13 January 2011: The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) has received EU150,000 from Germany to support the STDF’s efforts for capacity building and technical cooperation on international standards for food safety and animal and plant health.

The STDF is a joint initiative of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). The STDF assists countries in improving their expertise and capacity to analyze and implement international standards on food safety and animal and plant health. It acts as a vehicle for awareness raising on the importance of: sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues; coordination among technical cooperation providers; mobilizing funds; exchange of experience; and the dissemination of good practice in relation to the provision and receipt of SPS-related technical cooperation. [WTO Press Release] [STDF Website]