1. The Chairman informed Members that on 25 July 2001, he had received a request by the Chairman of the General Council that the SPS Committee provide concrete recommendations to the General Council regarding the issue of the implementation of Article 4 by 30 September 2001 at the latest. The purpose of the special meeting was therefore to agree on these concrete recommendations, which would then be submitted to the General Council for endorsement and any further action if necessary.
2. He recalled that at its meeting of June 2000, the Committee had decided to begin to examine Article 4 on equivalence, as part of its consideration of concerns raised by developing countries. In October 2000, the General Council requested the SPS Committee "to examine the concerns of developing countries regarding the equivalence of SPS measures and to come up with concrete options as to how to deal with them". The SPS Committee examined the issue of equivalence at informal and formal meetings in November 2000, March and July 2001. Following each meeting of the Committee, the Chairman had submitted a report to the General Council.