Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in the context of "Pesticides"

The Marrakesh Agreement, manifested by the Marrakesh Declaration, was an agreement signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, marking the culmination of the 8-year-long Uruguay Round and establishing the World Trade Organization, which officially came into being on 1 January 1995.

The agreement developed out of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), supplemented by a number of other agreements on issues including trade in services, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade-related aspects of intellectual property and technical barriers to trade. It also established a new, more efficient and legally binding means of dispute resolution. The various agreements which make up the Marrakesh Agreement combine as an indivisible whole; no entity can be party to any one agreement without being party to them all.

Phytosanitary certification verifies phytosanitary worthiness (plant health). These certificates are used to attest that consignments meet phytosanitary import requirements and are undertaken by a National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO). Under the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and ISPM, a certificate for export or for re-export can be issued only by a public officer who is technically qualified and duly authorized by an NPPO.

A phytosanitary certificate for export is usually issued by the NPPO of the country where the plants, plant products, or regulated articles were grown or processed. Phytosanitary certificates are issued to indicate that consignments of plants, plant products or other regulated articles meet specified phytosanitary import requirements and are in conformity with the certifying statement of the appropriate model certificate. Phytosanitary certificates should only be issued for this purpose.

International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15) is an International Phytosanitary Measure developed by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) that directly addresses the need to treat wood materials of a thickness greater than 6mm, used to ship products between countries. Its main purpose is to prevent the international transport and spread of disease and insects that could negatively affect plants or ecosystems. ISPM 15 affects all wood packaging material (pallets, crates, dunnage, etc.) and requires that they be debarked and then heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide, and stamped or branded with a mark of compliance. This mark of compliance is colloquially known as the "wheat stamp". Products exempt from the ISPM 15 are made from an alternative material, like paper, plastic or wood panel products (i.e. OSB, hardboard, and plywood).