REPORT
WORKSHOP ON Pesticide maximum residue levels
(MRLs)
MONDAY, 24 OCTOBER – tuesday, 25 october 2016
WTO, CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD, GeNEVA
Note by the secretariat[1]
The
Secretariat of the World Trade Organization held a workshop on pesticide
maximum residue levels (MRLs) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24 and 25 October 2016.
The
WTO funded, through assistance from the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust
Fund (DDAGTF), the participation of 27 governmental officials from developing
country Members and Observers in the workshop.[2]
Sponsored participants were selected from over 300
applications.
In
addition, the WTO Global Trust Fund made it possible to cover the costs of
travel for several of the speakers in the workshop. Total attendance was close to 180, and included Geneva- and
capital-based delegates, participants from intergovernmental organizations, as
well as speakers from non-governmental organizations.
Members
were invited at several stages to make comments on the programme and also to
put forward names of speakers, and their proposals and suggestions were taken
into account in preparing the programme. The final programme for the workshop
is contained in G/SPS/GEN/1514/Rev.1. The presentations from this workshop are
available via the SPS Gateway at https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/wkshop_oct16_e/wkshop_oct16_e.htm.
[1] This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own
responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members or to their
rights or obligations under the WTO.
[2] Unlike previous years, WTO-funded workshop participants were not
sponsored to participate in the SPS Committee meetings, in addition to
their attendance at the workshop.