Managing SPS Information
to Maximize Stakeholder
Interest and Involvement
Special Meeting on the
Implementation of the SPS Agreement
Geneva, 31 March 2006
“Model Arrangements for SPS
Stakeholder Involvement at the
National Level” (STDF19)
March 31, 2006
Purpose
Improve SPS-related information flow as well as
information sharing between the public and
private sector…
…with positive spin-offs for market access
March 31, 2006
The present situation in Sri Lanka
IPPC
WTO
NCP: Directorate of Seed
Production and Plant
Quarantine
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NNA
Department of
Commerce
(Ministry of Trade
and Commerce)
OIE
CODEX
March 31, 2006
NCP: Directorate of
Animal Production
and Health
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NEP and NCP: Directorate
of Food Safety
(Ministry of Health,
Nutrition, and Welfare)
Private
Stakeholders
First step in improving SPS information
management in Sri Lanka=>national portal
IPPC
WTO
NCP: Directorate of Seed
Production and Plant
Quarantine
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NNA
Department of
Commerce
(Ministry of Trade
and Commerce)
OIE
CODEX
March 31, 2006
NCP: Directorate of
Animal Production
and Health
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NEP and NCP: Directorate
of Food Safety
(Ministry of Health,
Nutrition, and Welfare)
EU NCP:
Ministry of Fisheries
and Natural Resources
Sri Lanka Portal
for Food and
Agricultural
Standards
Global Reference
Portal for SPS
March 31, 2006
Second step in improving SPS information
management in Sri Lanka=>web-based network
IPPC
WTO
NCP: Directorate of Seed
Production and Plant
Quarantine
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NNA
Department of
Commerce
(Ministry of Trade
and Commerce)
OIE
CODEX
March 31, 2006
NCP: Directorate
of Animal Production
and Health
(Ministry of Agriculture)
NEP and NCP:
Directorate of Food Safety
(Ministry of Health,
Nutrition, and Welfare)
EU NCP:
Ministry of Fisheries
and Natural Resources
Tea Coconut
Processed
Organic Cluster Cluster Food Cluster
Products
Spice/Nut
Cluster
Cluster
Fruit &
Vegetable
Cluster*
Sri Lanka Portal
for Food and
Agribusiness
Agricultural
Standards
Ornamental
Horticulture
Cluster*
Poultry/Egg
Inputs
Cluster* Live and Livestock Cluster*
Processed and Meat
Fish Cluster* Cluster*
*new websites
Host Association
for Sri Lanka
March 31, 2006
First and Second Steps for Paraguayan National
Information System for Food & Agricultural Standards
IPPC
WTO
SENAVE
NEP and
Nat’l Contact Point
for Plant Heath
CAPECO
Cereals and Oilseeds
CEPACOOP
Fruits and
Vegetables
CADELPA
Cotton
MINISTRY OF
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
NNA
OIE
CODEX
March 31, 2006
SENACSA
NEP and
Nat’l Contact
Point for
Animal Heath
INTN
NEP for
Food Safety
Paraguayan Portal
for Food and
Agricultural
Standards
CEPAL
Processed Foods
FECOPROD
Cooperatives
ARP
Livestock
Regional Reference
Portal for SPS
March 31, 2006
Challenges in gaining buy-in
• Breaking down walls within the public sector
• Getting the public sector to reach out to private
• Convincing the public sector players to give up control
over portal, for their own long-term benefit
• Convincing the private sector that public will really work
with them
• Deciding which private entities to include as leaders
March 31, 2006
Strengths of Internet-based solutions
• Can serve as one-stop shop for information needs and communicate breaking
news
• Can become a virtual gathering place strengthening cohesion among
stakeholders
• Can serve as vehicle for discussing issues, presenting positions, furthering
consensus
• Can handle multiple languages
• Delivers documents in electronic (i.e.,manipulable) form
• Has a very low cost of adding, deleting or updating documents
• Has zero marginal cost to provider for each hit
• Relatively low cost of access and use to users
continued
March 31, 2006
Weaknesses of Internet-based solutions
• Will have a relatively high set-up and maintenance cost
and may not be easy to sustain in a financial and technical
sense;
• Still excludes a significant (although declining) share of
stakeholders;
• Has trouble capturing the necessary volume of information
and keeping it up to date
• Will find it difficult to handle confidential or limitedaudience data such as private standards and may find it
hard to charge user fees because much of the content is
public data or concerns public goods
continued
March 31, 2006
Implications for Implementation of the SPS
Agreement? Its too soon to tell, but it may
Enhance relevance of WTO notifications as perceived by some public
and most private stakeholders
Facilitate broader dissemination of information from Three Sisters to
relevant subsectors and industry players
Serve to place official grades and standards in proper place vis-à-vis
private standards
Stimulate greater involvement of private sector
Facilitate more commentary on proposed standards, rules and SPS
actions at borders
Provide a way to achieve more efficiency and sustainability in the
handling of SPS-related information
March 31, 2006