1. Introduction Workshop on Transparency 18 October 2010 Serra Ayral Counsellor Agriculture and Commodities Division

2. 2 Why emphasis on transparency? Affects market access Enhanced clarity, predictability Signal for a functioning system

3. 3 SPS transparency provisions Article 7, Annex B, G/SPS/7/Rev.3 Notifications Designation of notification authority Establishment of enquiry point Publication of regulations

4. 4 Notification authority Central government authority responsible for the implementation of notification procedures - Only one!

5. 5 Enquiry Point Provides answers/documentation to all reasonable questions from interested Members –Can be same as notification authority –Can have more than one but clearly define responsibilities

6. 6 Enquiry Point: Beyond Obligations Collect/disseminate SPS documents and notifications Alert other government agencies, private sector Coordinate comments on other countries notifications

7. 7 Publication of regulations Publication of regulations Promptly When ? allow reasonable interval between publ. and entry into force - 6 months except in urgent circumstances

8. 8 Useful tools SPS IMS (http://spsims.wto.org)http://spsims.wto.org Mentoring (G/SPS/W/217) Distribution of SPS docs by e-mail Procedural Step-by-Step Manual WTO Secretariat New on-line notification submission system

9. 9 Why SPS IMS? Since 1995 > 10,000 SPS notifications > 2,00 other SPS documents > 300 specific trade concerns (STCs) Enquiry Point (EP)/Notification Authority (NA) info changing frequently

10. 10 SPS IMS – Examples of Functions - Notification summary sheets –Product- or region-specific searches on notifications –Theme-specific searches on Committee documents, e.g. on regionalization –Queries on specific trade concerns related to specific Members, regions or products Possible to export all results to Excel

11. 11 Mentoring 19 Members matched with 9 mentors Questionnaire Some difficulties to get started: technical, procedural, staff turnover Lessons learned, recommendations: –objectives and timelines –proactivity in identifying needs –priorities, sensitization at national level –sharing of mentoring experience

12. 12 Useful tools SPS IMS (http://spsims.wto.org)http://spsims.wto.org Mentoring (G/SPS/W/217) Distribution of SPS docs by e-mail Procedural Step-by-Step Manual WTO Secretariat New on-line notification submission system