World Trade Organization: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement

Synonyms

Agricultural trade; Food safety; Free trade; Global trade; Health standards; Protectionism; Risk assessment

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) is an international agricultural trade agreement that allows countries the ability to implement measures “to protect human, animal or plant life or health” as long as the measures are not “arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Members where the same conditions prevail or a disguised restriction on international trade.” The preamble to the agreement continues to establish the purposes of the agreement, which include the establishment of (1) multilateral framework of rules and disciplines for SPS measures to minimize their negative trade effects, (2) harmonized international standards, and (3) more elaborate rules than what the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provides, in particular Article XX(b). This agreement grew out of the...