Opportunities and Obstacles Facing Organic Farmers in the Czech Republic

Farm Management,

Private Label and National Brand Pricing and Promotional Strategies in Health Differentiated Product Categories: Canadian Evidence

Health Economics and Policy, Marketing,

Standards-as-Barriers versus Standards-as-Catalysts: Assessing the Impact of HACCP Implementation on U.S. Seafood Imports

The United States mandated a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety standard for seafood in 1997. Panel model results for the period 1990 to 2004 suggest that HACCP introduction had a negative and significant impact on overall seafood imports from the top 33 suppliers. While the effect for developed countries was positive, the negative HACCP effect for developing countries supports the view of “standards-as-barriers” versus ”standards-as-catalysts.” When the effect is analyzed at an individual country level a different perspective emerges. Regardless of development status, leading seafood exporters generally gained sales volume with the U.S., while most other smaller trading partners faced losses or stagnant sales.food standards, international trade, developed and developing countries

A Review of FDA Imports Refusals - US Seafood Trade 2000-2010

The United States is the third largest consumer of seafood products in the world. The percentage of imported seafood consumed in the U.S. has steadily increased from 66% in 1999 to over 84% in 2009 (NOAA, 2010). Food safety, especially of imported foods and products from developing countries, has raised increasing concerns among American consumers and policy makers. Accordingly, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) (Ababouch et al. 2000) border inspection system is considered critical for ensuring the safety of domestic seafood consumers. However, the potential non-tariff barrier to trade posed by FDA regulations, especially for many developing country exporters have been frequently cited in the literature. This paper investigates trends and patterns in U.S. import detentions and refusals of seafood products between 2000 and 2010. Data from U.S. FDA import refusal report is used to uncover patterns of detainments and import refusals across major exporting countries, World Bank income classification and time. The analysis in this paper suggests that the FDA’s approach to food safety regulation for seafood at U.S. ports of entry does follow random selection based inspections. Instead, a system of Import Alerts results in targeted inspections and mandatory “flagging” of repeat code violation. We find evidence of increasing levels of seafood shipment detentions without physical examinations targeted at predominantly lower-middle income seafood exporting countries which make up the majority of the U.S. seafood supply.Import refusal reports, FDA, Import Alerts, Seafood, Trade barriers, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Using Retail Scanner Data to Assess the Demand for Value-based Ground Meat Products in Canada

We apply a set of weekly Nielsen retail scanner data for the period 2006-2007 to estimate consumer demand of value-based ground meat products in the Canadian retail market. Our demand system results indicate that price responses are stronger for organic than for extra lean meat products. Additionally, while rising disposable incomes may shift consumers’ attention and purchases towards extra lean ground meat products, this result does not hold for organic ground beef. Our findings strongly suggest that ground meat demand is affected by traditional meat consumption patterns. Our analysis inform retail managers meat producers about potential market opportunities and expected consumer responses to changing economic determinants of popular retail ground meat demand.Meat demand, value-based labelling, scanner data, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Assessing the Impact of Stricter Food Safety Standards on Trade: HACCP in U.S. Seafood Trade with the Developing World

Health risks associated with seafood products prompted the introduction of mandatory HACCP in the seafood industry in the United States in 1997. This paper quantifies the trade impact of this introduction by analyzing patterns of seafood imports to the U.S. over the period 1990 to 2004. The results of a gravity model using panel data suggest that HACCP had a negative and significant impact on overall seafood imports from the top 33 developing and developed countries selling into the U.S. For developing countries, the results support the view of "standards-as-barriers" versus "standards-as-catalysts" as the negative HACCP effect was experienced by developing countries, while the effect for developed countries was positive.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Benefits and Costs of Proliferation of Geographical Labeling for Developing Countries

Food product attributes related to geographical origins are a topical issue in global food trade. The provision of geographical labeling may occur through geographical indications under the mandated trade rules of the TRIPS Agreement, through trademarks, or through country-of-origin labeling. The overall effect of the expansion of geographical labeling on developing countries depends on a complex mix of market opportunities that may yield substantial benefits as well as implementation costs. Increasingly, the analysis of this overall effect will need to evaluate the joint impacts of different forms of geographical labeling on the market position of developing countries.developing countries, geographical labeling, international trade, TRIPS, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Price Rigidity and Market Power in German Retailing

This paper presents empirical evidence on the interplay important topics of consumer price rigidity and market power in the German food retail industry. In particular, the analysis addresses the causal relationship between market structure - collusion - and pricing behaviour highlighted in the industrial organization literature. Extensive analysis of retail scanner data across beef and pork products reveals considerable differences in price rigidity across store types. Supermarket pricing behaviour is evaluated with respect to all price changes, retail sales actions and price adjustments indicating that food discounters exhibit the highest degree of rigid prices. Retail concentration, as an important explanatory factor of price stickiness is investigated via the analysis of retail market power employing a conjectural variation approach. The analysis of market conduct in the marketing of beef and pork products indicates simultaneous oligopolistic and oligopsonistic behaviour of retail firms. --

The Benefits and Costs of Proliferation of Geographical Labelling for Developing Countries

Food product attributes related to geographical origins are a topical issue in global food trade. The provision of geographical labelling may occur through geographical indications under the mandated trade rules of the TRIPS Agreement, trademarks, or country-of-origin labelling. The overall effect of the expansion of geographical labelling on developing countries depends on a complex mix of market opportunities that may yield substantial benefits as well as implementation costs. Increasingly, the analysis of this overall effect will need to evaluate the joint impacts of different forms of geographical labelling on the market position of developing countries.developing countries, geographical labelling, international trade, TRIPS

The Regional Incidence of European Agricultural Policy: Measurement Concept and Empirical Evidence

Agricultural and Food Policy,