Resumen de International Regulatory Cooperation in the Field of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Drawing Multilateral Lessons from the Regional Dimension
Managing economic globalisation, so as to facilitate trade without diminishing food safety or the protection of human, animal, and plant health, has become one of the greatest global challenges. In-depth coordination among national regulators and policies is crucial for the management and avoidance of health and safety risks, but also for avoiding unnecessary obstacles to international trade flows. The chapter examines and compares the role of different methods for achieving regulatory cooperation in the context of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures at both the international and regional levels. It analyses the successes of, and challenges relating to, SPS regulatory cooperation at the multilateral level and in particular the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) SPS Committee. These efforts are matched to regional cooperative attempts, notably the ambition of recent mega-regional trade agreements. Thereafter, the chapter enquires into the possibility for multilaterising the lessons learnt from these regional regulatory convergence initiatives in an effort to advance cooperation at the WTO level.
