Lesson 2: Identifying Risk Management Options

Topic 1: Risk Management Strategies

In this topic you will learn that phytosanitary options fall into one of three categories: mitigations, safeguards and processes.

Objective:

  • Be able to distinguish between mitigations, safeguards, and processes.

The first step in risk management analysis is to identify phytosanitary measures that can be used alone or in combination. The goal is to reduce, avoid, or eliminate the pest. Let’s look at the roles of different measures in risk management.

As discussed in Lesson 1, the SPS Agreement definition of “phytosanitary measures” is very broad and covers a range of possibilities from legislation to operations. For the purposes of risk management analysis, you should be concerned primarily with these three categories of measures:

  1. Mitigations. Measures that have a direct effect on pests to reduce their numbers or survivability (e.g., treatments such as fumigation, irradiation, chemicals).
  2. Safeguards. Measures that promote phytosanitary security by reducing the probability of pest escape or contamination, entry, or establishment (e.g., pest-proof packages, shipping season spread over time, prohibition).
  3. Processes. Measures that do not reduce risk by themselves, but support or improve the effectiveness of risk management (e.g., inspection, certification).

The rest of the topics in this lesson focus on options for managing pest risk associated with agricultural trade. Historically, the three most common measures used for risk management are the following:

  • Prohibition
  • Inspection
  • Treatment

To continue, select Topic 2 from the Topics menu above or click here.