FSSAI boosts global trade readiness with SPS Agreement training
The training aims to strengthen compliance with international food safety norms and facilitate smoother trade operations.
INDIA – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently conducted in-house training on the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and its relevance to food safety.
The session, attended by approximately 50 technical officials, aimed to deepen the participants’ understanding of the Agreement’s relevance to food safety, covering essential topics such as harmonization, equivalence, risk assessment, and transparency.
Additionally, the participants were trained on the e-ping platform for notifications, the SPS Committee, Specific Trade Concerns (STCs), and the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF).
“It is crucial for emerging food regulators to build technical expertise in the SPS Agreement, recognising the importance of Codex standards and in analysing food safety trade policies, as these have the potential to impact our domestic standards, regulations, imports, and exports,” Dr Alka Rao, Advisor, Science and Standards and Regulations, commented. She also serves as the food safety contact point for the SPS and Codex.
During WTO SPS Committee discussions, particular emphasis was placed on the importance of Codex standards, such as maximum residue limits (MRLs), and their role in addressing STCs.
The session highlighted the co-dependent relationship between Codex standards and the WTO SPS Agreement. The SPS Agreement references Codex standards as benchmark standards for food, demonstrating that these are not separate entities but intrinsically linked.
By providing officials with a comprehensive understanding of the SPS Agreement, FSSAI aimed to enhance regulatory and legal knowledge concerning the WTO SPS Agreement, the importance of global Codex standards, and the cultivation of expertise in trade and policy analysis.
This included understanding the impact of the SPS provisions on domestic standards, regulations, imports, and the influence of other countries’ SPS measures on Indian exports and trade barriers.
Ultimately, the training seeks to strengthen compliance with international food safety norms and facilitate smoother trade operations.
What entails the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement)?
According to the World Trade Organization, the SPS Agreement bridges the gap between ensuring that a country’s consumers receive food that is safe to eat by the standards they consider appropriate, while preventing strict health and safety regulations from being used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers.
Sanitary (human and animal health) and phytosanitary (plant health) measures range from requiring products to come from a disease-free area to inspecting products, specific treatment or processing of products, setting allowable maximum levels of pesticide residues, or permitting the use of only certain additives in food.
They apply to domestically produced food or local animal and plant diseases, including products from other countries.
The SPS Agreement encourages governments to establish national SPS measures consistent with international standards, guidelines, and recommendations, a process termed as harmonisation.
However, the WTO itself does not create these standards. Leading scientists and governmental experts on health protection develop them, and they are subject to international scrutiny and review.
The Agreement also emphasises that the measures must be based on science and applicable only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life or health. They should not unjustifiably discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.
While many governments already use risk assessment to manage food safety, and animal and plant health, the SPS Agreement encourages the broader use of systematic risk assessment among all WTO member governments and for all relevant products.
To maintain transparency, trade disputes regarding sanitary or phytosanitary measures use the routine WTO dispute settlement procedures and advice from scientific experts.
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