IPFSAPH Help: Information Type

Information in the portal is divided into four main types:

Formal texts: documents of an internationally-negotiated or legally-binding nature. These include standards, legislation/regulations or notifications;
Supporting materials: e.g. expert consultation reports, scientific evaluations and specifications;
Contacts: individuals or services officially designated by an authority to be the focal point for a specific subject; and
Institutions.

For example, the portal contains standards pertaining to different issues or commodities, legislation/regulations of particular countries, maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides or veterinary drugs applying to different traded commodities, etc.

This topic is best for:

viewing, or searching, international standards
finding legislation/regulations of specific countries, or relating to particular commodities
viewing maximum residue limits (MRLs) for particular compounds or commodities.
identifying scientific evaluations (assessments, evaluations) for particular commodities published by particular countries
finding contact points for particular countries or related to particular issues or commodities.

If you are interested in all types of information relating to a particular country, commodity or cross-sectoral issue, you should go to the Country, Commodity or Cross-Sectoral navigation page .

Formal texts

Formal texts are documents of an internationally-negotiated or legally-binding nature governing the setting and application of standards and legislations/regulations nationally and internationally. They include:

Agreements: Regional, bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements established between countries and/or organizations
Basic texts: Include constitutions, conventions, protocols and procedure rules that establish a binding governing framework for an institution
Decisions: The official position of a national or an international institution on an issue under consideration
Disputes: Request for consultation on a specific issue from one member of an international body to another
Guidelines: Tools to facilitate and guide certain actions and processes, usually outlining steps or tasks to follow (Source: FAOTERM, UNDP Programming Manual October 1999).
Legislation/Regulations: Legislation: All documents containing laws or related to the process of their enacting (Source: FAO legal department). Regulations: All texts stating instructions, specifications, limits, orders and rules that allow the execution of a law and that govern its procedure – encompasses “Technical regulation” - Document which lays down product characteristics or their related processes and production methods, including the applicable administrative provisions, with which compliance is mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marketing or labeling requirements as they apply to a product, process or production method” (definition of the TBT agreement, March 2002-OECD)
Maximum residue limits: the maximum concentration of a residue (normally expressed as mg/kg) that is recommended to be legally permitted or recognized as acceptable in or on food commodities and animal feeds. (Source: adapted from Codex procedural manual, 14^th edition

Notifications: All official documents by which notice is given (e.g. disease or pest reports, proposed changes to regulations, etc)
Official summaries: A synopsis of a legislation or other information, provided by the body which produced the complete version of the text.

Standard: A document - established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results - aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context (Source: ISPM, Pub. No. 5).
Trade Concern: Specific issues related to trade of food and agricultural products raised by a member nation and addressed by the WTO.

Supporting Materials

Supporting materials are other official documents that can be used in the process of decision making and have direct impact on trade (expert consultation reports, scientific evaluation and specifications) or that enhance the understanding of the functioning of a particular item (training materials) or facilitate its implementation (manuals). They include:

Communications: Non-legally binding information (such as questions and replies, statement of position, and recommendations) reported by a country (not by the secretariat) to be shared with other parties of that organization.

Manuals/ Training materials: Information intended to assist parties in understanding and implementing established standards, legislation, regulations, etc.
Official website: a website containing a variety of official information from a national government
Reports: A formal account of the proceedings or transactions of a group, including international standard setting body meetings, technical and expert consultations, etc.
Scientific Evaluations: The results of a process of scientifically evaluating and carefully judging an object, chemical, ingredient, etc. (e.g. residue evaluations, toxicological evaluations, risk assessments, etc)
Secretariat papers: Documents prepared by the secretariat of an organization or standard setting body such as event agendas, working documents for meetings, notes, work plans, and other official information prepared for the use of the member delegations.
Specifications: A detailed, exact statement of particulars (e.g. chemical composition, scope of a standard, etc)

Contacts

Contacts are an individual or a service officially designated by an authority to be the focal point for a specific subject. They include:

Biosafety national focal point: A person or position responsible for managing communication between the Secretariat of the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety and respective governments, and the public.
Codex Contact points: National bodies within institutions which act as the link between the Codex Secretariat and Member countries; coordinate all relevant Codex activities within their own countries, receive all Codex final texts (standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other advisory texts) and working documents of Codex sessions and ensure that they are circulated to those concerned within their own countries; send comments on Codex documents or proposals to the Codex Alimentarius Commission&; work in close cooperation with the national Codex committee, where such a committee has been established. The Codex Contact Point acts as the liaison point with the food industry, consumers, traders and all other concerned to ensure that the government is provided with an appropriate balance of policy and technical advice upon which to base decisions relating to issues raised in the context of the Codex work; act as a channel for the exchange of information and coordination of activities with other Codex Members&. (Source: CAC procedural manual, 14^th edition, p.101).
NPPO contact point: A representative from a National Plant Protection Organization designated by a country having ratified the International Plant Protection Convention for the exchange of information connected with the implementation of this Convention (Source: IPPC, revised text 1997).
OIE Contact point: Official delegate from a national veterinary service or other related institutions mandated to liaise with OIE
WTO SPS Enquiry Point: A person or position responsible for answering relevant questions in the SPS area. The notification authorities are responsible for ensuring that new or changed SPS measures are notified to the WTO (Source: WTO).
WTO TBT Enquiry Point: A person or position which is able to answer all reasonable enquiries from other Members and interested parties in other Members (Source: WTO).

Institutions

Collaborating centers: Centers of expertise in a specific designated sphere of competence relating to the management of general questions on (&) health issues (for example epidemiology, risk analysis, etc.). In their designated field of competence, they must provide their expertise internationally (Source: OIE).
Reference laboratories: Laboratories designated to pursue all the scientific and technical problems (&). The role of a Reference Laboratory is to function as a centre of expertise and standardisation of diagnostic techniques for its designated disease (OIE).
Regional organizations: Regionally-based cooperative body specialising in food safety, animal health or plant health issues