Equivalence is a term applied by the

Uruguay Round The Uruguay Round was the 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) conducted within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), spanning from 1986 to 1993 and embracing 123 countries as "contracting parties". The R ...

Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, also known as the SPS Agreement or just SPS, is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agree ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

(WTO) Member countries shall accord acceptance to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures of other countries (even if those measures differ from their own or from those used by other Member countries trading in the same product) if the exporting country demonstrates to the importing country that its measures achieve the importer’s appropriate level of sanitary and phytosanitary protection.

History

In June 2021 a trade dispute threatened to erupt between the UK and the

von der Leyen Commission The von der Leyen Commission is the current European Commission, in office since 1 December 2019 and is to last until the 2024 elections. It has Ursula von der Leyen as its president and it further consists of one commissioner from each of the ...

over the Northern Irish Protocol (NIP) which flowed from

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

. The position of

Lord Frost David George Hamilton Frost, Baron Frost (born 21 February 1965) is a British former diplomat, civil servant and politician who briefly served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was Chief Nego ...

and the Johnson government was that trade equivalence with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

over SPS measures could be maintained with "a recognition of mutually high standards", whereas his opposite number Maros Sefcovic insisted that

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

join the

Common Veterinary Area The Common Veterinary Area flows from the Veterinary Agreement annexed to the Bilateral II Agreement between Switzerland and the European Union that has existed since 2009. The Agreement "governs the control of animal diseases, trade in animals a ...

which resulted from the

SUEVA The Common Veterinary Area flows from the Veterinary Agreement annexed to the Bilateral II Agreement between Switzerland and the European Union that has existed since 2009. The Agreement "governs the control of animal diseases, trade in animals a ...

under a sort of dynamic alignment. President Biden had even been drawn into the diplomatic conflict because his

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

feared a breakdown in public order. A leaked memo obtained by the ''

Times of London ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' "suggested that if the UK signed up to EU rules on agricultural standards to ease problems with the NIP Mr Biden would ensure it did not 'negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK trade deal'".

References

{{CRS, article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition, url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110810044532/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf, author= Jasper Womach United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture Agricultural economics Agricultural policy European Union and agriculture European Union economic policy International trade law World Trade Organization Agricultural treaties Food treaties