The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) and concerned ministry are responsible for the preparation, adoption and application of SPS measures in Nepal. The export and import of plant and plant materials, such as seeds, saplings and seedlings are subject to phytosanitary measures at the border checkpoints
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has adopted disciplines on standards and regulations, which it does not view as creating unnecessary trade barriers as long as they are based on internationally agreed standards. Regulations and standards differ in terms of compliance.
While regulations refer to a set of rules and norms where compliance is mandatory, standards refer to guidelines that are not mandatory. Two WTO agreements govern technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreements.
The TBT agreement views that technical regulations and standards, including packaging, marketing and labeling requirements, do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. The agreement covers all industrial and agricultural products.
Its implication is applied to product and process standards to produce quality products.
The TBT provisions provide for conformity assessment required for all regulations and standards. The conformity assessment can take the form of testing of products, certification of products after inspection, assessment of quality management systems, and accreditation procedures.
Technical regulations to be followed in the areas of machinery and equipment include boilers, electric construction and assembly tools, metal and wood carving equipment, medical equipment and food-processing equipment.
Consumer articles to be followed for technical regulations are pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, synthetic detergents, video and TV sets, cinematographic and photographic equipment, automobiles and toys. Technical regulations also apply in the areas of raw materials and agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, insecticides and hazardous chemicals.
Another basic principle of TBT agreement is scientific-based standards and regulations with technical information. Given the circumstances associated with product testing and inspection from exporters' point of view, the agreement encourages acceptance of conformity assessment tests carried out in the exporting countries.
The agreement also requires countries to accept and comply with the code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards.
Nepal Standards Certification Act and Standards, Weights and Measures Act are legal instruments governing Nepal's standards.
The authority determining the standards in relation to any goods, processes or services lies with the Nepal Council of Standards (NCS). A technical committee under the NCS sets standards based on internationally recognised parameters and national requirements.
If there are no international standards, Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) elaborates the national standards. NBSM, a government agency under the Ministry of Industry, is responsible for all standards except for health and food products. During the WTO accession negotiations, Nepal had offered to introduce legislative and institutional measures by 2006, but these have not fully happened till now. The major objective of WTO SPS agreement is to minimise the negative effects of SPS measures on international trade. Such measures for protection include human or animal life from foodborne risks, human health from animal or plant carried disease, and animals and plants from pests and diseases. Products that are often related to SPS measures include fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices and other fruit preparations, meat and meat products, dairy products, and processed food products.
Unlike, the TBT agreement, the SPS agreement allows countries to deviate from the MFN principle in the sense that SPS measures may be applied to imports depending on the prevalence level of specific diseases or pests. Exporting countries are obliged to provide reasonable access to testing and other procedures for inspection. Like the TBT agreement, the SPS agreement recognises the difficulties of developing countries in complying with its provisions.
The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) and concerned ministry are responsible for the preparation, adoption and application of SPS measures in Nepal.
The export and import of plant and plant materials, such as seeds, saplings and seedlings are subject to phytosanitary measures at the border checkpoints.
These measures are based on the Plant Protection Act, Plant Protection Rules, and Seed Act.
The Contagious or Infectious Diseases Act authorises the government to intercept any person, animal, animal products and feeds suspected of carrying an infectious diseases or agent at entry points. In order to govern animal quarantine, Animal Health and Livestock Services Act was enacted and enforced in 2000.
Minimum standards or specifications have been fixed for certain categories of agricultural products, food products – processed and unprocessed – and animal feeds under the Food Act, Food Riles, and Animal Concentrates Act. The export and import of such products must comply with the fixed standards.
Like the TBT agreement, Nepal had agreed to implement the SPS agreement by the end of 2006. Yet some acts and infrastructure have not been completed.
Many developed countries have adopted SPS measures on the import of primary and processed agricultural products. Such measures include pest risk assessment requirements, pet food import requirements, food safety regulations on agricultural products that have used modern biotechnology, zero tolerance for e-coli, pesticides and antibiotic limits on honey, and foot and mouth diseases control measures on dairy products.
Nepal's export basket in this sector, among others, include medicinal herbs, ginger, brooms, rosin, cardamom, cattle fodder, biscuits, noodles, vegetable ghee, raw jute, pulses, catechu, turmeric, tea as well as sugar, spices, uncooked pasta, edible preparation of animal or vegetable fats, wheat, plants and beer.
Given the country's difficulty in meeting internationally standards, these products could be denied market access in the developed countries.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 31, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
