Regional Workshop on WTO's SPS Agreement held in Chiang Mai, Thailand
The FAO-APHCA/OIE Regional Workshop on WTO's SPS Agreement was held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand on 9-12 July 2001.
This workshop was co-organised by FAO-APHCA and OIE in collaboration with Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand; Free University of Berlin, Germany; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University and the Japan Livestock Technology Association, Japan.
The workshop was attended by 36 participants and observers from 12 countries in Asia and the Pacific; two from Switzerland; two from Germany; one from Egypt; and three from international organisations.
Lecturers and resource persons/speakers were invited from the Free University of Berlin and the Federal Institute for Consumer Protection and Veterinary Medicine, Germany; the Federal Veterinary Office, Switzerland; and the University of Cairo, Egypt respectively.
The objective of this workshop was to train government officers (at technical level) on the important standards and roles of WTO's SPS Agreement, i.e. the OIE International Animal Health Code and Manuals, and Risk Analysis, the FAO-WHO Codex Alimentarius and related issues.
The main topics of the workshop included: 1) Introduction to Import Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment Techniques, 2) Microbiological Risk Assessment relating to Codex Alimentarius, and 3) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System.
Lectures on concepts and risk analysis models were made, followed by group exercises on: i) BSE using the pathway pattern of OIE, ii) L. monocytogenes, Samonella and Vibrio spp. as models of foodborne diseases for Codex Alimentarius, and iii) case studies on fried chicken pieces for HACCP.
- WTO = World Trade Organization
- SPS = Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement
- APHCA = Animal Production and Health Commission of FAO in Asia, the Far East and the Pacific