The Impact of Standards and SPS in selected Food sectors International Agreements Related to Trade and Standards * WTO Agreement on SPS * WTO Agreement on TBT

The impact of standards and SPS Measures in selected food sectors International Standards * Codex Alimentarius Standards * Codex Alimentarius Maximum Residue Levels of Pesticides in food * International Plant Protection Convention (1951 and revised in 1991) * International Plant Protection Convention (1997; not yet in force)

The Impact of Standards and SPS in selected Food sectors ISO Standards * Agriculture * Environment, Health Protection and Safety * Food Technology * Packaging and distribution of good * etc

The Impact of standards and SPS Measures in selected food sectors International Conventions, “Codes of Conduct” or Guidelines * Code of Ethics for International Trade in food * Harmonised Framework for Codes of Practice for the ACP Horticultural Industry * HACCP * International Framework of Organic Agriculture Movements, Basic standards for Organic Production and Processing

The Impact of standards and SPS Measures in selected food sectors National Standards and Organizations * Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Fisheries and related Agencies * National Plant Protection Organizations * National Standards Agencies - Members of ISO * European Union Food Safety * European Union Pesticide-Related Directives * European Union Plant Protection * OECD Pesticides Programme * US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service * US National Food Safety Programs.

The Impact of Standards and SPS Measures in selected food sectors Other health and safety rules or standards * Importing country rules * Importing firms’ requirements * Consumers’ preferences Linking diversity of existing labels with consumers’ concerns * Environmentally-friendly (Marine Stewardship Council - MSC) * Eco-fair (Naturland) * Fairtrade (FLO, Max Havelaar)

The Impact of Standards and SPS Measures in selected food sector With all these regulations, are food safety standards transparent? What effects do these standards have on trade from developing countries?

The Impact of standards and SPS Measures in selected food sectors Overall, these standards fall into three broad categories * Information measures: requires suppliers to disclose specified facts about their products, through labelling for example * Technical specifications: suppliers need to prove that their products have met a pre-set safety criteria before exportation can take place * Import bans: most interventionist of all measures are applied in the event of a significant risk or potential hazard associated with the importation of a particular product

The Impact of Standards and SPS Measures in Selected Food Sectors Economic Impact of the SPS and TBT : Tanzanian Fishery Industry * Production in 1999: 329’000 tons -----> 3% of GDP * Nearly US$72.5 million > EU market * 1998: first ban imposed on fresh fish exports to the EU because of a cholera epidemic * 1999: second ban with allegation of fish poisoning *Impact: Following the ban the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources estimated the daily loss of export revenue to be Tshs80 million and 4000 people were suspended from work, between January and July (six months)

The Impact of Standards and Measures in Selected Food Sectors What went wrong ? * Laws on ordinance which are used are out-dated and ineffective * Problems in complying with international SPS standards (poor technology used in processing, inadequate skills in processing and manufacturing

The Impact of Standards and SPS Measures in Selected Food Sectors EU ban on shrimp imports from Bangladesh * July 1997: a ban on imports of shrimp products from Bangladesh into the EU market * Reason: this commodity did not meet the provision of EU’s HACCP Impact of the ban * Simulation exercises based on WITH or WITHOUT ban scenarios: US$65.1 million as the cost of the EU for Bangladesh * Investment to ensure HACCP compliance: US$18 million (facilities and equipment, training staff and workers for achieving acceptable SPS and technical standards; annual cost of US$ 2.4 million for maintaining HACCP programme.

Loss of exportable volume of products and the corresponding value at the opportunity value of individual product

Estimated loss of employment due to Not exporting spices and beverage crop which are not meeting SPS requirements

Recommendations Hygiene training programs Enough time frame Interests of developing countries Make full use of the existing provisions (Article 9 -- SPS Agreement Harmonisation Equivalence