Who Does Bear the Costs of Compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Poor Countries? Mehdi Shafaeddin

Drawing on the available evidence, this paper examines the cost of compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures for poor countries with reference to Africa. It shows that the burden of cost of compliance is entirely on the exporters despite the fact that their capacity for compliance is limited. More specifically, it is shown that the main characteristics of the SPS Agreement and the related measures applied by main importing countries are such that they require a complex, difficult and high cost “SPS” system.

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