Note prepared by the WTO Secretariat for the Formal Meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, 30 June to 1 July 2016

The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) is a global partnership that supports developing countries to implement international food safety, animal and plant health standards, guidelines and recommendations to gain and maintain access to markets. More specifically, the STDF raises awareness on the importance of enhancing SPS capacity, mobilizes additional resources and strengthens collaboration between providers of SPS assistance. The STDF also provides support and funding for the development and implementation of projects that promote compliance with international SPS requirements.

The STDF was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Other organizations involved in SPS-related technical cooperation, donors contributing funds to the STDF and developing country experts also participate actively in the Facility’s work. The Secretariats of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) also participate.

The next STDF Working Group meeting will be held on 20-21 October 2016.

New STDF film “Cocoa: a sweet value chain”

The STDF has produced a new film entitled “Cocoa: a sweet value chain”. The film follows the journey of the cocoa bean from a tropical plantation to one of the world’s most loved products, chocolate. The film highlights how in today’s global value chain, SPS capacity helps to make sure that cocoa plants are free from pests and diseases and that chocolate is safe for consumers. Moreover, the film draws attention to the various actors who play a role in in keeping the cocoa value chain safe, from the small-holder farmers in West Africa to the chocolate manufacturers in Europe. The film recently premiered at the Wold Cocoa Conference in the Dominican Republic and is now available for screenings and training sessions.

Spicing up development assistance: Joint STDF/UNIDO information session, 21 June 2016

The STDF in collaboration with UNIDO is organizing an information session on 21 June 2016 at WTO headquarters in Geneva. The session will focus on a joint STDF/UNIDO project in Sri Lanka entitled “Enhancing the compliance and productive capacities and competitiveness of the cinnamon value chain in Sri Lanka”. Delegates are welcome to attend the session to find out how SPS requirements triggered a transformational change in Sri Lanka’s cinnamon sector and how registration of a Geographical Indication for Ceylon Cinnamon sparked a solid public-private partnership. Based on the Sri Lankan experience, the session will explore approaches which can leverage thematic assistance to foster integrated value chain development.

Seminar on electronic SPS certification, 28 June 2016

The STDF will organize a seminar on Electronic SPS Certification on Tuesday 28 June 2016 at WTO headquarters in Geneva. The overall objective of the seminar is to share information and experiences about the use of electronic certification (e-Cert) in the SPS area, identify key challenges and opportunities for developing countries and consider possible avenues to support the transition from paper based to automated SPS cross-border trade procedures. A provisional programme for the seminar is available on the STDF website.

Due to limited seating capacity, participation in the seminar is subject to prior registration. Participants will be registered on first come first served basis until maximum capacity is reached. To register and access more information on the Seminar, please visit the STDF website. A full podcast of the Seminar (including links and video recording of presentations made by speakers) will be posted on the STDF website after the seminar.

STDF 2015 Annual Report published: “Enhancing SPS Capacity, Delivering Results”

The STDF published online its annual report for 2015. The Report provides a succinct overview of how the STDF’s global partnership delivered results in 2015 to support SPS capacity building to help developing countries gain and maintain access to markets. Results were achieved thanks to the strong support of STDF partners (FAO, OIE, World Bank, WHO and WTO), the IPPC and Codex Secretariats;  donors who contributed US$4.7 million in 2015; six developing country experts, and observer organizations (including the African Union, CABI, IICA, IDB, ITC, OECD, OIRSA, UNIDO, UNCTAD), as well as a wide global network.

Priortizing SPS investments for market access

The STDF user guide “Prioritizing SPS Investments for Market Access (P-IMA): A framework to inform and improve SPS decision-making processes” was published in March 2016. To date, this framework has been used to prioritize SPS investment options in 10 developing countries (Belize, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia) that differ considerably in the scale and diversity of their food and agricultural exports, and the range and magnitude of SPS capacity-building needs. The experiences highlight several benefits of the P-IMA framework, for instance to facilitate public-private dialogue on SPS matters, increase political awareness about the benefits of strengthening SPS capacity, inform and improve national SPS planning and decision-making processes, support project design and leverage additional funding resources.

The STDF organized an information session on the P-IMA framework on the margins of the SPS Committee in March 2016. The objective of the information session was to briefly present the new P-IMA user Guide and share experiences from selected countries that have used this approach. Presentations made at the information session are available on the STDF website, together with a briefing note.

Joint EIF/STDF analysis on SPS issues in DTIS studies

The STDF and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Secretariats have undertaken a joint study that analyses the coverage of SPS issues in EIF Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies (DTIS) and identifies good practice for future studies and their implementation. The study highlights good practices and makes several practical and strategic recommendations to improve the analysis on SPS issues in the DTIS process, enhance capacity to implement SPS-related actions and to promote synergies between EIF and STDF-related processes. This includes recommendations to make better use of relevant SPS-related evaluations including food safety assessment tools, and to consider ways to engage international organizations involved in SPS capacity building (such as the FAO) in EIF processes. An EIF/STDF briefing note, highlighting the scope, findings and recommendations of this joint work is available on the STDF website. The study will be made available shortly on the STDF website.

Project development

The STDF provides advice and support to applicants on issues related to SPS project development and finances project preparation grants (PPGs). PPGs, normally up to US$50,000, are available to help applicants articulate their SPS needs and develop technically sound and sustainable project proposals. PPGS can be requested to: (i) apply SPS capacity evaluation and prioritization tools; (ii) prepare feasibility studies before project development to assess the potential impact and economic viability of proposals in terms of costs and benefits; and (iii) develop project proposals for funding by donors or the STDF.

A total of 74 PPGs have been approved and funded by the STDF since its inception. Information on on-going and completed PPGs is available on the STDF website. The STDF Working Group may approve additional PPGs for funding at its next meeting on 20-21 October 2016.

Project implementation

Project grant financing up to a maximum of US$1,000,000 is available from the STDF. Favourable consideration is given to projects that: (i) identify, develop and dissemination good practice in SPS-related technical cooperation, including the development and application of innovative and replicable approaches; (ii) apply regional approaches to address SPS constraints; and/or (iii) implement collaborative approaches across food safety, animal and plant health and trade.

Beneficiaries must contribute to the project from their own resources, either in the form of financial or in-kind contributions such as staff time, use of premises, vehicles or other existing assets.

A total of 75 projects have been approved for STDF funding since its inception. Information on on-going and completed PGs is available on the STDF website. The STDF Working Group may approve additional projects for funding at its next meeting on 20-21 October 2016, depending on the resources available in the STDF trust fund.

Annex 1 provides an overview of on-going STDF projects and PPGs. Since its inception, the STDF has devoted 64% of its project and PPG resources to LDCs and other low income countries (OLICs). Hence, the STDF continues meeting its target to devote at least 40% of its project and PPG resources to LDCs and OLICs. In particular the allocation of PPG resources to LDCs and OLICs remains high (i.e. 78% of the overall budget for PPGs).

50% of the number of STDF projects and PPGs has gone to Sub-Saharan Africa, 21% to Asia, and 17% to Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, 11% of STDF projects and PPGs can be classified as global.

Applications for STDF funding can be made at any point in the year but should be received at least 60 working days in advance of each Working Group meeting in order to be considered at that meeting. The next deadline for the submission of applications is 19 July 2016. Further information on eligibility criteria, application forms, etc. is available on the STDF website.