AQIS is recognised as the competent authority by the relevant agencies of most importing countries – including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan), National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) (Korea) – to inspect and regulate Australian export meat on behalf of these markets.

However, some importing countries prefer to only accept product from establishments that they have inspected (and re-inspected).