What should be the scope of hazard identification, and when is a risk analysis necessary?
These questions are interrelated, as is the question of what administrative processes a country should use to determine when risk analysis is needed. No clear tool (for example, a list of specific disease agents; an administrative flow chart; or a preliminary risk assessment) has emerged as a useful method that could serve a wide range of countries or importation issues. The risk-analysis process is initiated by identifying the hazards. The first step is to prepare a complete list of pathogenic agents that could be associated with the commodity[1]. To do this, a thorough knowledge of the infectious diseases affecting the species and the commodity of concern is required. Once this list is established, it needs to be contrasted with the diseases existing in the export country. Importing countries need to determine for which diseases valid SPS measures can be established. In principle valid sanitary measures can only be established for exotic diseases and diseases which are under an offic
