Abstract
There is a widespread perception that the practice of importing untreated frozen fish for use as bait is a 'high risk' activity. The problem has been that there has been no quantifiable data on which to evaluate that perception. In 1997 the Western Australian Rock Lobster Industry commissioned a quantitative risk assessment, based on OIE principles, to assess the risk posed by bait in rock lobster pots. Several novel approaches were used to quantitatively assess the risk, based on historical patterns of usage. The resulting conclusion was that the risk of introducing disease with rock lobster bait was extremely low, or did not exist at all.
In 1998 the WTO ruled on the Canadian dispute with Australia over salmon. In the Report of the Appellate Body, the definition of risk assessment was explored in detail. Their rulings indicate that risk assessments should be based on a threefold test: Identification of the diseases; evaluation of the likelihood of entry; and evaluation of the effect of SPS measures which might be applied to reduce risk. These were all met in the 1997 report. However, there are serious questions about disease identification in the absence of data and the meaning of "appropriate level of risk". These issues still need to be addressed by the international community.