ABSTRACT
The Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures was negotiated within the shadow of the Agreement on Agriculture. But it was not a new topic on the trade agenda as the League of Nations had been interested in the relations between science and embargos. During the Uruguay Round, when the tariffication of non-tariff barriers was negotiated, attention concentrated on health protection measures that the member states adopted, which were in fact protectionist barriers. Countries had particularly wanted to negotiate these measures since historically, Article XX: B of the GATT, which authorized countries to take the necessary measures to protect the health and life of persons and animals or for the protection of plant life, was vague and needed clarification. The contracting parties could have recourse to the existing multilateral agreement on technical obstructions to trade negotiated during the Tokyo Round, in order to cover certain of their preoccupations about health. But this agreement had a very wide field of application.
