USTR Requests Comment on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comment on sanitary and phytosanitary barriers for U.S. exports, in order to help compile a 2014 annual USTR report on the subject. Interested parties should place particular emphasis on sanitary and phytosanitary measures that may violate U.S. trade agreements. The comments will assist U.S. trade officials in reducing or eliminating relevant barriers, USTR said.
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Sanitary and phytosanitary measures are applied to protect the life or health of humans, animals, and plants from risks arising from additives, contaminants, pests, toxins, diseases, or disease-carrying and causing organisms, USTR said. The measures can be specific product or processing standards, requirements for products to be produced in disease-free areas, quarantine regulations, certification or inspection procedures, sampling and testing requirements, health-related labeling measures, maximum permissible pesticide residue levels, and prohibitions on certain food additives.
USTR prefers interested parties submit comments online via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2013-0033, by Nov. 15.
(Federal Register 10/23/13)