NTS and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
Lowering barriers to agricultural exports through technical assistance
Technical assistance for meeting Sanitary and Phytosanitary requirements in export promotion
Authors:
A. Wiig; I. Kolstad
Publisher:
Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway, 2003
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations imposed by the developed world, significantly reduce the export opportunities of developing countries. Under the SPS Agreement, developed countries are obliged to provide technical assistance to developing countries, to help them meet SPS requirements.
A survey of providers of technical assistance reveals, however, that assistance is allocated in an ad hoc manner. This article argues for a more systematic allocation of technical assistance to developing countries, based on relevant data and comparisons of benefits and costs of different kinds of capacity building. Data is presented which highlights the major problems of developing countries in exporting to the European Union, complementing earlier studies of exports to the United States. [author]
