Cover -- Contents -- Tables, Figures, and Boxes -- Foreword -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- I. Introduction -- II. Overview of SPS Measures in the CAREC Region -- A. Overall Context -- B. International Standard-Setting Bodies -- C. Current Country-Level SPS Legal Frameworks in the CAREC Region in Relation to the SPS Agreement -- D. How Border Controls Delay the Transport of Perishable Goods -- E. Competent Authority, Unified Inspection Agencies, and Integrated (Coordinated) Border Management -- F. Risk Assessment and Risk Management -- III. SPS-Related Issues in the CAREC Countries -- A. Technical Standards, Technical Regulations, SPS Measures, and the GOST System -- B. Slow Pace of Legal Reform and Poor Governance -- C. Single Window, Integrated Border Management -- D. Indistinct Competent Authority -- Duplication and Overlap of Functions -- E. Controls Not Based on Risk -- F. Poor Laboratory Capacity -- Training Requirements -- G. Information Exchange and Transparency -- H. Equivalence, Mutual Recognition, and Bilateral Agreements -- I. Plant Health Issues -- J. Halal and "Natural Products" -- IV. Possible Modalities of Regional Cooperation in SPS -- A. CAREC SPS Working Group -- B. The Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Community -- C. Sectoral Approaches -- V. Conclusions and Recommendations -- A. Border Controls and SPS Measures -- B. Risk Assessment -- C. Harmonization of SPS Risk Analysis with Customs Approaches to Risk Management -- D. Laboratory Capacity and Staff Training Requirements -- E. Private Sector Involvement and Interest in SPS -- F. SPS Plans for the Greater Mekong Subregion and the CAREC Program -- G. SPS Best Practices in the CAREC Countries -- VI. Next Steps -- A. Proposed Key Priorities and Actions -- B. Possible Roles for ADB -- Appendixes -- 1 Documentary Sources on SPS Relevant to CAREC.

2 Country-Level Assessments of SPS Capacity -- 3 Legislation Relevant to SPS in the CAREC Countries -- 4 Draft Terms of Reference for the CAREC SPS Working Group -- 5 Quarantine Pests for Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic -- 6 Program of the CAREC SPS Workshop, Bangkok, 25-26 July 2012 -- 7 Minutes of the CAREC SPS Workshop, Bangkok, 25-26 July 2012 -- Tables -- 1 Probable Hazard Matrix for Animal Diseases and Zoonosis in the CAREC Countries -- 2 ADB-Supported SPS Initiatives in the GMS and the CAREC Region -- 3 Proposed Key Priorities for SPS in the CAREC Region -- A2.1 Departmental Structure of the General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) -- A2.2 Summary of SPS Status in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan -- Figures -- 1 Animal Health Risk Profiles in the CAREC Region -- 2 Comparative Pest Hazards for Imports into and Exports from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic -- A2.1 SPS Border Operations in Mongolia -- A2.2 SPS Border Operations in Kazakhstan (Imports) -- A2.3 SPS Border Operations in the Kyrgyz Republic -- A2.4a SPS Border Operations in Uzbekistan (Imports) -- A2.4b SPS Border Operations in Uzbekistan (Exports) -- Boxes -- Border Controls in Kazakhstan: Case Studies -- Abstract of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China.