It should be noted that health-related trade restrictions are addressed by both the SPS Agreement and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) [see Chapter 9]. There are, however, differences in the scopes of the two agreements.

The SPS Agreement covers health protection measures as defined above.

The TBT Agreement covers all technical requirements, voluntary standards and the procedures to ensure that these are met (called conformity assessment procedures), except when these are SPS measures as defined by the SPS Agreement.

TBT measures could cover any subject, from car safety to energy-saving devices, to the shape of food packages. To give some examples pertaining to human health, TBT measures could include pharmaceutical restrictions, or the labelling of cigarettes. Most measures related to human disease control are under the TBT Agreement, unless they concern food safety or diseases which are carried by plants or animals (such as rabies). In terms of food, labelling requirements dealing with nutrition claims, quality and packaging regulations are not considered to be SPS measures and hence are normally subject to the TBT Agreement. However, labelling requirements dealing with food safety are considered to be SPS measures.

Differences Between SPS and TBT Measures:

SPS measures typically deal with:

additives in food or drink
contaminants in food or drink
toxic substances in food or drink
residues of veterinary drugs or pesticides in food or drink
certification: food safety, animal or plant health
processing methods with implications for food safety
labelling requirements directly related to food safety
plant/animal quarantine
declaring areas free from pests or disease
preventing disease or pests spreading to or in a country
other sanitary requirements for imports (e.g. imported pallets used to transport animals)

TBT measures typically deal with:

labelling of composition or quality of food, drink and drugs
quality requirements for fresh food
volume, shape and appearance of packaging
packaging and labelling for dangerous chemicals and toxic substances, pesticides and fertilizer
regulations for electrical appliances
regulations for cordless phones, radio equipment etc.
textiles and garments labelling
testing vehicles and accessories
regulations for ships and ship equipment
safety regulations for toys
etc.

“SPS or TBT?” — audio file of Michael Roberts
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Chapters done:

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Introduction to the SPS Agreement

1.4 SPS and TBT measures