eu phytosanitary measures on citrus black spot in june 2013 south africa raised concerns regarding the eu restrictive import measures on south african citrus exports infested with citrus black spot. this issue had been on-going since 1992. during the july 1997 sps committee meeting south africa had circulated a statement g sps gen 26 in regard to the eu notifications of modifications of phytosanitary measures on citrus black spot g sps n eec 46 and g sps n eec 47 . at that time south africa contended that the eu measures were not scientifically justified and lacked a technical basis as infested fruit did not pose a significant pest risk. unfortunately the issue remained unresolved. the eu measures not only lacked scientific basis but had also had an excessively negative effect on trade and as such were in contravention of the sps agreement. as previously noted in the sps committee this issue had been raised in the context of the ippc dispute settlement procedure and bilateral talks were set to continue on this matter. south africa was still waiting for the results of an eu pest-risk analysis regarding guignardia citicarpa that was supposed to have been completed in 2011. south africa urged the european union to finish its pest risk analysis and to implement measures that had a scientific basis. argentina supported south africas position as it was also a large exporter of citrus to the european union. argentina urged the european union to complete its risk analysis swiftly and to put in place measures that were scientifically-based and not unduly restrictive of trade. the european union confirmed that this matter was the subject of the ippcs first dispute settlement procedure and noted that its territory was free from citrus black spot hence the restrictions in place reflected the eu desire to maintain this freedom. detections of citrus black spot on south african fruit sent to the european union had been on the rise therefore the european union decided that after a certain number of interceptions action may be taken. the european union assured south africa of close cooperation before any such decision was made. the european union underlined that the european food safety authority was assessing whether citrus fruit itself could transmit citrus black spot disease. the draft pest-risk analysis should be available in july 2013 and would be open to public consultation. the european union hoped that the discussions both bilaterally and at the ippc and the expected forthcoming scientific information would result in a solution that was agreeable to all involved. in march 2014 south africa reiterated its concerns over the restrictive requirements regarding citrus fruit imports by the european union. in december 2013 the european union published an emergency measure on further restrictions to prevent the introduction of the citrus black spot pathogen into eu territory. the pest risk analysis of the european food safety authority efsa on citrus black spot was made available in february 2014. south africa reviewed its risk management practices related to citrus black spot on an annual basis and significant improvements had been made as documented to the european union. south africa maintained that the eu measures were more stringent than technically justified and disproportionate in light of the area of the european union that could possibly be endangered by citrus black spot. the european union confirmed that efsa carried out a pest risk analysis on citrus black spot in february 2014. as part of the process a public consultation with scientific experts was held and all the resulting comments were made public. efsas assessment confirmed that citrus black spot presented a high risk to the european union as environmental conditions in some parts of the european union were favourable for the introduction establishment and spread of the disease via the import of citrus fruit. it was also underlined that while eu prevention measures were sufficient they shoul