. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/116
23 March 1999
(99-1154)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
RESTRICTIONS ON THE IMPORT OF HARD CHEESES
INTO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Statement by Switzerland at the meeting
of 10-11 March 1999
1. By mid 1997, Australia introduced measures prohibiting the import of Swiss hard and semi-
hard cheeses made from raw milk.  Reasons forwarded by Australia for this prohibition are allegedly
animal and human health concerns.  The world wide trade of these reknowned Swiss products shows
that these questionable concerns are unique to Australia and New Zealand.
2. Despite good progress with officials of the quarantine services, the overall situation remains
unchanged, e.g. the import prohibition is still in place due to internal procedures.
3. For decades, Swiss hard and semi-hard cheeses made from raw milk have been exported to
Australia, as they are exported to over 100 co untries all over the world, without any problems or
complaints from Australian authorities.  In 1994, Australia enacted a new Food Standards Coderequiring imported cheeses to be made with thermised or pasteurised milk.   The  Code also states that
milk for cheese production can be treated "at a temperature and for a period equivalent thereto [i.e.
pasteurisation] in phosphatase destruction" (Standard H9).  With regard to these new regulations,
Switzerland submitted comprehensive documentation in 1994 concerning the processing of Swiss
cheese.  The purpose of the submission was to prove that Swiss production methods, including the
long maturation period, comply with the equiva lence requirement of the Food Standards Code.
4. In August 1994, the National Food Authority (NFA) communicated to Switzerland that the
"processing conditions of the cheeses have been assessed and found to be satisfactory with respect to
the public health and safety requirements listed in the Australian Food Standards Code".  At the same
time, the NFA informed the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) that "these cheeses
do not represent a risk to public health and safety by virtue of the heat treatment given to the milk and
the long maturation period".  Based on this assessment, imports of Swiss cheese continued and havenever given cause to any complaint from AQIS or any other party.
5. In mid-1997, all of a sudden and without prior notice to the Swiss authorities, AQIS decided
to stop imports of traditional Swiss cheeses arguing that they do not comply with Australian
standards.  This sudden deviation from its own assessment without any new scientific evidence
violates good commercial practices, trust-based commercial relations and WTO rules.  The completestop on imports since the fall of 1997 has created and is creating substantial direct and indirect
damage to the Swiss economy.
6. On 24 March 1999, a year will have elapsed since Switzerland made a formal application to
amend the Australian Food Standards Code.  To date, we have been told repeatedly by AQIS that the
case is well under way, leading to a readmission of Swiss cheese imports in the very next future.However, we were told that this was always delayed by ANZFA.  At the same time, in 1998 an
immediate readmission of the imports was requeste d, based on the equivalence provisions of the FoodG/SPS/GEN/116
Page 2
Standards Code and the Australian approval of the substantial documentation on the processing of
Swiss cheeses submitted in 1994.  But to date the import prohibition has not been abolished nor has
Australia agreed to adopt transitional regulations for temporary admission until the Food Standards
Code has been changed.
7. We therefore ask Australia to inform us about the stage of the internal procedures and about
the time still needed to complete these procedures.  Switzerland reiterates its request for an immediate
readmission of imports of Swiss cheeses on the basis of the equivalence provisions of the Food
Standards Code and urges Australia to bring its im port regime shortly into conformity with its SPS
obligations.
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