Canada commits CAD 500,000 to strengthen food safety and plant and animal health capacity

Canada is providing CAD 500,000 (approximately CHF 286,000) to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) to strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacity of public and private sector stakeholders in developing and least-developed countries. The contribution will support STDF activities that help countries meet international food safety and plant and animal health standards and facilitate safe trade, based on the STDF Strategy for 2025-2030.

Canada commits CAD 500,000 to strengthen food safety and plant and animal health capacity

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• Sanitary and phytosanitary measures
• Standards and Trade Development Facility
• Technical assistance
• #WTOsps
• #STDF

• Canada

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed Canada's continued support for the STDF:

"We thank Canada for its continued support for the STDF and its commitment to strengthening food safety and plant and animal health systems worldwide. By helping developing countries meet international standards, STDF projects facilitate safer trade and create new opportunities for producers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in regional and global markets. Canada's valued partnership helps sustain these efforts to make trade work better for people - safer and more inclusive."

Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, said:

"The Government of Canada will continue to support global efforts to help countries meet international food safety, animal and plant health standards to improve predictability and strengthen rules-based international trade for Canadian importers and exporters. This investment will help expand innovative projects, leading to better food security, reduced poverty, and more sustainable economic growth."

This funding, provided for Canada's 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years, will support STDF initiatives that strengthen developing countries ability to implement SPS measures aligned with the WTO SPS Agreement. These efforts help producers and traders in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean to meet international standards, supporting more transparent and predictable regulatory frameworks and integration into global markets.

This latest donation highlights Canada's sustained support for the STDF, bringing its total contributions to approximately CHF 8 million since 2005. Canada has contributed more than CHF 15 million to WTO trust funds over the past 22 years.

In addition to its financial support and active engagement in the STDF Working Group, Canada contributes to STDF knowledge initiatives. For instance, experts from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) shared their experiences on innovative operational, laboratory and regulatory practices during an STDF regional workshop on the use of digitalization and artificial intelligence to facilitate safe trade, co-organized with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture in Costa Rica in November 2025. Among the SPS innovations highlighted at this event was the IPPC ePhyto Solution, piloted through an STDF project, which is now being used by 100 countries to exchange phytosanitary certificates electronically, cutting the costs and time of trade.

The STDF is a global partnership that brings together organizations working on trade, agriculture and health to strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacity in developing countries and least developed countries. It was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), which hosts and manages the partnership.

Contributing to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), STDF activities promote safe and inclusive trade while supporting sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and resilience to climate change.

Since its creation, the STDF has funded more than 275 projects and project preparation grants benefiting developing economies and LDCs.

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