'illegitimate' food safety measurement cases on the rise, exporters tell WTO
A recent World Trade Organization (WTO) committee meeting has heard complaints that food safety and plant and animal health measures that illegitimately obstruct trade are on the rise. 
Several issues were raised at the WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Committee on Mar. 27-28, with Indonesia's proposed Jakarta port closure among the concerns relating to horticulture.
A WTO release said the U.S. led the complaint against Indonesia, supported by the European Union, Australia, Chile, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
"They said the vast majority of horticultural imports (90%, according to the US and New Zealand), enter through Jakarta, and that the use of alternative ports will add several days of transportation, increasing costs and affecting the shelf life of perishable produce," the release said.
The U.S. representatives told the committee that Indonesia cited food safety and plant health reasons but did not specify any phytosanitary issues involving U.S. fruit and vegetable exports.
"Indonesia said the closure is needed because the ports to be closed do not have enough laboratory and quarantine facilities to deal with threats found in imported products," the release said.
As the situation currently stands, Jakarta's Tanjung Priok will stay open until Jun. 19.
The committee also heard an ongoing concern about the European Union's regulation of 'novel foods' that are considered traditional in Latin America, led by Peru with the support of Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay.
"The EU repeated that an attempt to change the rules began in January 2008 but common ground was not found within the EU on this," the release said.
The release said 328 concerns have been raised since the SPS Measures Committee meetings began 17 years ago, but the amount of new issues has dropped since a peak of 42 in 2002.
It said 16 new concerns were raised in 2011, while three new concerns were brought up in the recent meeting - the Jakarta port closure, China's tests for food additives and European Union controls for aluminium in noodles.
Photo: Slovenia Times
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