On the 30 November 2012, in the meeting room of the Department of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, a discussion took place among the Ministry of Science and Technology (Dept of Standards and Metrology), the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (Dept of Foreign Trade Policy), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Dept of Planning), and LUNA Lao. The meeting discussed the lessons learned from the last Vietnam study visit 11-17 Nov 2012 and also discussed the implementation of the SPS and TBT transparency requirements of Lao PDR which aim to be fully operational by the time of WTO full membership of Lao PDR in early next year. The meeting recognized certain contraints that need to be urgently addressed which include: the understanding and support from all management levels in each sector, the lack of personnel, the need to build capacity for responsible staff, in particular, the understanding of the SPS and TBT agreements, and other necessary factors.

The meeting had also discussed how to oganize management level meetings for discussing the overall SPS and TBT work which is relevant to obligations under WTO accession of Lao PDR.

During the discussion, LUNA Lao had also promissed to provide necessary financial support for relevant dissemination activities and necessary publications. 

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