WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “I thank the United States for its generous support of developing countries and LDCs in tackling sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) related challenges keeping agricultural producers out of global agricultural markets. This latest contribution reflects the continuing and long-term commitment by the United States to enhancing developing countries’ SPS capacities through science-based approaches, helping them meet international standards and access markets. This will help producers participate more effectively in regional and global value chains, and will contribute to raising export revenues, incomes and living standards.”
H.E. Ms. María Pagán, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO, said: “The United States has a long-term commitment to helping WTO members strengthen their ability to implement the SPS Agreement, and we continue to value the STDF’s role of helping members adopt and comply with SPS standards to expand their opportunities to benefit from international trade. The renewal of FDA’s investment in the STDF continues the US commitment to ensuring that technical assistance is made available to developing countries, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of this partnership continue to ripen in the years to come.”
FDA recognizes the importance of the STDF in supporting developing economies to build their capacity to implement international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, guidelines, and recommendations. These capacity building efforts ultimately improve human, animal and plant health status in developing economies and enhance their ability to gain or access foreign markets and benefit from international trade.
FDA is also a member of the STDF Policy Committee and participates in the Working Group. FDA’s Kelly McCormick, who served as Chair of the STDF Working Group in 2022, stated: “FDA appreciates the amplification role that the STDF serves. With all of the donor countries and member organizations pooling resources, expertise, and funds — the reach of what we are collectively able to do to build SPS capacity goes far beyond the sum of what we would have been able to accomplish as individual countries, agencies, or organizations. We look forward to our continued engagement in the effort to ensure a safer global food supply.”
Engagement in the STDF enables FDA to learn the implications of its policies from a variety of international counterparts, which provides FDA with insights that would not be available through bilateral engagement alone. Through its involvement, FDA has leveraged the capacities and network of the STDF to more easily share science-based food safety practices, information, and educational tools to ultimately help enhance the safety of food produced globally.
The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate safe and inclusive trade, established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO, which houses and manages the partnership. The STDF responds to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade and contributes to sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty reduction, in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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