A record number of trade concerns on food safety and animal and plant health have been raised by members at the latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) committee on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures meeting last week.

A total of eight new specific trade concerns were raised – the highest in the committee’s history – while 16 previously discussed measures returned to the agenda during the two-day meeting on July 15 to 16.

Concerns were raised around the European Union’s (EU’s) proposed amendment of its approval procedure for genetically modified food and feed – a move members believed would allow EU member States to restrict or ban the use of biotech products with no justified reasons and create unnecessary barriers to international trade.

The EU, however, defended the proposal, noting that the amendments only enabled EU member States to opt out of the EU decision of authorisation and did not introduce any restriction or ban on biotech products.

Several members also sounded the alarm on Costa Rica’s measure to place an import ban – without scientific evidence – on avocados from certain exporters, owing to the presence of avocado sunblotch viroid.

In its defence, Costa Rica pointed out that the measure would protect the country from being affected by the avocado tree disease; however, the South American country aimed to maintain close dialogue with its trading partners to resolve the trade concerns.

Further, while China’s proposed regulatory change to its safety assessment of agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was welcomed, as the delays and lack of transparency in China’s current biotech approval process remained a serious trade concern for exporters, the proposed amendment could further prolong and complicate the approval process.

Other previously raised concerns persisted, including the EU’s ongoing work on defining criteria for identifying endocrine disruptors, the EU’s measures on citrus black spot, import restrictions on Japanese food products following the nuclear power plant accident; and the application and modification of the EU regulation on novel foods.