Prohibition and Restriction of Imports for SPS Reasons
Countries may adopt prohibitions and restrictions on imported products for SPS reasons. Such prohibitions and restrictions include:
a. Temporary Geographic Prohibitions for SPS Reasons
Prohibition on imports of specified products from countries or regions due to infectious/contagious diseases. Measures included in this category are typically more of an ad-hoc and time-bound nature.
b. Geographical Restrictions on Eligibility
Prohibition of imports of specified products from specific countries or regions due to non-evidence of sufficient safety conditions to avoid sanitary and phytosanitary hazards: The restriction may be imposed automatically until the country proves employment of satisfactory sanitary and phytosanitary measures to provide a certain level of protection against food hazards that is considered acceptable.
c. System Approach
An approach that combines two or more independent SPS measures on a same product: The combined measures can be composed of any number of inter-dependent measures as well as their conformity assessment requirements such as inspection and testing. Any of the measures may be applied pre- or post-harvest.
d. Special Authorization Requirements for SPS Reasons
A requirement that importer should receive authorization, permit or approval from a relevant government agency of the destination country for SPS reasons: In order to obtain the authorization, importers may need to comply with other related regulations and conformity assessments.
e. Registration Requirements for Importers
The requirement that importers should be registered before they can import certain products: To register, importers may need to comply with certain requirements, provide documentation and pay registration fees.
f. Prohibition or Restrictions of Importers for SPS Reasons Not Elsewhere Specified