摘要：The impact of food-safety standards on world trade, and the role of the Sanitary and
Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement and the related dispute settlement mechanism of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) in averting trade-impeding effects of these
standards are at the forefront of the current debate on reforming world trade rules.
These issues are of particular importance for agricultural-resource rich developing
countries as they seek to expand exports of processed food, a product category with
immense potential for market penetration in the lucrative developed country markets.
Export success of a country in this product area depends crucially on its ability to
meet international food-safety standards and to participate effectively in the WTO
dispute settlement mechanism in the events of related trade disputes. Many
development countries face severe constraints in absorbing best-practice information
and mobilising resources for meeting these requirements.
