. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/103
23 November 1998
(98-4674)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
ROQUEFORT CHEESE EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA
Statement by the European Communities
at the meeting of 11-12 November 1998
1. Until 1994, French cheeses made out of raw milk, and in particular Roquefort, could be
marketed in Australia on the condition that from their arrival on the Australian territory, they had been
stored during a 120-day period before being released for consumption.  Since 1994, the Australianauthorities have been requiring that imported cheeses be manufactured exclusively from pasteurised
milk.
2. In July 1997, the French authorities requested easing of this measure, considering that respect
of good hygienic practices provided guarantees equivalent to those sought by means of the
implementation of the measure.  The Australian  and New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) later
asked for precise details of the manufacturing processes used in order to carry out a risk assessment.
3. A first series of questions was therefore addr essed to the Federation of Roquefort Producers
on 30 October 1997, which answered through the French Embassy on 12 December 1997.  On
16 June 1998, a new series of questions was addressed to the same Federation.  Questions covered
new micro-organisms of which there had been no mention in the first request.  The answer, supported
by scientific studies undertaken by the Institute Pasteur of Lille, was then sent to the ANZFA on
10  August 1998.  Lastly, on 7 September 1998, the ANZFA asked for new information and requesteda translation of the studies of the Pasteur Institute.
4. The French authorities question whether the Australian measures are in conformity with the
SPS Agreement.  In particular France wishes to address to the Australian authorities the following
questions:
(a) Does the Australian legislation lay down microbiological standards for cheeses, and if
so, what are these standards?
(b) What is the basic legislation providing for the import ban of Roquefort?  Was this
legislation and any later modifications notified to the WTO?
(c) Does an international standard exist on which the Australian measures would be
based?  If so,  could Australia indicate which?  If not, what is the scientificjustification for the measures?
(d) Is the interruption of the trade flow in place since 1994 justified by the results of a
risk assessment, as foreseen by Article 5.1 of the SPS Agreement?  If so, is this
assessment available?G/SPS/GEN/103
Page 2
(e) Is the measure applied without discrimination to all products marketed in Australia or
only to imported products?
(f) Is the procedure for requests for exemption from the prohibition rule clearly defined?
(g) Have the official authorities issued guidelines for the assessors to carry out risk
assessment?  In practice, which micro-organisms must be considered and how areparameters such as pH, aW, salt content, period of ageing and temperature of storage,
among others, taken into account in this assessment?
(h) Which dairy products prepared from raw milk have already obtained an exemption
from the prohibition rule?  Were these ex emptions notified to the SPS Secretariat?
Are the risk assessments which led to these exemptions available?
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