Introduction: Equivalence - an overview
Published on February 4, 2002

Definitions

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS): Affirms the right of each government to choose its own levels of protection, including a 'zero risk' level if so desired. A government may establish its levels of protection by any means available under its law, including by referendum. In the end, the choice of the appropriate level of protection is a societal value judgment. [Administrative Action Statement accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act]

Equivalence: The relationship between three interlinking components: sanitary measures, appropriate levels of protection, and food safety objectives, which cumulatively provide sufficient data to evaluate the food safety objectives of different food regulatory systems, parts of systems or individual sanitary measures.

Food Safety Objective (FSO): A specific goal met by a sanitary measure. A tool used to attain and prove equivalence with an importing country's level of protection.

Appropriate level of protection: The degree of safety enforced by a sanitary or phytosanitary measure, deemed suitable by an importer, required to protect human, animal or plant life or health within its territory. NOTE: Many members otherwise refer to this concept as the "acceptable level of risk".

Disguised restriction on international trade: An importing country cannot ban a substance if there is no scientific evidence that the substance qualifies as a hazard to human health.

Equivalence Overview

It would be impossible to inspect every single piece of steak or chicken to ensure it was safe. Good hygienic practice must be followed throughout the production process, just as a chef works in a hygienic way throughout his task, without solely relying on cooking to ensure food is safe to consume. Therefore, a holistic approach to food safety, paying attention to the whole process of food production, is necessary to ensure food safety on both a national and international level. This out to include animal nutrition and veterinary drugs, through to slaughter and further product processing.

Under the SPS Agreement, every country has the right to set its own appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary food safety protection. Different nations' levels of food safety vary greatly. The United States has the oldest legislation on food safety and hygiene. The European Union (E.U.)'s sanitary standards, today, are modeled on those of the United States. They were applied in Europe at the request of U.S. inspectors some 20 years ago. Apart from retaining the right to set national food safety standards, countries also retain the right to regulate food safety standards on imports.

An importing country has the right to decide whether a food regulatory system employed by an exporting country is equivalent to its own or whether or not it is adequate to achieve the importing country's appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection. Foreign countries that export meat, poultry and egg products to the United States, the E.U. and other developed economies are required to establish and maintain inspection systems that are equivalent to those in the importing nation.

Determining whether inspection systems are up to scratch is not simply a process of comparing end-product specifications. Rather, it is the holistic assessment of overall production hygiene and an evaluation of the exporter's ability to deliver an effective inspection system. This requires an assessment of the legislative, executive and judicial systems within which a nation adheres to in order to regulate and ensure food safety standards are met and enforced.

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