CAC/GL 53-2003 Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems
SECTION 1 – PREAMBLE
1. It is often the case that importing and exporting countries operate different food inspection and certification systems. The reasons for such differences include differences in prevalence of particular food safety hazards, national choice about management of food safety risks and differences in the historical development of food control systems.
2. In such circumstances, and in order to facilitate trade while protecting the health of consumers, an exporting and an importing country may work together to consider the effectiveness of sanitary measures of the exporting country in achieving the appropriate level of sanitary protection of the importing country, consistent with the principle of equivalence as provided for in the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO SPS Agreement).2
3. Application of the principle of equivalence has mutual benefits for both exporting and importing countries. While protecting the health of consumers, it serves to facilitate trade, and minimize the costs of regulation to governments, industry, producers, and consumers by allowing the exporting country to employ the most convenient means in its circumstances to achieve the appropriate level of protection of the importing country.3
4. Importing countries should avoid the application of unnecessary measures when they have already been carried out by the exporting country. Importing countries may be able to reduce the frequency and extent of verification measures following a judgment of equivalence of measures applied in the exporting country.
