64TH Meeting of the SPS Committee
Information paper - OIE standards and recent WTO
disputes
Communication
from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
The
following communication, received on 11 September 2015, is being circulated at
the request of the OIE.
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The
OIE standards, guidelines and procedures featured in two recent WTO disputes
concerning trade restrictions arising from measures to prevent the introduction
of animal diseases. In both cases, the OIE provided written responses to
questions submitted to it by the Panel. As this matter is topical, the OIE
decided to provide an update to the Committee on the OIE standards and related
procedures.
The
first of these two WTO cases, WT/DS430 (India - Measures Concerning the
Importation of Certain Agricultural Products) has been finalised and the
reports are on the WTO website. In the second case, WT/DS447 (United States – measures affecting the
importation of animals, meat and other animal products from Argentina) the
Panel report was adopted on 31 August 2015. In both cases it was alleged that
the importing country had failed to base certain sanitary measures on relevant
OIE standards and that related import restrictions were, as a consequence,
inconsistent with certain articles of the SPS Agreement.
The
recommendations in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health
Code (Terrestrial Code) were centrally
relevant to these two disputes. The Terrestrial Code
sets out risk-based measures, based on current science, to prevent the
introduction of animal diseases and zoonoses. The correct application of the
OIE's science-based standards helps to facilitate safe trade and to avoid
unjustifiable trade barriers. With this in mind, the OIE encourages member countries
to implement the adopted standards and to participate in their development and
subsequent updates or revisions. The OIE welcomes the opportunity to provide
advice to Panels and to this Committee, consistent with the organisation's role
as one of the "Three Sisters" referenced in the SPS Agreement.
1 Scientific foundation of the OIE standards
1.1. The OIE standards are based on science and sound risk management
principles and are developed or updated whenever necessary to take account of
new scientific information. The OIE's scientific infrastructure includes a
global network of reference centres comprising internationally renowned experts
on animal diseases and related fields. For example: the OIE has recognised
Reference Laboratories on avian influenza (AI) in nine countries, as
geographically diverse as Australia, China, India, Italy and Japan. The OIE
calls upon the broadest possible range of scientific expertise. In keeping with
the "One Health" concept, the OIE collaborates with experts in the
field of human medicine, for example, through the Global Early Warning System
for Animal Disease including Zoonoses (GLEWS), a joint initiative of the OIE,
FAO and WHO, as well as the "One Health" tripartite Agreement with
the same United Nation Bodies. In establishing these scientific networks, the
OIE member countries are giving effect to the principle that countries must act
transparently and collaboratively to prevent disease. These global networks are
the scientific foundation of OIE standards and guidelines.
2 The relevance of the OIE standards to Member Countries
2.1. In addition to their scientific foundation, the relevance of the OIE
standards is assured by a thorough process of review by member countries. Under
the established OIE procedures, new standards and significant revisions of
established standards are distributed to member countries for comment twice
annually during a two-year period (i.e. up to four times in total). The OIE
elected Commissions review the experts' recommendations not only on the basis
of science but also in the light of comments from member countries. In
practice, by using their own national expert network and consulting with
national stakeholders, the governmental Veterinary Authority of each country is
the main contributor of comments on standards, but private sector
organisations, academia and civil society also participate in topics of
interest to them.
3 A transparent and democratic process
3.1. The reports of the elected Commissions and the expert groups that
report to them are published in full on the OIE webpage, where the Commissions
explain their consideration of comments on draft and revised standards.[1]
The adoption of OIE standards follows a rules-based procedure that gives
responsibility to the national Delegate (normally, the head of the national
Veterinary Authority) who is nominated by the Government of each member country
thus establishing a unique procedure that underpins the intergovernmental
status of OIE standards. Each country has a single vote. Delegates have the
option to abstain or vote against the adoption of a standard but, in practice,
voting is rarely used and the majority of standards are adopted by consensus.
In the rare instance when a voting procedure is used, adoption is achieved
through a 2/3 majority.
4 Promoting access to scientific information and provision of guidance
on OIE standards implementation
4.1. In addition to using the latest scientific knowledge as a basis for
standards, the OIE disseminates scientific information by publishing reports on
animal diseases and their control methods; as well as risk management. These
publications are not standards and they do not follow the procedures outlined
above; however, they are the subject of extensive research and scientific peer
review. One such key publication is the OIE Handbook on Import Risk
Analysis for Animals and Animal Products. In addition, the OIE Scientific and Technical Review is a highly respected
international publication. This contains many articles relevant to the
standards, for example an article published in the Review in December 2014: "The
Scientific Rationale for the OIE standards and recommendations on avian
influenza", which explains how the AI standards have evolved in response
to scientific progress.
4.2. The OIE also publishes and updates guidelines on the application of
the standards. Relevant documents that are available on the OIE webpage
include:
-
"Procedures
used by the OIE to set standards and recommendations for international trade,
with a focus on the Terrestrial and
Aquatic Animal Health Codes";
-
"The Legal
rights and Obligations of OIE member countries in the WTO Context"; and
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"Facilitating
safe trade: how to use the Terrestrial Code
to set health measures for trade in terrestrial animals and products".[2]
5 The OIE standards and Article 6 of the SPS Agreement – regionaliSation
5.1. Both of the aforementioned WTO cases considered the topic of
regionalisation and, as a result, some valuable new guidance has become
available to WTO Members. The OIE has focused on the issue of regionalisation
for a number of years. In this context, it is important to note that disease
prevention and control, including the setting of trade measures, must always be
based on effective surveillance for animal diseases and early reporting to the
OIE. The OIE standards provide detailed guidance on how to achieve these key
objectives. Since the founding of the WTO, the OIE has continued to develop
standards and guidance on regionalisation, in terms of compartmentalisation and
zoning, which are distinct but related applications of this important SPS principle.
6 Involvement of developing countries
6.1. It is crucially important to support developing countries in their
capacity to participate in standards development, including the application of
risk analysis and other strategies for the prevention and control of animal
diseases. The failure of one country to control diseases threatens an entire
region and, through globalisation, the entire world.
6.2. More than half of the OIE's 180 member countries may be classified
as developing or least developed countries. The OIE employs several initiatives
to help these countries to become involved in standard setting and to implement
the adopted standards. To this end, the OIE has, among others, implemented the
PVS (Performance of Veterinary Services) Pathway, working in partnership with
international donors to improve governance and technical capacities of the
national Veterinary Services. Approximately 250 PVS Pathway missions have been
carried out at the request of more than 130 member countries to date. As a
result of these initiatives we are seeing increasingly active participation of
developing countries in OIE standard setting as well as regional coordination
between the countries.
7 Conclusions
7.1. Consistent with its role as a reference standard setting
organisation to the WTO, the OIE places great importance on the scientific
excellence, integrity and transparency of its standard setting procedures.
Standards are based on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge with
participation of internationally renowned experts from the entire world. Member
countries, the global scientific community and interested private and public
sector organisations are all engaged in the development of these standards.
There is an ongoing emphasis on the active participation of developing
countries.
7.2. Correct application of the OIE standards helps to facilitate safe
trade and to avoid the imposition of unjustifiable trade barriers.
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