SPS COVID-19 RELATED ACTIONS
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN
GOODS BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SPS COMMITTEE
The following report is being
submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures (SPS Committee), Mr Tang-Kai Wang, under his own responsibility, at
the request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG).[1] The report was prepared with the assistance of
the Secretariat.
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1 COMPILATION OF INFORMATION FOR THE CTG REPORT ON SPS COVID-19
RELATED ACTIONS
1.1 Dedicated COVID-19 information sessions
1.1. In June 2020, the SPS Committee held an informal information-sharing
session on COVID-19. The programme was circulated in document _G/SPS/GEN/1795. The WTO
Secretariat presented an overview of documents submitted by Members in relation
to COVID‑19. The STDF presented on its COVID-19 response, underscoring the importance
of building food safety and animal and plant health capacity to enable the
public and private sectors, especially in developing countries, to respond to
crises. WTO Members, the three relevant international standard
setting bodies (Codex Alimentarius, the World Organisation for Animal Health [WOAH]
and the International Plant Protection Convention [IPPC]), WHO and other
observers provided information on their activities undertaken since the beginning of the
pandemic. WTO members stressed the importance of providing a coordinated
response to global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring that trade
in agricultural and food products was not unduly disrupted. The standard-setting
bodies stressed the importance of enhanced global networks in effectively
tackling emergency situations and warned against the temptation of relying
solely on national measures, to avoid further trade disruptions. WHO explained
the role of the International Health Regulations in facilitating information
exchange on public health responses, ensuring that the responses are
commensurate to the risk and avoiding unnecessary interference with
international trade and transportation. The WHO also referred to COVID-19
related guidance, produced with FAO, for food businesses and food safety
control systems. The report of the session is contained in document _G/SPS/R/98 and a news item on the
discussions held in the session is available here.
[1] See document _JOB/CTG/18.