Treatment of SPS Technical Co-Operation under ASEAN’s RTAs: Toward an Empowerment of Human Dignity?

Abstract

This article aims to review technical co-operation provisions related to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) matters in the ASEAN Member States’ regional trade agreements (RTAs). Such provisions could be used not only to deepen commitments under the World Trade Organization, but also promote capacity building and accelerate the granting of SPS technical assistance at national and regional levels, especially when their scope of application gives sufficient room for implementation and enables close collaboration between ASEAN and other actors such as the international standard-setting bodies. From the ‘policy-oriented jurisprudence’ perspective, the article sheds some light on understated potentials of such provisions to promote human dignity. Based on an empirical analysis, it also highlights different features of the provisions likely to ensure that SPS decision-making processes yield appropriate results, pursuing both ‘special interests’ of ASEAN such as the enhancement of policy quality and credibility and ‘common interests’ of the international community in the agri-food trade field.