Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Trade Project – Package T1: Project Management and Implementation

The project acts as a conduit to both export facilitation and safety in national supply chains, and aims to widen economic value addition in the country by strengthening institutions and operational and management capacities in the area of SPS measures in Cambodia and enhance capacities needed for operating cost-effective SPS systems that facilitate trade and protect plant, animal and human health. It’s intended impact is to facilitate that AFF products produced in the country become (i) safer; (ii) more efficiently produced; and (iii) traded in greater quantities in the region and beyond.

The envisaged outcome of the Project is an enhanced SPS management system in Cambodia.

To ensure this, four project outputs have been defined. These comprise:

  1. strengthened surveillance and inspection programs, (for plant health, animal health, and food safety including safer food handling in the tourist industry);
  2. improved regional cooperation and harmonization in SPS management in AFF trade;
  3. enhanced education levels and university training of SPS specialists; and
  4. effective project management and monitoring.

The project addresses SPS issues such as: (i) undertake surveys on crop pests and diseases; (ii) manage inspections and interceptions of imported goods; (iii) monitor the agricultural pesticide trade; (iv) understand the risks of the spread of forest pests associated with wood products trade; (v) contain trans-boundary animal diseases; (vi) improve surveillance of veterinary drugs, biotics and feed; (vii) maintain the safety of animal food products; and (viii) improve border release procedures.