The Regulatory Development and the Future Challenge for the Regionalization Provision of the WTO SPS Agreement

Abstract

Article 6 of the WTO SPS Agreement on adaptation to regional conditions allows Members to subdivide their national territory according to the level of pest or disease prevalence, and continue trade in areas that have been scientifically verified as disease-free. However, owing to the simplicity of the Article, Members have frequently experienced difficulties in implementing the regionalization concept. Thus, enhancing the implementation of Article 6 has been one of the essential goals of the WTO Member countries and the SPS Committee ever since the establishment of the regionalization provision in 1995. Nevertheless, despite the series of discussions undertaken at the WTO to add details to the provision, little improvement has been made. This thesis seeks to provide the implications for enhancing the implementation of the regionalization principle by examining the drafting history and the recent discussions within the WTO regarding Article 6. Furthermore, by analyzing a number of RTAs that include provisions on regionalization that go beyond the contents of Article 6 of the SPS agreement and drawing on past studies concerning the regionalization provision, this thesis points out the future challenges to enhancing the regionalization provision.