The Food Sector held a workshop about "WTO Agreements and Their Effect on Food Trade" in collaboration with the UNDP on Tuesday 5.2.2008 at the SFDA office in Riyadh. The workshop instructor, Dr. Mohsen Helal, addressed several WTO agreements with special focus on the Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS) and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

The SFDA interest in these particular agreements stems from its intension to familiarize local control specialists with international Food Trade issues. Since many products in Saudi Arabia come from several countries, the issue of importation was emphasized in this workshop. One of the issues discussed was the role of international standardization institutions such as Codex and OIE as reference bodies for conflicting trade partners.

Among the participants were representatives from many governmental agencies, including officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs, GCC, Customs Agency, Saudi Arabian Authority for Standards and Specifications, King Saud University.