This legislative study describes the new approach of the international plant quarantine system following the implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. It demonstrates the renewed importance of the International Plant Protection Convention, which has now become the established instrument for drafting plant health standards recognised by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Some specific cases are cited, mainly the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and some African and Asian countries.

There is a growing awareness that an understanding of international plant health agreements and protocol is essential in the increasingly free-trade environment of today, and that administrative methods of plant pest control are important in crop production. However, there has been no recent book, which introduces students and practitioners to the subject of plant health and quarantine. This book fills this gap.

The increasing globalization of food trade and the harmonization of food standards and food safety rules have led to significant changes in the international and national regulatory frameworks for food. There is an increasing recognition of the need to integrate and improve coordination of regulatory activities among national and international bodies for better protection of human, animal and plant life and health without creating unnecessary barriers to trade. In addition, catastrophic outbreaks of food-borne disease have sparked increasing attention to the regulatory frameworks for food safety and food trade in the global arena. These developments have given rise to new legislative needs. National regulatory frameworks have to be adjusted to meet international and regional obligations, while the distribution of responsibilities for the food sector requires rigorous review. The present text draws on FAO's experience in providing technical assistance to governments developing new food laws and regulations, setting out and examining the many elements of the national system which should be taken into account in a comprehensive review of national regulatory frameworks for food. Towards that end, the text offers concrete recommendations for the preparation of a basic national food law, including three variants of a new model food law.

Focussing on the health sector, this book analyses the closely interwoven relationship between the European Union and Member States.

The rapid expansion of international trade has brought to the fore issues of conflicting national regulations in the area of plant, animal, and human health. These problems include the concern that regulations designed to protect health can also be used for protection of domestic producers against international competition. At a time when progressive tariff reform has opened up markets and facilitated trade, in part responding to consumer demands for access to a wide choice of products and services at reasonable prices, closer scrutiny of regulatory measures has become increasingly important. At the same time, there are clear differences among countries and cultures as to the types of risk citizens are willing to accept. The activities of this conference were based on the premise that risk analyses (i.e., risk assessment, management, and communication) are not exclusively the domain of the biological and natural sciences; the social sciences play a prominent role in describing how people in different contexts perceive and respond to risks. Any effort to manage sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues in international trade must integrate all the sciences to develop practices for risk assessment, management, and communication that recognize international diversity in culture, experience, and institutions. Uniform international standards can help, but no such norms are likely to be acceptable to all countries. Political and administrative structures also differ, causing differences in approaches and outcomes even when basic aims are compatible. Clearly there is considerable room for confusion and mistrust. The issue is how to balance the individual regulatory needs and approaches of countries with the goal of promoting freer trade. This issue arises not only for SPS standards but also in regard to regulations that affect other areas such as environmental quality, working conditions, and the exercise of intellectual property rights. This conference focused on these issues in the specific area of SPS measures. This area includes provisions to protect plant and animal health and life and, more generally, the environment, and regulations that protect humans from foodborne risks. The Society for Risk Analysis defines a risk as the potential for realization of unwanted, adverse consequences to human life, health, property, or the environment; estimation of risk is usually based on the expected value of the conditional probability of the event occurring times the consequence of the event given that it has occurred. The task of this conference and of this report was to elucidate the place of science, culture, politics, and economics in the design and implementation of SPS measures and in their international management. The goal was to explore the critical roles and the limitations of the biological and natural sciences and the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and political science in the management of SPS issues and in judging whether particular SPS measures create unacceptable barriers to international trade. The conference's objective also was to consider the elements that would compose a multidisciplinary analytical framework for SPS decision making and needs for future research.

​The institutional and legal status of the WTO, with its integrated dispute settlement system, provides a framework for certainty, security and stability for trade as well as a coherent system to protect intellectual property rights. In all member countries and their respective enterprises, WTO regulations need to be considered when designing and implementing trade-related strategies for business operations in the integrated global market. This book aims at giving upper-level undergraduates and graduate students a comprehensive understanding of the public regulations related to international trade within the WTO mechanism and equip them, as potential policy makers and future practitioners in international trade, with the practical skills to interpret and apply the multilateral trade regulations as outlined by the WTO.

International and national legal frameworks governing the trade and use of pesticides have undergone significant changes over the last twenty years. The International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides, the Rotterdam Convention, the Stockholm Convention, the Basel Convention and the Montreal Protocol are only some of the binding and non-binding international instruments applicable to part or all of the life cycle of a pesticide. Specific guidelines for implementation are often available from the secretariat of the applicable international instrument, but comprehensive guidance is generally lacking. Governments need a clear picture of their international obligations as well as guidance on the accepted international consensus on the proper management of pesticides. Upgraded national legislation is needed to align national frameworks with international norms. This text aims to provide governments wishing to design, reform or update their national legislation with up-to-date advice on all aspects of pesticide management. Although the recommendations for national legislative change are designed to be useful to all countries, the text highlights the particular problems faced by developing countries and countries in transition, offering practical solutions to common problems. Also published in Spanish.

In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the need for sound regulatory frameworks for bioenergy. Faced with high petroleum and natural gas prices, and increasingly aware of climate change and environmental concerns, many countries are implementing national policies and legislation to encourage bioenergy production and use. These developments stem from the desire to achieve energy security and self-sufficiency, the need to reduce reliance on foreign fossil fuel reserves and the hope of providing increased trade opportunities for some agricultural commodities. Land use, and the competing needs of energy and food security are key issues in the bioenergy debate. International and national regulatory frameworks will have to establish clear guidelines for the sustainable development of the bioenergy industry. This paper aims to stimulate discussion on the elements of appropriate national legal frameworks for bioenergy, particularly in developing countries. It provides legislators and policy-makers with a tool to assist in identifying areas of law which may affect bioenergy regulation, and in designing key elements of national bioenergy laws.

This guide describes the steps that national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) should follow when determining the status of a pest in an area, starting with identifying the pest and the area under consideration. It provides guidance on gathering and evaluating information, assessing sources of uncertainty, and how to use pest records and other relevant information to determine whether a pest is absent or present in the area and then to select the appropriate pest status category, as described in ISPM 8 (Determination of pest status in an area). This includes guidance on determining whether a pest is expected to establish in an area, and whether it is widely distributed or under official control. The guide describes the responsibilities of NPPOs when determining the status of pests within their territories, the requirements for national legislation to support actions relevant to pest status and how pest status determination fits within the international phytosanitary framework. It also describes how the outcomes of pest status determination may be used to support other key activities, such as preparing regulated pest lists, pest reporting, and securing or maintaining market access. Finally, the guide provides a number of case studies from around the world that highlight different aspects of the pest status determination process and how NPPOs deal with particular issues. By providing a deeper understanding of the process and the factors that should be considered when determining pest status, the guide aims to improve consistency in the processes used by NPPOs to make pest status determinations.