A Study On The Precautionary Principle In The SPS Agreement

The precautionary principle first appeared in the legal document of environmental protection, it’s a great significance of human health and environmental protection. In the following years, it has been adopted by more and more treaties and legal documents. With environment and trade relations becoming closer, the precautionary principle have slowly penetrated in the field of international trade, and became an important principle of trade development.Implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) is the world’s first multilateral international conventions to adjust the system of animal and plant quarantine. With the development of international trade, many countries take animal and plant quarantine system strictly, the impact of SPS Agreement in the international trade is also growing.The Precautionary principle embodied in the SPS Agreement, at Article5, paragraph7, it’s consistent of the purpose of WTO for protecting the human health, environment, animal and plant life.Even scientific evidence is not sufficient, it’s allow to adopt provisionally measures to restrict imports. The SPS Agreement is mainly related to food safety, animal health and plant health in three areas, with the increasing focus on human health and environmental protection, the precautionary principle in the SPS Agreement for the protection of human health and safety in international trade has practical significance.At present, there is a dispute whether the precautionary principle can be used as a customary international law or legal principle applied in the process of international trade. According to analyzing the cases of the SPS Agreement in the WTO panel and the appeal body, you can see the the importance and possibility of being a general or customary principles of international law. The legal character of the precautionary principle has not formed a conclusion, the application of the precautionary principle, there are still many problems. This paper will discuss these issues of three parts:first, state the provisions of the precautionary principle in the SPS Agreement; and then analyze the status and application of the precautionary principle and draw my own views. Finally, to analyze the good results what our country should learn from the development of the precautionary principle in the SPS Agreement. More comprehensive point of the precautionary principle in the SPS Agreement will help our country to obtain equal treatment in international trade, and protect health and safety well.