. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/242
6 April 2001
(01-1774)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
EXPERIENCE WITH RECOGNITION OF EQUIVALENCE
Statement by Thailand at the Meeting of 14-15 March 2001
Current Equivalency Agreement1. To date, Thailand has one Recognition of Equivalence Audit, which was concluded with
Canada.  The agreement was between Thailand's Department of Fisheries (DOF) and the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), under their 1998 Equivalence Agreement on Fish Inspection and
Control Systems.  The agreement aimed at facilitating the trade of fishery products between the twocountries, through the reduced rate of inspection at port of entry for the processors on the approved
list and mutual auditing to ensure equivalency of inspection and control system.
2. To assure mutual understanding and benefits, a joint management committee was established
to discuss issues relating to the implementation of the agreement, and a technical committee to discuss
and recommend technical solutions to the JMC.
3. In determining equivalence of fish inspection and control systems, the responsible agencies
followed the draft guidelines recommended by the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export
Inspection and Certification Systems.  Close mana gement and technical consultation are maintained,
as well as the exchange and review of information between the two agencies.  So far, no problem has
been reported.
Future work4. Currently, DOF-Thailand is considering negotiation of equivalence agreements on fish
inspection and control systems with a number of countries, e.g. the United States, the European
Communities, South Africa, Brazil, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.  However, this is still at the
initial step as many processes are involved which require careful studies and consideration of the
following:
• Document review and comparison, which is time-consuming for both the document
preparation and review on both sides.
• Different cultures and structures of law, difficulties in identifying a single authority
for overall control of the system, especially where more than one regulatory body is
involved.
• Differences in policy, procedures and methods are often the case with different
inspection and control systems, while judgement of equivalency is still qualitative.  In
most cases it cannot be concluded that different procedures can produce the samelevel of protection.  This often results in compromise measures to deal with
differences or each party has to still meet another country's standard or use measures
as prescribed by the law of another contracting party.G/SPS/GEN/242
Page 2
• Judgement of equivalence of food control systems in different countries is a critical
issue.  It is evident that international guid elines are needed for systematic application.
Codex principles and guidelines associated with determination of equivalence will
facilitate this process.
• Product standards are still being used as the appropriate level of protection while
there does not always exist a standard for every hazard.  In addition, meeting
standards does not always guarantee safety.
Equivalence:  issues for the future
5. One of the most challenging areas in equivalence recognition is the assessment of equivalence
through audit of a contracting party.  The contracting party must be able to maintain the equivalence.
This is usually done by onsite review of the fish inspection and quality control systems of regulatory
agencies and review of industry control performance.  To date, there are no standard audit proceduresand guidelines for assessment of results.  Audit procedure is usually based on ISO 10011, and the
Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Certif ication and Inspection System has developed
guidelines for audit.  The success of an audit will depend on consultation on the purposes, objectives,
procedures and scope between the two parties, othe rwise this exercise will only serve to assure
compliance to the standard or procedures of a single party.
In preparation
6. Equivalence determination is considered by the Thai national SPS Committee to be of great
importance to trade facilitation for the country.  Realizing that a wholesome equivalence process
requires collective understanding and work of all agencies concerned, the Thai Committee has agreedto conduct a seminar on equivalence for interested agencies, hopefully with resource persons from
advanced economies who are willing to share thei r knowledge and experience with Thailand.  The
country has been in touch with the European Communities on the matter, but would also appreciate
assistance or recommendations from all Members.
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