It is now 20 years since the World Trade Organisation's Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement was signed. This agreement heralded an era in which international trade would be based on foods providing an acceptable level of protection to consumers in the importing country, that would be judged objectively, based on risk assessment.

The intervening 20 years has seen the development of microbiological risk assessment. These risk assessments have often been applied to international trade – sometimes they have reduced technical trade barriers – and sometimes they have created them. 

There is a lot of controversy around the application of the SPS Agreement. This symposium aims to explain the agreement, the developing science, and examine how it is used, and how it benefits (or otherwise) international trade and public health.

Presentations