Thematic Group 5 Workshop for the MC-12 SPS Declaration | Standards and Trade Development Facility

Facilitating safe trade: STDF solutions to strengthen SPS capacity in developing and least developed countries

Programme

21 March 2023, 15.00 (CET)
Meeting type: Hybrid
Where: WTO - Room W

Watch the recording of the webinar here.

Timing	Agenda	Speaker
15:00	Opening remarks and welcome	Cecilia Gutierrez (Ecuador, Co-Steward Thematic Group 5)
15:10	Primer on the STDF: Looking back, thinking ahead and fostering solutions to improve SPS capacity and market access	Melvin Spreij (STDF)
Dialogue: Delivering on the ground
15.30	The STDF provides funding to develop and deliver innovative, cross cutting SPS projects and project preparation grants (PPGs) globally. This dialogue will highlight experiences from selected STDF projects to improve food safety, animal and plant health and facilitate safe trade. How have developing countries benefitted from STDF's support? How did these projects improve SPS capacity and facilitate trade? How did they connect diverse public and private partners, mobilize resources, and catalyse longer-term impacts? Spotlight projects: Regional STDF project: Strengthening capacity in Latin America to meet pesticide export requirements, see PG/436 Uganda: Enhancing the capacity of the fruit and vegetable sector to comply with phytosanitary requirements for export to EU, other high-end and regional markets, see PG/543 Viet Nam: Safer spices: Food safety and market access for peppercorn, see PG/619	Facilitator: Joanna Grainger (Australia, Co-Steward Thematic Group 5) Discussants: Khoa Dang Lê , Western Highlands Agro-Forestry Science Institute (WASI), Viet Nam Brenda Kisingiri, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Uganda Veronica Picado, Minor use Foundation, Costa Rica
	Q&A with audience
STDF's knowledge work: Learning to improve SPS outcomes
16:30	Building on the experiences and lessons of projects, STDF's knowledge work identifies and promotes good practices on cross-cutting topics to strengthen SPS capacity. These include Good Regulatory Practices, Public-Private Partnerships, the use of evidence-based approaches, and trade facilitation. What are the key lessons from STDF projects? How are they relevant for SPS capacity development globally? How can developing countries benefit from STDF knowledge work.	Facilitator: Marlynne Hopper (STDF) Discussants: Gillian Mylrea, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) John Oppong-Otoo, African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Ravi Khetarpal, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institution (APAARI) Betsy Baysinger, USDA Foreign Agriculture Service Remco Vahl, Permanent Mission of the European Union to the WTO Jeremy Knops, Committee Linking Entrepreneurship-Agriculture-Development (COLEAD, formerly COLEACP)
	Q&A with audience
17:45	Provide key takeaways and reflections from the discussion during the workshop. What would members like to see happen moving forward to improve SPS capacity at the national and regional level?	Joanna Grainger (Australia, Co-Steward Thematic Group 5)
18:00	Close