WTO SPS Committee Finalizes Summary of Report to MC13
Members of the World Trade Organization's Work Program of the MC12 Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Declaration agreed to finalize the factual summary of the report detailing findings of the work program ahead of the 13th Ministerial Conference in February, the WTO announced Nov. 17. During the Nov. 15-17 meeting of the SPS Committee, members "agreed to continue efforts to build consensus on the report to be presented" at MC13.
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The report for MC13, put together by Taiwan's Tang-Kai Wang, former chair of the committee, detailed key findings from the work program and includes recommendations for the committee. The factual summary, finalized by the committee, explains the process taken in the work program and summarizes the discussions held in each of the program's five thematic groups, the WTO said.
Also during the meeting, the WTO said a record 55 specific trade concerns were considered, seven of them for the first time at the committee. The concerns addressed issues including "delays in import authorizations and publication of import requirements as well as import restrictions due to radionuclide contamination concerns, high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI), and certain pests."