Trade and agricultural health and food safety specialists from Latin America and the Caribbean underscore the importance of regulatory convergence and equivalence agreements to strengthen agrifood trade across the region

Alejandra Sarquis, especialista en comercio del IICA; Lloyd Day, Subdirector General del Instituto; Mónica Martínez, Subsecretaria de cooperación, asistencia técnica y apoyo a los PMDER de ALADI; y Alejandro Bonilla, Jefe del departamento de acuerdos y negociaciones de ALADI, durante la inauguración del foro. — Alejandra Sarquis, IICA trade specialist; Lloyd Day, the Institute’s Deputy Director General; Mónica Martínez, ALADI´s Undersecretary for cooperation, technical assistance and support for RLEDC; and Alejandro Bonilla, Head of ALADI’s Agreements and Negotiations Department, pictured during the inaugural session of the forum.

San Jose, August 11, 2023 (IICA). Regulatory convergence and equivalence in agrifood trade can boost trade in food in the Americas, improve consumer safety, and strengthen small farmers links with markets, according to specialists brought together by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Organizations from ALADI member countries specializing in plant and animal health and food safety also took part in the event.

The two agencies organized a forum in which more than 170 people shared their experiences to promote regulatory convergence based on equivalence in agrifood trade, and discussed the preparedness of the national agricultural health and food safety systems of ALADI member countries for implementing equivalence agreements going forward, as well as the challenges that need to be addressed.

In their conclusions, participants in the event underscored the fact that regulatory convergence between States optimizes local regulation for international trade and, in cases of equivalence, makes it possible to adapt different measures to achieve parallel levels of protection without undermining consumer safety, and at the same time facilitate trade and improve the use of trade agreements.

Furthermore, equivalence agreements have become powerful, necessary tools for boosting trade facilitation, although challenges such as the large number of institutions involved in the negotiation and approval of such agreements call for creative and efficient coordination mechanisms to ensure that processes at the country level are both representative and effectual.

The forum participants argued that making progress with regulatory convergence on agrifood issues called for the identification and incorporation of key actors, with a view to stepping up the collaboration started by IICA and ALADI and forming a multi-organization team to help achieve the objectives set.

Advances in regulatory convergence will make it possible to take full advantage of the network of ALADI agreements, under which more than 80% of all goods are exempt from paying import tariffs.

The forum also emphasized ALADI and IICA’s role in reducing barriers to trade stemming from regulatory divergences, through actions designed to promote information sharing, the implementation of regulatory equivalence agreements and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) under which countries accept each other’s conformity assessment procedures, as well as the promotion of good practices and principles.

ALADI, which maintains a Database of Foreign Trade Regulations for the region, is a useful institutional space for achieving greater regulatory convergence in the agrifood sector within the framework of the system of agreements adopted under the 1980 Montevideo Treaty. It also has the necessary expertise on agrifood issues to help eliminate technical obstacles to trade, facilitate the formation of regional value chains, and simplify the integration of small- and medium-scale farmers into the market.

Participants in the event endorsed IICA’s technical expertise on the matters addressed, which makes it a highly valuable resource for pooling efforts aimed at eliminating technical obstacles to trade.

The next step in achieving greater regulatory convergence and equivalence in regional agrifood trade will be to identify the main challenges and opportunities faced by ALADI member countries in implementing equivalence agreements.

That will be followed by workshops involving representatives of both the public and private sectors to determine the status of member countries’ MRAs related to conformity assessment procedures, and efforts to identify specific problems and opportunities with regard to conformity assessment in the region.

ALADI and IICA will also undertake specific actions aimed at creating a network of state-run laboratories in the region whose work involves agrifood issues.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int