WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee Launches Mentoring System, Discusses Trade Concerns
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At a June meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, World Trade Organization (WTO) members launched a new SPS mentoring system to assist developing and least developed country (LDC) members with transparency and engagement on SPS matters. The Committee also reviewed 56 specific trade concerns raised by members, four of which were raised for the first time.
Launch of Mentoring System
The Committee launched a new SPS mentoring system to assist developing and LDC members with transparency and timely engagement on SPS matters. The system will start with a pilot phase between June 2025 and June 2026 in which informal, ad hoc supportive relationships will be established between individual mentors and mentees for knowledge-sharing, peer learning, and engagement on SPS-related issues.
With the Committee's agreement, the WTO Secretariat has set up a dedicated mentoring webpage, www.wto.org/spsmentoring, which includes an online form for interested government officials seeking mentoring during the pilot phase. After this, the Secretariat will select a limited number of requests for the pilot and will launch a call for mentors who could support the selected mentees to achieve their objectives.
Specific Trade Concerns
Members raised 56 specific trade concerns (STCs)—four for the first time—at the meeting. The new STCs raised by members related to uncertainty regarding: coffee bean imports into China; Thailand's regulation to mitigate aflatoxins in peanut kernels; a ban on imports of aquaculture shrimp in Thailand; and Vietnam's procedure for the listing of exporting establishments.
A list of the STCs discussed is available here.
As of early 2025, close to 60 percent of all STCs raised in the SPS Committee had been reported as resolved or partially resolved.
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