Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.4.1.14 (SPS)
 813 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

International trade is subject to the Final Act of the Uruguay Round Multilateral Trade Negotiations' Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the TBT Agreement). These Agreements, the purpose of which is the freeing up of trade and the removal of restraints to the greatest extent possible, affect all countries that are members of the World Trade Organization, and have an impact upon all countries that are exporters. Trade in food is subject to these rules, which include provision for countries to apply safety and quality measures to protect the consumer. Such consumer protection measures extend to all aspects of food, including its packaging. The SPS and TBT Agreements press for 'harmonization' based upon the adoption of standards developed by international standards setting bodies and require countries to participate in their work. The relevant body with respect to food safety and quality measures is the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is implemented by the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in harmonization within the context of food packaging and the rules applying to world trade is discussed.
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PMID:Food packaging, international standards related to food safety and quality, and trade. 937 15

While the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade addressed overt barriers to international trade, the current focus of international trade rules has shifted to less obvious, but in many cases no less restrictive, barriers to trade, such as protectionist measures adopted under the guise of health and safety standards. The new agreements established under the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), including the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement"), provide important tools that can be invoked by governments and used by stakeholders to address regulatory barriers that were once thought outside the purview of international trade rules. Non-science based regulations can be and have been successfully challenged under the SPS and TBT Agreements, which prohibit WTO Members from maintaining laws or regulations that adversely affect trade unless such measures are scientifically justified. Stakeholders should use to the fullest extent possible international trade rules to eliminate non-science based regulations that adversely affect trade in the goods that they produce.
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PMID:The role of science in international trade law. 1621 75

Australia is a federation of States. This political structure necessitates collaborative arrangements between Australian governments to harmonize national regulation of gene technology and food standards. Extensive political negotiation among institutions of federal government has managed regulation of GM crops and food. Well-developed human resources in Australian government provided numerous policy documents facilitating a transparent political process. Workable legislation has been devised in the face of criticisms of gene technology though the political process. Conflicts between potential disruptions to food commodity trade by precautionary proposals for environmental protection were one cause of political tensions, and differences in policy priorities at regional political levels versus national and international forums for negotiation were another. Australian policy outcomes on GM crops reflect (a) strong economic self-interest in innovative and productive farming, (b) reliance on global agricultural market reforms through the Cairns trade group and the WTO, and (c) the importance of Codex Alimentarius and WTO instruments SPS and TBT. Precautionary frameworks for GM food safety assurance that are inconsistent with WTO obligations were avoided in legislation. Since 2008 the 2 major parties, Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Liberals appear to have reached a workable consensus at the Federal policy level about an important role for agricultural biotechnology in Australia's economic future.
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PMID:Ascendancy of agricultural biotechnology in the Australian political mainstream coexists with technology criticism by a vocal-minority. 2543 42