July 2000
PROPOSED APPROACH FOR THE SPS COMPONENT OF AN FTAA AGREEMENT
- No separate SPS text is being proposed by Canada.
- Parties would simply reaffirm their rights and obligations under the WTO including the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosantiary measures. Further, Parties would agree to use the WTO in the case of any formal settlement of disputes regarding SPS measures.
- A quite separate issue from the legal rights and obligations regarding SPS measures is the need for, and benefits from, a hemispheric programme of technical and institutional cooperation and assistance. The objective of such a programme would be to enhance the effectiveness of Parties’ regulations in this area in a manner which permitted the achievement of their legitimate objectives and which further facilitated trade amongst FTAA partners, and would include, inter alia, the following issues:
- harmonization;
- equivalence;
- risk assessment;
- transparency;
- technical assistance;
- recognition of pest- or disease-free areas; and
- control, inspection and approval procedures.
- It may be useful to create a body (Committee; Working Group) to design, plan and manage the delivery of a detailed work programme on the above listed issues.
- Recognizing that with such terms of reference such a body could be established in advance of the conclusions of the negotiations, thus constituting a potential component of an early harvest (e.g. for the April 2001, Summit).
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