RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/253
12 June 2001
(01-2880)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL OBSERVER
ORGANIZATIONS IN MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE
Note by the Secretariat
1. At its meeting of November 2000, the Committee decided to hold an informal meeting to
discuss the criteria for granting observer status to international intergovernmental organizations.  For
the purposes of this discussion, the Secretariat prepared a background document which presented the
criteria used to date by the Committee in making its decisions and identified some of the concerns
which have been raised by Members (G/SPS/GEN/229).  In considering this issue at an informalmeeting on 14 March 2001, many Members suggested that the Committee should review the role of
observer organizations in its meetings.
2. The role of observer organizations was addressed, inter alia , in the 1996 decision by the
General Council regarding Observer Status for International Intergovernmental Organizations in the
WTO:
1. "Representatives of organizations accorded observer status may be invited to
speak at meetings of the bodies to which they are observers normally after Members
of that body have spoken.  The right to speak does not include the right to circulate
papers or to make proposals, unless an organization is specifically invited to do so,
nor to participate in decision-making.
2. "Observer organizations shall receive copies of the main WTO documents
series and of other documents series relating to the work of the subsidiary bodieswhich they attend as observers.  They may receive such additional documents as may
be specified by the terms of any formal  arrangements for cooperation between them
and the WTO.
3. "If for any one-year period after the date of the grant of observer status, there
has been no attendance by the observer organization, such status shall cease.  In thecase of sessions of the Ministerial Conference, this period shall be two years."
1
3. The SPS Committee has granted observer status to 15 international intergovernmental
organizations and to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  The Committee
granted observer status to the Codex, OIE and IPPC in March 1995;  to the FAO and WHO in June
1995;  to ISO and ITC in November 1995;  to UNCTAD in March 1996;  to the World Bank and theIMF in November 1996
2, and on an ad-hoc meeting-by-meeting basis since November 1999 to ACP,
EFTA, IICA, OECD, OIRSA and SELA.
                                                     
1 WT/L/161, 25 July 1996, Annex 3.
2 Observer status in WTO subsidiary bodies was provided through the WTO Agreements with the Fund
and World Bank (WT/L/194 and WT/L/195).G/SPS/GEN/253
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4. In practice, the Chairperson of the SPS Committee has permitted interested observer
organizations to make interventions on any item of the agenda after all interested Members have taken
the floor.  Observer organizations have on occasion been invited by the Chairperson to provide further
information with regard to a specific issue be fore the Committee.  The Committee has included an
agenda item on "Matters of Interest Arising from th e Work of Observer Organizations" at each of its
regular meetings.  Under this agenda item, observer organizations are invited to briefly report on any
activities which are relevant to the work of the Committee and which were not covered under other
agenda items.  A number of observer organizations also regularly report on their technical assistance
activities under that specific agenda item.
5. Following suggestions from several Members, the Chairperson has encouraged the observer
organizations to provide information on their activitie s in writing, in advance of the meeting.  Prior to
the last meeting of the Committee, the Secretariat sent a fax to all observer organizations remindingthem of the request to provide the reports in wr iting in advance of the meeting, to permit their
circulation as documents so that Members could be better prepared to raise questions or seek
additional information.  The observers were informed that they would be given the opportunity at the
meeting to summarize the information they had prov ided in writing, highlighting the most important
elements and adding any more recent information.
6. Observer organizations have been invited to participate in certain informal meetings, where
their activities and expertise may be particularly useful to the discussions of the Committee.  The
Committee's recent discussions regarding the implementation of the provisions of Article 4
(equivalence) are a case in point.  In addition, the WHO has requested the organization of special
meetings with the Committee to discuss the revisi on of the International Health Regulations (IHR),
and other observer organizations have been invited to participate in these meetings given the
relevance of the IHR to their own activities.
7. There are considerable differences in the extent and manner of participation by the various
observer organizations.  The "three sister" organizations identified in the SPS Agreement -- Codex,
OIE and IPPC -- have attended every meeting of the SPS Committee since they were granted observerstatus in March 1995, regularly provide information on their relevant activities in writing, report on
their technical assistance programmes, and frequently submit additional documentation on matters of
interest to the SPS Committee.  Other observer organizations, and in particular the WHO and IICA,
have frequently provided documentation on matters of interest to the SPS Committee.  Some
organizations, including the World Bank and the ITC, have occasionally submitted information, orally
or in writing, on specific issues such as technical assistance.  Several observer organizations are
regularly present at meetings of the Committee, but do not take the floor.  Some do not participateregularly, or indeed at all.
8. In the discussions of the role of observers on 14 March 2001, several Members suggested that
the Committee should consider developing guidelin es to ensure the efficient conduct of meetings.
Some Members expressed the view that, given the specific status of the OIE, Codex and IPPC, these
organizations should be treated differently than other observer organizations, and permitted to take thefloor on any relevant agenda item.  Nonetheless, the Committee should request that these
organizations submit written reports regarding their activities of interest to the SPS Committee in
advance of the meetings.
9. With respect to other observer organizations, some Members suggested that they should
normally provide written reports or statements in advance of the meeting, and be given the floor onlyto respond to any questions or requests for further information.  Other Members, while agreeing with
the suggestion that written reports be solicited in advance of the meetings, suggested that the observer
organizations should nonetheless be given the opportunity to make brief oral summaries at the
meeting.G/SPS/GEN/253
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10. The Secretariat recalled that one of the criteria for granting observer status was that the
observer organization provided reciprocal treatment to the WTO.  The Secretariat therefore frequently
participated as an observer in the meetings of other organizations, and was familiar with the different
procedures followed by many of these.  In some organizations, observers were expected to submit
reports in advance in writing, and there was little opportunity for them to take the floor.  In otherorganizations, observers were permitted to take the floor, normally after member governments had
spoken, on any issue of interest to them.  The Secretariat noted that this latter approach often
permitted a prompt clarification of inaccurate or misleading information.
11. Some Members suggested that the Committee also consider developing a method for
evaluating the participation of ad hoc observers in the work of the Committee.  Such an evaluation
should examine the value of their participation to the SPS Committee, as well as the value of their
participation to their own organizations.  This latter information would presumably be solicited fromthe governments who were members of the particular observer organization being examined.
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