Sanitary and phytosanitary measures

Indian Economy glossary

Also called: SPS measures, SPS · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are rules a country uses to protect human, animal and plant life or health from food-safety risks, pests and diseases. Under the WTO's SPS Agreement, these rules must be based on science.

  • "Sanitary" means human and animal health. "Phytosanitary" means plant health.
  • SPS measures matter because tariffs (taxes on imports) have fallen under GATT and the WTO. Rules on food safety and pests are now one of the main barriers that farm exports face. Such rules can protect consumers, but they can also hide protectionism (shielding home producers from foreign competition).

Explanation

What SPS measures are and where they fit

  • SPS measures are a type of non-tariff barrier (NTB). An NTB is any trade restriction other than a tariff.
  • NTBs fall into three groups:
  • Quantity-based: quotas, bans and licences.
  • Standards-based: rules on how products must be made or tested. SPS and TBT belong here.

  • Procedural: slow customs work and too many documents.

  • Why SPS barriers are hard to fight:

  • Everyone can see how much a tariff adds to the price.
  • An SPS rule is buried in lab limits and testing rules.

  • This makes it harder to measure and harder to challenge at the WTO.

  • What SPS measures cover: food safety (for example, pesticide residues in food), animal health (for example, livestock diseases) and plant health (for example, pests carried in plant products).

Rules under the WTO SPS Agreement

  • Science-based: every measure must rest on scientific evidence.
  • Risk assessment: the measure must be backed by a risk assessment. This is a study of how likely the harm is and how serious it would be.
  • International standards: measures should follow standards set by three bodies:
  • Codex Alimentarius: food safety.
  • OIE/WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health): animal health.

  • IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention): plant health.

  • Stricter standards: a country may set a stricter standard than these bodies only if it has a scientific reason.

Maximum residue limits: the most common SPS tool

  • A maximum residue limit (MRL) is the highest amount of a pesticide allowed in food.
  • How a strict MRL blocks trade:
  • The importing country sets a very low MRL.
  • The exporter's farming methods leave residues above that limit.

  • The consignment is rejected, even though no tariff has changed.

  • Why the same rule is seen in two ways:

  • The importing country calls it consumer protection.
  • The exporting farmer calls it a disguised NTB.
  • Under WTO rules, the test is whether the rule is backed by science and a risk assessment.

What makes SPS barriers rise or fall

  • Rise: stricter limits than the international standards, new residue checks, and weak testing capacity in the exporting country.
  • Fall: matching the international standards (harmonisation), better residue monitoring at home, and challenges at the WTO SPS Committee against rules that lack a scientific basis.

In India

  • Basmati rice: the EU sets very low MRLs for pesticides. Its limit for tricyclazole (a pesticide) hurt Indian basmati rice exports.
  • Spices (2024): in 2024, ethylene oxide found in Indian spices led to rejections.
  • The Indian view: Indian farmers see these limits as NTBs. The EU says they protect consumers.
  • Border checks in India: under SWIFT (Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade), an importer files one electronic form. It goes to customs and to other agencies, including FSSAI and plant quarantine, which carry out India's own food-safety and plant-health checks on imports.
  • The broader complaint: NCERT Class 11 notes that developing countries "still do not have the access to developed countries' markets because of high non-tariff barriers". Rich countries have cut tariffs, but SPS and TBT rules, subsidies and anti-dumping cases still block exports from poorer countries.

Don't confuse with

  • Technical barriers to trade (TBT): SPS covers only food safety and animal or plant health. TBT covers all other product rules, such as car safety, electrical standards and labelling. Its test is that rules must be non-discriminatory and no more trade-restrictive than necessary.
  • Quality control orders (QCOs): a QCO is an Indian order under the BIS Act 2016. It makes certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards compulsory for products such as toys (2021), footwear and steel. It is a general product standard, not an SPS measure.
  • Import quota / quantitative restrictions (QRs): these limit the quantity of imports directly, and GATT Art. XI generally bans them. SPS measures do not limit quantity. They block goods that fail health standards.
  • Tariff: a tariff is a visible tax on imports that the government collects as revenue. An SPS measure raises no revenue, and the cost of meeting it is hidden in testing and compliance.

Prelims Hooks

  • "Sanitary" means human and animal health. "Phytosanitary" means plant health.
  • The three standard-setting bodies under the SPS Agreement: Codex Alimentarius (food safety), OIE/WOAH (animal health), IPPC (plant health).
  • SPS measures must be science-based and backed by a risk assessment. A standard stricter than the international one is allowed only with scientific justification.
  • Trap: SPS covers only food safety and animal and plant health. Car safety, electrical standards and labels fall under TBT, not SPS.
  • MRL (maximum residue limit) is the highest amount of a pesticide allowed in food. The EU's MRL for tricyclazole hit Indian basmati rice.
  • 2024: ethylene oxide in Indian spices led to export rejections.

Mains Points

  • SPS as "new protectionism":
  • As tariffs fall, SPS rules such as EU pesticide limits and ethylene oxide checks on spices now restrict Indian farm exports.

  • Importers call these rules consumer protection. Exporters call them disguised NTBs. The WTO's line between the two is scientific evidence and risk assessment.

  • India's response:

  • At home: stronger testing labs, residue monitoring on farms and in the supply chain, and help for farmers and exporters to meet international standards such as Codex.

  • Abroad: challenge rules that lack a scientific basis at the WTO SPS Committee.

  • Developing-country angle (GS-II / GS-III):

  • Rich countries have cut tariffs, but SPS and TBT rules, together with subsidies and anti-dumping cases, still keep poorer countries out of their markets.
  • Meeting the standards is costly for small farmers. So India's gains from trade deals depend on building capacity to comply, not only on cutting tariffs.

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