The risk analysis paradigm has also informed the global governance of international agricultural trade (Josling et al.,
20 0 4 ).
The 1995 SPS agreement (Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) under World Trade
Organization (W TO) utilizes a risk assessment framework to establish rules for trade that allow countries to manage risk with minimal disruption or barriers to trade.
These include the provisions that countries can chose their own acceptable levels of risk , but they must justify food safety standards through risk assessment.
The risk assessment framework also provides a conceptual foundation for determining equivalence of food safety standards among countries, to enable mutual recognition.
The SPS agreement recognizes the Codex Alimentarius as the global standard setting agency, where standards are developed through an international consensus process, in order to foster greater harmonization of standards among countries.
All of these elements of the SPS agreement have contributed to greater transparency and reduced
barriers to trade