SWITZERLAND / IRELAND – Ireland is contributing EUR 200,000 (approximately CHF 190,000) to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) to support its ongoing efforts to enhance global food safety and agriculture trade. This donation will help advance STDF projects and programmes to improve access to global and regional markets for developing economies and least-developed countries (LDCs).
Thanking Ireland for its generosity, WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said:
“Small-scale farmers and producers in developing and least-developed countries often face significant hurdles in accessing global food markets, particularly in meeting sanitary and phytosanitary standards. Through the work of the STDF, made possible by contributions like Ireland’s, these challenges are being overcome, helping people in developing countries raise their incomes through trade while enhancing global food safety and security.”
Ireland’s minister of state with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora, Sean Fleming, TD, said:
“This donation underscores Ireland’s long-standing commitment to the Standards and Trade Development Facility’s mission, bringing its total contributions to over €2.9 million (CHF 2.8 million) since 2007. Ireland is proud to support the important work of STDF in building safe, sustainable and inclusive global trade.”
The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate safe and inclusive trade established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank Group, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the WTO.
The STDF responds to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade and contributes to sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty reduction, in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Developing economies and LDCs are encouraged to apply to the STDF for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) project and project preparation grants. Information on how to apply is available here.
To date, the STDF has funded over 250 projects benefiting LDCs and other developing economies.
