SPS Project under 10th EDF Builds Capacity for greater Market Access

Project Overview

The project on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) was one component of the 10th EDF SPS Programme titled: “Support to the Caribbean Forum of ACP States in the implementation of the Commitments Undertaken under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”.

Project Overview

The project on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) was one component of the 10th EDF SPS Programme titled: “Support to the Caribbean Forum of ACP States in the implementation of the Commitments Undertaken under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”.

The overall objective of the 10th EDF Programme is to support the beneficial integration of the CARIFORUM states into the world economy and the overall objective of the SPS programme was to facilitate CARIFORUM States to gain and improve market access by complying with Europe’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and to help CARIFORUM states to better develop their own regionally harmonized SPS measures.The outcomes of the SPS Project are intended to increase production and trade in agriculture and fisheries which meet international standards while protecting plant,animal and human health and the environment.

The total budget for the Project was Euro 11.7 million. The Contribution Agreement was signed by the EU August 24, 2013 and by the IICA September 3, 2013. The Project ran over a 42-month period and completed in April 2017

Main Actions

The Action aimed to enhance progress towards the development and establishment of effective and efficient national and regional Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regimes to overcome the challenges of limited regional/national administrative capacity concerning compliance with international Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures:

These Actions took place under 3 main components:

1. LEGISLATION – Strengthened legislation, protocols, standards, measures and guidelines in the area of Agriculture Health and Food Safety (AHFS) and fisheries;
2. COORDINATION – Enhanced national and regional coordination mechanisms in the support of the SPS regime developed and established in the CARIFORUM states;
3. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT – Strengthened national and regional regulatory and industry capacity to meet the SPS requirements of international trade.

Partners

The European Union (EU) funded the SPS Project through the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme titled: “Support to the Caribbean Forum of ACP States in the Implementation of the Commitments Undertaken under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures”.

The Project was implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in collaboration with the following partners: CARICOM Secretariat, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the SPS committee of the Dominican Republic (Comite Nacional para la Aplicacion de Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias (CNMSF).