STDF grants: up to US$1M for SPS standards in trade

The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) has opened applications for grants of up to US$1,000,000. This money supports projects that help developing countries strengthen food safety, animal and plant health, and compliance with international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements. The deadline is 1 August 2026. Because Ukraine sits on the OECD DAC list, Ukrainian organizations can apply.

What STDF funds

STDF is a global partnership housed at the World Trade Organization. It funds projects that strengthen the SPS systems of developing countries.

Grants target concrete SPS challenges that affect market access, both regional and international. So a project might strengthen control systems, food safety standards, laboratory capacity, traceability, or coordination between the public and private sectors.

STDF covers three areas: food safety, animal health, and plant health. In practice, every project has to show which trade barrier it removes, whether that means access to a new market, compliance with an importer’s rules, or fewer consignments rejected at the border.

Two grant types: preparation and implementation

STDF runs two instruments, and they work at different stages.

A Project Preparation Grant (PPG) gives up to US$50,000 to prepare a project. With this money, an organization runs an SPS capacity assessment, prepares a feasibility study, or writes a full project proposal. After that, a project prepared through a PPG can receive funding from STDF or from another donor.

A Project Grant (PG) gives up to US$1,000,000 for implementation. This is the main instrument for putting solutions in place: stronger control systems, equipped laboratories, traceability, and staff training.

So if a team has no ready concept yet, the PPG is the logical entry point. It is smaller, because it covers the hardest part first: turning an idea into a technically sound project.

Who can apply and whether Ukraine fits

The first condition concerns the beneficiary country. It must appear on the OECD DAC list of official development assistance recipients. Because Ukraine sits on that list as a lower-middle-income country, the requirement is met.

Many types of structure can apply: public institutions, private sector organizations, industry associations, farmer groups, non-profits, and others working on SPS topics. STDF also asks for letters of support from relevant ministries, industry associations, and private enterprises, so a proposal has to rest on real public-private cooperation.

In practice, the focus is narrow. A project has to solve an SPS problem linked to trade. Therefore agri-food producers, veterinary and phytosanitary services, laboratories, and export associations are the typical candidates. If an organization does not work on food safety or animal and plant health, its chances of fitting are slim.

Deadline, own contribution, and how to apply

The deadline is 1 August 2026. STDF will consider proposals in November 2026, so roughly three months pass between submission and a decision.

Every beneficiary makes an own contribution. It can be financial or in-kind: staff time, use of premises, vehicles, or other existing assets. The exact size depends on criteria set out in the application form.

Applications go through an online form. First, an organization downloads the PG application form (in Word). After that, it uploads the completed form, letters of support, the project budget (in Excel), and any extra documents. The forms and the online submission live on the official STDF page: standardsfacility.org/project/apply.

One practical tip: start with the letters of support. Because collecting them from ministries and associations often takes longer than writing the project itself, and without them the application stays incomplete.