European Commission Directorate-General for Trade

Food safety and health

The 'Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement' of the World Trade Organisation sets out the rules that WTO members are obliged to follow when they set rules governing food safety, animal health and plant health. Every WTO Member has the right to take measures to protect the health of its human population, fauna and flora. What WTO rules require is that these measures are science-based, in proportion to the potential risk involved and do not discriminate between different WTO members.

In recent years, the use of food safety, animal and plant health rules as a trade barrier for imports has increased considerably. This creates a serious problem for EU exporters. Governments frequently go beyond what is required for to protect the health of their consumers and use sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions to shield domestic producers of agricultural products from fair competition. As tariff barriers for agricultural products are progressively reduced over the years to come, such problems are likely to become even more common.

The work of the European Commission

The European Commission has a range of responsibilities in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary rules. It is responsible for ensuring that EU legislation in this area meets the EU's international obligations.

The European Commission also works to improve market access conditions for EU exporters where they have been blocked by unreasonable sanitary and phytosanitary measures in other countries. An SPS Export Database has been designed to help identify export problems by providing an overview on difficulties encountered. The SPS Database also provides the necessary background information to set priorities and define strategies. The database is linked to the market access database managed by the European Commission. The Commission also produces a regular newsletter on santitary and phytosanitary issues.