The SPS system in Kiribati is weak, since the country suffers from a lack of technical capacity in both material and human terms despite the national development objective to stimulate sustainable development through the fisheries sector. Operators, in both the private and public sectors, outsource most of their tests (including simple ones) from laboratories in the region such as Fiji and New Zealand. This creates constraints to their activity due to the extra cost of samples shipment and delays.

The purpose of this PPG was to develop a project proposal, with a strong focus on the fisheries sector, which promoted SPS and laboratory capacity building in the country to comply with international SPS requirements.