The Center for Educational Technologies at Texas A&M University is proud to announce the release of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) Toolkit—a powerful, web-based resource designed to support countries in strengthening their regulatory frameworks for food safety, animal health, and plant health.
Developed in collaboration with international partners and informed by in-country pilot testing in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia, the SPS GRP Toolkit is a practical response to a common challenge: how to assess and improve the development, review, and implementation of SPS measures using internationally recognized good regulatory practices.
What Is the SPS GRP Toolkit?
The SPS GRP Toolkit is an interactive, user-friendly platform that guides regulatory authorities through a structured self-assessment process. It helps users:
- Identify existing SPS measures and describe their development or implementation processes.
- Evaluate these processes against key GRPs such as transparency, stakeholder engagement, regulatory impact assessments, and coordination mechanisms.
- Identify gaps and areas for improvement.
- Generate customized reports with recommendations and timelines for action.
The tool complements the Good Regulatory Practices to Improve SPS Measures: A Practical Guide published by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), ensuring alignment with global best practices.
Key Features
- Based Assessment: The Toolkit walks users through multiple phases—from identifying the SPS measure to evaluating its effectiveness, ensuring a comprehensive review.
- GRP Integration: Each process step is assessed against relevant GRPs, with users rating whether practices are fully, partially, or not addressed.
- Justification and Recommendations: Users provide justifications for their assessments and receive tailored recommendations for improvement.
- Data-Driven Reports: Upon completion, the Toolkit generates a summary report that can be used for internal planning or shared with stakeholders.
Real-World Impact
The toolkit has been piloted in several countries where it helped identify critical gaps in regulatory systems. For example, it revealed areas where stakeholder input was not being fully considered or where coordination between agencies was lacking. These insights have led to actionable reforms and capacity-building initiatives.
Looking Ahead
The SPS GRP Toolkit is available online at: spsgrptoolkit.com and is optimized for Chrome on PC and Firefox on Mac. As the United States diversifies trade relationships, ensuring that SPS measures are transparent, science-based, and aligned with international standards is more important than ever. The SPS GRP Toolkit offers a practical solution for countries seeking to build stronger, more effective regulatory systems—and ultimately, safer trade.
“The SPS GRP Toolkit was developed to help countries identify practical ways to strengthen their regulatory systems using internationally recognized good regulatory practices. By supporting transparent, science-based decision-making, the Toolkit empowers stakeholders to improve food safety, animal and plant health, and ultimately build trust in global trade.”
— Dr. Nicola Ritter, Principal Investigator, SPS GRP Toolkit Project
The development and pilot testing of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) Toolkit was funded through a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS).
For more information or support using the toolkit, contact Dr. Nicola Ritter at nicolaritter@tamu.edu.
The Center for Educational Technologies (CET) specializes in developing education programs, trainings, and outreach activities that complement technical experts’ research activities. Many external sponsors request that researchers’ scientific findings be disseminated through education and outreach programs. This is where the CET’s faculty can step in. By partnering with the CET, researchers can focus on their technical expertise, while CET faculty translates their research into training programs and disseminates findings to the general public. The CET offers online hosting services for websites and virtual learning. The CET has a state-of-the-art video production studio on campus, video equipment to film on-location, and equipment to film on-the-go, such as with GoPros. The CET has worked with industry, academic, and government research partners on both public and private grants. Explore our current and past collaborations at: tx.ag/getfunded.