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How do you ensure that your country's consumers are being supplied with food that is safe to eat? At the same time how can you ensure that health and safety regulations are not being used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers?
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) ensure that food is safe for consumers and prevent the spread of pests and disease among plants and animals. Measures can also aim to keep out unwanted organisms dangerous to people and plant life - these include snakes, exotic animals and insects. There are many ways in which organisms can be accidentally admitted to New Zealand. They might be hiding in, or have laid eggs in seafreight, come attached to the bottom of ships, on people's footwear or in food items brought in by travellers. Once established foreign pests can be very difficult and expensive to get rid of.
A World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures sets out the basic rules for member countries.
The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) sets out basic rules for food safety and animal and plant health standards. It allows countries to set their own standards. But it also says regulations must be based on science.
SPS measures should be applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health. They should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.
New Zealand depends on the import and export of animal and plant produce for its prosperity. Fair and consistent rules for international trade help New Zealand as well as our trading partners. Countries require assurances of the safety of our exports and vice versa.
The New Zealand Government has to manage the risks that imported goods can pose to the safety of our food and our plants and animals. Trade and safety objectives are often seen as conflicting but in reality they are inextricably linked.
The SPS agreement recognises that link. It sets in place rules that protect each country's sovereign right to take the measures necessary to protect the health of their people, animals and plants, while at the same time facilitating trade.
New Zealand, as a member of the WTO, has the sovereign right to decide on its own level of protection if there is scientific justification for doing so or the appropriate level of protection is in accordance with the rest of the SPS agreement.
The SPS agreement is relevant to:
All countries maintain sanitary and phytosanitary measures to ensure that food is safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of pests or diseases among animals and plants. These SPS measures can take many forms such as requiring products to come from a disease-free area, inspection of products, specific treatment or processing of products, setting of allowable maximum levels of pesticide residues or permitted use of only certain additives in food. SPS measures apply to domestically produced food or local animal and plant diseases, as well as to products coming from other countries.
Any SPS measure must:
From the risks identified in an assessment for a particular product, a country then determines the measures necessary to achieve the level of protection it requires.
For example, the consequences of foot and mouth disease are so serious for New Zealand that we require a high level of protection. Exporting members must choose sanitary measures that will deliver the appropriate level of protection and have the least negative effect on trade.
For more information on how the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement helps protect New Zealand's people, economy and environment while improving trade opportunities go to Balance in Trade PDF (1470 KB), a joint Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade publication.
