Evaluating Equivalence Eligibility
Published on February 11, 2002

Food and Safety Inspection Service Process for Evaluating the Equivalence of Foreign Meat and Poultry Food Regulatory Systems

Foreign countries that export meat, poultry, and egg products are required to establish and maintain inspection systems that are equivalent to those of the Importer. Deming equivalency, allows the Importer to more effectively verify the safety of a foreign country's meat and poultry inspection system, which enhances the level of protection for consumers. After a country is determined to have an equivalent food regulatory system, Importer relies on Exporter to carry out daily inspections. Foreign establishments desiring to export to the United States must apply to their own national inspection authority, and that country's chief inspection official must certify to the Importer a list of all establishments that meet the import requirements.

Determinations of Initial Equivalence ("Eligibility")

Document Review

The document review is an evaluation of the country's laws, regulations, and other written information, focusing on five risk areas: sanitation controls, animal disease controls, slaughter and processing controls, residue controls, and enforcement controls. Specifically, the United States looks for regulations equivalent to the United States Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the United States Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA).

Onsite Audit

If the document review process shows the country's system to be equivalent, a technical team will visit the country to evaluate the five risk areas as well as other aspects of the inspection system including plant facilities and equipment, laboratories, training programs, and in-plant inspection operations. These on-site audits are used to verify that countries have implemented inspection programs properly, and if not, resolve differences and clarify requirements.

Public Feedback

After extensive document analysis and an onsite system audit, FSIS notifies the public of an impending equivalence determination and allows time for comment. Following the public hearing, an Exporting nation is either deemed eligible or not eligible.

Determinations of Whether Equivalence is being Maintained by Countries that are Currently Eligible

The Importer is obligated to conduct system audits at least annually in all exporting countries and share the results quarterly with public stakeholders. The first part of the annual audit is a document analysis where in the fundamental laws, regulations and implementing policies of an exporting country's food regulatory system are reviewed in parallel with the Importers issuances to ensure that an appropriate legal and regulatory structure remains in place. The second part of the review is an on-site food regulatory system audit. The purpose of a system audit is to evaluate the foreign inspection program, not to inspect individual foreign establishments.

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