restrictions on imports of potatoes onions fertilised eggs day-old chicks and meat products in march 2002 colombia observed that the bolivarian republic of venezuela was not granting sanitary certificates for potatoes fresh mushrooms fresh tomatoes fertile eggs day-old chicks and meat products and requested that the bolivarian republic of venezuela notify the measure which served as the basis for the discretionary granting or non-issuance of health certificates for colombian exports or to lift this measure. chile the united states and canada supported the concerns expressed by colombia. the bolivarian republic of venezuela provided details of import levels for potatoes mushrooms and fresh tomatoes in 2001 which showed that import licenses were being granted. the bolivarian republic of venezuela had temporarily suspended sps licensing for fertile eggs and day-old chicks as a result of an outbreak of avian flu in colombia a disease alien to the bolivarian republic of venezuela from january 2002. on 8 february 2002 the prohibition on fertile eggs was removed. notification of the lifting of restrictions against day-old chicks was made on 7 march 2002. for meat products the bolivarian republic of venezuela noted that her country regularly imported beef on the hoof slaughtered and processed beef and swine products. in reply to the comments of other members she stated that it was important not to confuse problems of administrative capacity and management with discretionary licensing. in june 2004 canada recalled that it had raised concerns over the bolivarian republic of venezuelas issuance of sps-related permits in previous sps committee and agriculture committee meetings. the bolivarian republic of venezuelas policies had restricted canadian exports of meat seed potatoes table potatoes and onions. the bolivarian republic of venezuela had not provided a clear explanation of this policy however it appeared that the permits in question were sps-related. importers would apply to venezuelan authorities for permits and provide sps information to support their application but applications had been denied without an sps-related justification. canada requested that the bolivarian republic of venezuela grant permits on an automatic basis as long as the conditions of the sps agreement had been met. the bolivarian republic of venezuela and canada had agreed to continue to pursue this issue bilaterally. chile and the united states requested that the bolivarian republic of venezuela review its import procedures in order to comply with obligations under the sps agreement. the united states noted that for products not subject to tariff rate quotas trqs the bolivarian republic of venezuela seemed to be using sps permits in a manner equivalent to import licences. the bolivarian republic of venezuela stated that canadian import requests were normally given a positive reply. the comments from canada chile and the united states would be considered carefully. the bolivarian republic of venezuela would contact the canadian authorities to clarify the situation concerning import requests of meat. in march 2005 canada reiterated its long-standing concerns about discretionary import licensing being used by the sanitary and phytosanitary authorities of the bolivarian republic of venezuela to restrict imports of potatoes onions and pork from canada. there had recently been two substantive meetings with senior delegations from caracas and canada hoped this issue would soon be resolved. the united states shared canadas concerns regarding the bolivarian republic of venezuelas restrictive import licensing and sps permit regimes. the united states was specifically concerned about 1 the bolivarian republic of venezuelas use of sps permits to enforce quotas based on economic rather than scientific justifications 2 the lack of transparency and the apparent inconsistency of the import permit license approval process which resulted in significant delays in the issuance of some permits a