Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Trade Measures

All countries that are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have to comply with the WTO’s agreements and measures on international trade. Fiji is not an exception to this. By becoming a member of the WTO in 1996, Fiji has to adhere to WTO’s requirements on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures for the export of products from its national boundaries (Ravuvu et al. 2017). The Pacific Island countries (PICs) are struggling to meet the SPS requirements of the international trading system with the adverse impacts of these visible in fisheries, ginger, dalo, and kava exports. Recent studies conducted by the international agencies in the PICs confirm that the policymakers and practitioners need to strengthen legislative frameworks, enforcement mechanisms, laboratories, and infrastructure to harmonize the region’s SPS compliance with the international standards (United Nations ESCAP 2010). The main aim of this paper is to discuss the SPS agreement and its implications to the Pacific Island exporters and how the agriculture exporters can comply with this agreement.