annual report on the PROCEDURE TO MONITOR THE PROCESS

OF INTERNATIONAL HARMONIZATION

note by the secretariat^[1]

1  Introduction

1.1.  At its meeting of 15-16 October 1997, the SPS Committee adopted a provisional procedure to monitor the process of international harmonization and the use of international standards, guidelines or recommendations, as provided for in Articles 3.5 and 12.4 of the SPS Agreement. The Committee extended the provisional monitoring procedure in 1999, 2001, and 2003, and revised the procedure in October 2004.^[2] In 2006, the Committee agreed to extend the provisional procedure indefinitely, and to review its operation as an integral part of the periodic review of the operation and implementation of the Agreement under Article 12.7.^[3] The procedure was reviewed as part of the Third Review of the Agreement^[4], and again in the context of the Fourth^[5] and Fifth Review.^[6]

1.2.  In November 2020, New Zealand submitted a proposal on the procedure to monitor the process of international harmonization (_G/SPS/GEN/1851), followed by subsequent proposals in February 2021 (_G/SPS/GEN/1877) and May 2021 (_G/SPS/GEN/1915). In July 2021, the Committee agreed to hold a Thematic Session on Monitoring International Harmonization on the margins of the November 2021 Committee meeting. Subsequently, New Zealand submitted another communication in March 2022 (G/SPS/GEN/1998). The Committee discussions on these proposals are detailed in Section 4.1 of this document.

1.3.  The Committee has previously considered twenty-three annual reports on the monitoring procedure.^[7] These reports summarize several standards-related issues that the Committee has considered and the responses received from the relevant standard-setting organizations. This current report includes the issues that were considered in the July and November 2021, and March 2022 Committee meetings.