These standard operating procedures were developed to reduce the risk of spread of trans-boundary disease of aquatic animals through the movement of live food fish.

The procedures are a set of documents for health certification and quarantine measures to be used by competent authorities in trade among ASEAN member countries. The procedures recognise the existing variation in capacity between ASEAN members and have been designed so that they can be implemented across varying policy and legal frameworks.

The procedures have been written to help manage the movement of live fish for immediate consumption as human food. They are proposed to be a model for the subsequent development of standard operating procedures to cover the management of movement of juvenile food fish for rearing.