The WTO SPS Agreement requires importing member nations to accept other nations' different sanitary measures if they achieve an equivalent level of sanitary protection. The food industry recognizes the challenge of demonstrating equivalency but believes that equivalence agreements will facilitate trade and will enhance food safety standards globally as trading partners strive to achieve the necessary level of protection to gain access to key markets. Equivalence agreements can enable better allocation of limited resources based on risk assessment and result in decreased costs to industry, regulators and consumers. However, this is not as easy to assess as one would think, since one nation's equivalent level of sanitary protection may not be "equivalent" to that of another nation. Consequently, the question which must be addressed is, What is the scientific basis for these decisions/positions/agreements?