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The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are not self-evident. These measures are placed on the importing and exporting of foodstuffs through international and domestic markets. Unlike a large number of products passed through international borders, there is significant risk associated with the end-user consuming the product. If proper and consistent regulation ensuring that foods are safe to eat did not work properly, there would be little confidence in the global food supply chain, threatening the availability of a large number of foods that are only produced in far flung regions of the globe. Simply, the regulators and producers must work in harmonious fashion to ensure that there is an effective, but not onerous, amount of protections on the global food market. The sanitary and phytosanitary measures provide one of these levels of regulation, providing a uniform set of standards that food preservation must meet to be introduced without specific advertisement to the final end consumer. While the regulations may not be onerous to a developed nation, a developing nation requiring the same level of preservatives to be able to be introduced into the global market may be too much to make a profit on. The balance between the safety of the consumer and the health of the market provides some unique and difficult challenges for policy makers. Yet, unlike products not aimed for consumption, it may be difficult to defer to the livelihood of the developing nations if they cannot be deemed safe for introduction. It may be better to develop less stringent regulations for domestic markets to allow participation by developing nation’s farmers and cultivators.
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