The Second Observatory Monitoring Report: Trade and sanitary measures

The international standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) aim to support the safe and transparent trade of animals and animal products, as well as ensuring control of animal diseases including zoonoses.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) primarily aims to facilitate trade and operates a global system of trade rules which its members are obliged to comply with. WTO’s agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS Agreement) defines the basic rules to ensure international trade, while safeguarding animal and plant health, as well as food safety. WTO recognises WOAH as the reference organisation for international standards concerning animal health and zoonoses, requiring WTO members to base their sanitary measures on WOAH standards, guidelines and recommendations.
The Observatory assessed the uptake of the most important WOAH standards related to trade aspects by its Members