While the aim to prevent unnecessary trade barriers is common to both agreements, the rights and obligations they entail are quite different. Under the SPS Agreement, measures may be imposed only to the extent necessary to protect life or health, on the basis of scientific information. However, the TBT Agreement permits the introduction of TBT regulations to meet a variety of legitimate objectives, including national security, the prevention of deceptive practices, protection of human health or safety or the environment. Essentially, the WTO recognizes that governments will impose technical requirements for a wide variety of reasons, and the TBT Agreement allows them to do this, subject to certain disciplines.

The SPS Agreement applies to a narrowly defined range of health protection measures, but it places quite strict requirements on these measures, for example that they always be based on scientific principles. The TBT Agreement on the other hand applies to a wide range of technical requirements, and solely notes that available scientific information is one of the relevant elements of consideration in assessing risks. Some of these technical requirements are introduced for health or safety purposes, but others are introduced to standardize products, ensure quality, or to avoid consumer deception. In these cases scientific information might be less relevant in assessing risks than for example processing technology and intended end uses.

If a trade dispute arises, it can make quite a difference which of the two agreements applies. While several disputes on SPS measures have arisen, and three have gone through the full panel process, the substantive provisions of the TBT Agreement have not yet been tested in a dispute. Click here for more information on dispute settlement, and on the SPS cases.

The following boxes convey which agreement is relevant for a given measure:

For example

Fertilizer
Fertilizer residue in food and animal feed — SPS
Specifications to ensure fertilizer works effectively — TBT
Safe handling instructions to protect farmers from possible harm from handling fertilizer — TBT

Food labelling
Health warnings, use, dosage — SPS
Label’s position, lettering, composition, nutrient content, quality — TBT

Containers for shipping grain
Fumigation, disinfectant, etc. to prevent disease spreading — SPS
Size, construction/structure, safe handling — TBT

Fruit
Treatment of imported fruit to prevent pests spreading — SPS
Quality, grading and labelling of imported fruit — TBT

Bottled water: specifications for the bottles
Materials that can be used because safe for human health — SPS
Requirement that no residues of disinfectant, so water not contaminated — SPS
Permitted sizes to ensure standard volumes — TBT
Permitted shapes to allow stacking and displaying — TBT

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