1. Managing SPS Information to Maximize Stakeholder Interest and Involvement Special Meeting on the Implementation of the SPS Agreement Geneva, 31 March 2006

2. March 31, 2006 Model Arrangements for SPS Stakeholder Involvement at the National Level (STDF19)

3. 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

4. March 31, 2006 The present situation in Sri Lanka NCP: Directorate of Seed Production and Plant Quarantine (Ministry of Agriculture) NCP: Directorate of Animal Production and Health (Ministry of Agriculture) NEP and NCP: Directorate of Food Safety (Ministry of Health, Nutrition, and Welfare) NNA Department of Commerce (Ministry of Trade and Commerce) CODEX IPPC OIE WTO Private Stakeholders

5. March 31, 2006 Sri Lanka Portal for Food and Agricultural Standards First step in improving SPS information management in Sri Lanka=>national portal NCP: Directorate of Seed Production and Plant Quarantine (Ministry of Agriculture) NCP: Directorate of Animal Production and Health (Ministry of Agriculture) NEP and NCP: Directorate of Food Safety (Ministry of Health, Nutrition, and Welfare) NNA Department of Commerce (Ministry of Trade and Commerce) CODEX IPPC OIE WTO EU NCP: Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources

6. March 31, 2006 Global Reference Portal for SPS

7. March 31, 2006 Sri Lanka Portal for Food and Agricultural Standards Second step in improving SPS information management in Sri Lanka=>web-based network NCP: Directorate of Seed Production and Plant Quarantine (Ministry of Agriculture) NCP: Directorate of Animal Production and Health (Ministry of Agriculture) NEP and NCP: Directorate of Food Safety (Ministry of Health, Nutrition, and Welfare) NNA Department of Commerce (Ministry of Trade and Commerce) CODEX IPPC OIE WTO Tea Cluster Coconut Cluster Spice/Nut Cluster Fruit & Vegetable Cluster* Ornamental Horticulture Cluster* Organic Products Cluster Poultry/Egg Cluster* Live and Processed Fish Cluster* EU NCP: Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources Agribusiness Livestock and Meat Cluster* Inputs Cluster* Processed Food Cluster *new websites

8. March 31, 2006 Host Association for Sri Lanka

9. March 31, 2006 CAPECO Cereals and Oilseeds CADELPA Cotton CEPACOOP Fruits and Vegetables ARP Livestock CEPAL Processed Foods Paraguayan Portal for Food and Agricultural Standards First and Second Steps for Paraguayan National Information System for Food & Agricultural Standards SENAVE NEP and Natl Contact Point for Plant Heath SENACSA NEP and Natl Contact Point for Animal Heath INTN NEP for Food Safety MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS NNA CODEX IPPC OIE WTO FECOPROD Cooperatives

10. March 31, 2006 Regional Reference Portal for SPS

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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 limited- audience 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

14. 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