLs established after full scientific evaluation of the chemicals concerned. 

Because it will take time for the SPS Agreement to have a significant impact, alternative ways of managing most of the residue problems currently present in international food trade are also being examined. They are based on different concepts including that of the temporary tolerance, the adoption of MRLs by reference, the categorization of residue incidents, and the response and pipeline clearance strategies. 

The WTO Members have the right to establish their own level of protection, which means that they may choose their own sanitary measures necessary for the protection of life or health, provided they are not inconsistent with the provisions of the SPS Agreement. Such measures applied shall be based on scientific principles and may not be maintained without sufficient scientific evidence, except in the case where relevant scientific evidence is insufficient. Then measures may be taken on a provisional basis, on the basis of available pertinent information, and they shall reviewed within a reasonable period of time. These provisions in the SPS Agreement are often referred to as the precautionary principle . 

The SPS Agreement of the WTO highlights the need for scientific justification for measures like MLs. However, there are cases of concern where... 

It is also significant that in connection with the development of the Codex GSCTF it was decided to use MLs and discontinue with the use of other terms like guideline levels . The same idea is expressed in the SPS Agreement where there is no distinction between the application of measures whether they are called international standards, guidelines or recommendations. In summary, the most important trends in international regulation of chemical contaminants in food are the trends towards ... 

Many EU Member States participate actively in the work of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR), which is hosted by The Netherlands. Before and during each CCPR meeting, EC positions are co-ordinated as far as possible. In view of the special status attached to Codex MRLs since the signing of the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement), the EC now attaches great importance to Codex work. 

In order to harmonize SPS measures on as wide a basis as possible, the SPS agreement encourages members to base their SPS measures on international standards, guidelines, or recommendations. Thus, the SPS agreement, like the new TBT agreement, encourages use of international standards. The SPS agreement refers specifically to standards established by the Codex Alimen-tarius Commission, as discussed below. 

NAFTA also contains TBT and SPS agreements similar to those in the new WTO agreements. 

Extrapolation for major crops is almost impracticable. Developing countries should therefore, take steps to generate residue trial data for the elaboration of MRLs where Codex MRLs are not available for commodities of economic importance to their countries. Collaborative regional efforts could play a pivotal role in meeting this objective. Under the framewoik of the WTO s SPS Agreement, Codex recommendations relating to food safety should be based on sound science and risk assessment. 

The panel rejected the arguments put forward by the EU and found that as the EU s arguments were not based on international standards, then its prohibition was inconsistent with the SPS agreement. Eventually, the issue was referred to an appellate body. 

SPS Agreement training module Chapter 5. Implementation - Dispute settlement. 5.3 Hormones case, available from http //www.wto.org/engUsh/ tratop e/sps e/sps agreement cbt e/c5s3pl e.htm. 

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