Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement: 10 key results from 2020

The booklet focuses on members' compliance with notification requirements under the SPS Agreement and the concerns raised in the SPS Committee, often in response to these notifications. Governments are required to “notify” other members, through the WTO Secretariat, of proposed measures that may have a significant effect on other members’ trade and that are not in accordance with relevant international standards.

The SPS Agreement aims to ensure that WTO members’ health protection measures in the areas of food safety, animal and plant health do not restrict international trade more than necessary. Although it allows countries to set their own standards, they should be applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, and they should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.