neither the SPS nor the TBT Agreement have been accepted as a matter of negotiation on
the agenda. Josling et al. (2003) explore that developing countries claimed a more
stringent application of the agreements in particular with §9, which specifies the duty of
developed countries for technical and financial support to developing countries in
complying with the requirements of the agreement and to adapt their agricultural export
sector to the required SPS measures.
3 The Evolution of SPS Measures in the Agricultural
Multilateral Trading System
This section explores the extent to which food and agricultural products are subject to
SPS measures and other technical measures regulating food safety concerns. The
increasing importance of SPS measures can be read from three types of WTO
mechanisms: notifications, trade concerns 5 and dispute settlements. Additionally, border
rejections and STDF investment express the importance of food safety for agricultural
trade flows.
A total amount of 4375 notifications has been circulated since the release of the SPS
Agreement (as of May 2005) not including corrigenda, addenda and revisions [30].
Figure 2: Number of notifications of SPS measures to the WTO, 1995- 2004
Source: own illustration, [26, 28, 30]
Figure 2 depicts the increasing annual number of notifications since the implementation
of the agreement. Annual notifications more than tripled, from less than 200
notifications in 1995 to a total number of 617 in 2005. Only 59% of all members notified
at least one notification since 1995 and nearly half of all notifications over the last ten
years came either from the US or from the EU[30]. While in 1995 nearly all notifications
came from the OECD countries developing countries now contribute at least one quarter
to today's SPS notifications [13].
Between 2000 and 2003 more than 50% of the notifications were reported in the area of
food safety (the major share are notification of maximum residue levels). Second ranks
the issue of danger to human health from animal or plant carried diseases followed by
plant protection and animal health [28, 29, 30].
Second, the increasing importance of SPS measures for international trade is depicted by
the number of trade concerns raised within the SPS committee meetings. Trade concerns
make it possible for countries to attract attention and initiate discussion about a
particular concern. Since the implementation of the SPS Agreement altogether 204 trade
concerns were raised until 2004 [30]. Only 56 trade concerns have been reported to be
resolved in the total period. More than 40% of the trade concerns where related to
animal health and zoonoses, followed by 29% for plant health and 27% for food safety.
During the indicated period 143 times developed countries raised specific trade
concerns, followed by 101 cases of developing countries trade concerns. Only two least-
developed countries raised specific trade concerns [31].
Third, in cases where negotiations have not succeeded in resolving trade disputes the
WTO dispute settlement procedures are invoked. The panel judges the compliance of a
specific SPS measure with the SPS Agreement. More than 300 disputes have been raised
under the WTO dispute settlement system, of which 30 referred to the SPS Agreement [30].
In 20 panels both countries have been OECD countries. Only in two cases no OECD
5 Trade concerns are trade problems between members which are discussed within the SPS
committee. They can be solved bilaterally without using the official dispute settlement of the WTO.
5