Mutual recognition of veterinary testing and inspection results to facilitate international trade

Abstract

For a country to have confidence in the health status of the animals or animal goods it is importing, it must also have confidence in the performance of the exporting country's Veterinary Service. An exporting country's Veterinary Service may be judged by its management of the health status of its animal population and by the governance of its export process. Effectiveness in both arenas provides prospective importing countries with confidence in the sanitary status of that nation's exports and facilitates international trade. Assessing the performance of Veterinary Services across borders, however, can be a complex process, which depends on building trust and exchanging information between independent jurisdictions and the relevant scientific and regulatory authorities. In this paper, the authors introduce some of the fundamental facts and concepts of regulatory cooperation at the multilateral and bilateral level. They also discuss why such initiatives matter when attempting to increase safe trade in animals and animal products. In addition, the authors address ways in which such cooperation could be undertaken more effectively; specifically, by supporting the implementation of the health standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health while facilitating the seamless flow of animal goods. The authors conclude by presenting a case study of the trade in animals and animal products between Australia and New Zealand, as an example of best practice in international regulatory cooperation leading to more and safer trade.