Responsive regulation and application of grading systems in the food safety regulatory regimes of developing countries

The traditional tit-for-tat philosophy in the food safety regulatory regime in most developing countries has been proven ineffective in most cases. Rather, starting with persuasion, advice, and then escalating to more severe punishments for the continuing non-compliance as suggested in the responsive regulation by Ayres and Braithwaite has been proved more effective in the food safety regulatory regime of some jurisdictions. Responsive regulation aims to increase responsibility among corporations. So, if a corporation shows responsibility, it should be rewarded, and if a corporation shows irresponsibility, it should be reprimanded (if necessary). There is no logic in seeing and treating every manufacturer the same, considering their regular compliance or regular non-compliance with regulation. Furthermore, in a free market economy, food manufacturers have to compete everyday with their counterparts in regard to safety and standards. Considering these situations, current research suggests that the grading system can be introduced into the food safety regulatory regime of developing countries. Once the food manufacturers are rewarded for their compliance by upgrading their current grade, they can use this reward for advertising, which will help their business flourish. Conversely, if any manufacturer shows irresponsibility and continuously produces unsafe and low quality food, it can be degraded from an upper to lower grade. However, even the lowest graded manufacturer will have to maintain the minimum standard of safety required by the state regulations. This concept can be called responsibility ensures upgrading, irresponsibility risks downgrading . In short, this article suggests that the responsive regulation can be applied by moderating with grading system in the food safety regulatory regime of the developing countries. A qualitative research method has been used in this research, and extensive literature has been analysed

Food safety and public health issues in Bangladesh: a regulatory

In Bangladesh, most of the foodstuffs, be they manufactured or processed, are unsafe for consumption or adulterated to varying degrees. This problem persists at every level of the food chain from preparation to consumption. Food manufacturers, processors, restaurants, fast food outlets and so forth are all involved in one way or another in this corrupt practice of adulteration. Foods are adulterated by using various harmful chemicals and toxic artificial colours, on the one hand, and rotten perishables turned to poisonous foods are stored, sold and served to consumers in an unhygienic atmosphere, on the other. The unhygienic and unsafe treatment of food is seriously impacting public health by causing numerous chronic and non-chronic diseases. Despite different reasons for the unsafe treatment and adulteration of foodstuffs in Bangladesh, this study will concentrate on the regulatory failures to combat the current food safety problems persisting in Bangladesh

Rampant food adulteration in Bangladesh: Gross violations of fundamental human rights with impunity

Food adulteration in Bangladesh is rampant and an increasingly serious concern for its residents. Several studies including those of the Directorate General of Health Services reveal that hundreds of people are getting killed every year eating adulterated foodstuffs and no one seems to have any real concern about such a life-threatening wrongful act. Food adulteration is criminally prohibited, but the wrongdoers care little about this proscription simply because of the continued apathy of the governmental agencies concerned and implicit acceptance or insensible ignorance of consumers. However, the current fragmented legal and regulatory regime for food safety in Bangladesh falls short of international standards. This article demonstrates that the Government of Bangladesh is obliged to prevent food adulteration and to punish perpetrators under its international as well as constitutional obligations. It is also submitted that effective regulation of such an endemic malfeasance entails weakening the offenders by adopting international standards and educating the consumers at the same time

Application of the responsive regulation theory in the food safety regulatory regime in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, a developing country of the South Asian region, has been suffering from a rampant food adulteration problem for the last couple of decades. Recent studies revealed that numerous deaths along with countless physical illness are happening as the consequences of this ongoing food adulteration. Several attempts have been through to change the food safety regulatory regime (FSRR) of Bangladesh to combat this alarming issue. Unfortunately the situation has hardly been changed. Rather it is getting worse day by day. However, Bangladesh has never changed the regulatory enforcement philosophy of its FSRR to combat this severe food safety concern. The current study will be an endeavour to apply the responsive regulation theory in the FSRR of Bangladesh as an attempt to make the current FSRR of Bangladesh more effective and updated. It has been demonstrated in this paper that responsive regulation can be successfully applied in the FSRR of Bangladesh having some changes and modifications

Application of responsive regulation in the food safety regulations of Bangladesh

Bangladesh, a developing country of the South Asian region, has been suffering from rampant food adulteration for the last few decades. Recent studies revealed that numerous deaths along with countless physical illnesses are occurring as the consequences of this ongoing food adulteration. Several attempts have been made through to change the food safety regulations [FSR] of Bangladesh to combat this alarming issue. Unfortunately, the situation has hardly been changed. Rather it is getting worse day by day. However, Bangladesh has never changed the regulatory enforcement philosophy of its FSR to tackle this severe food safety concern. The current study is an endeavour to apply the responsive regulation theory [RRT] in the enforcement framework of the FSR of Bangladesh as an attempt to make it more effective and updated

Manufacturing unsafe foods in Bangladesh: a legal and regulatory analysis

Bangladesh has long faced a serious food safety problem. Food manufacturers are producing many unhealthy and adulterated food products, ignoring the regulations deliberately. There are numerous laws as well as several regulatory bodies which deal with this alarming issue but with minimal effectiveness. The current study intends to investigate the relevant food safety regulations in regard to the manufacture of unsafe foods in Bangladesh. This study observes that the existing regulatory philosophy of the enforcement of the regulations is ineffective in practice. This is because the regulations only offer direct criminal penalty for any kind of contravention. There are no other enforcement tools — such as the use of persuasion or an improvement notice or civil penalties — for authorities to impose upon the food manufacturers prior to directly applying the criminal penalties. From that perspective, this study has chosen the responsive regulation theory to evaluate the food safety regulatory regime of Bangladesh and apply to it. In order to do that, the present research has chosen the equivalent food safety regulatory framework of NSW, where the responsive regulation theory has been successfully applied. The qualitative method of research has been used in this research to analyse the major relevant literature of Bangladesh and NSW with a view to suggesting the possible solutions for Bangladesh in light of the equivalent mechanisms applied in NSW, where appropriate and necessary. Besides applying the responsive regulation theory to the food safety regulatory regime of Bangladesh, this thesis has offered several recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the current food safety regulations of Bangladesh. The key issues of the thesis are divided between six main chapters. Firstly, it has presented the way in which to adopt the responsive regulation theory in the food safety regulatory regime in Bangladesh, which is a least developed country. The current study has recommended some moderation of and adaptations to the original theory of responsive regulation when introducing the grading system in the manufacturing food industry in Bangladesh. Secondly, this thesis has depicted the existing legal framework of the food safety regulations of Bangladesh. It is observed that the food safety legal framework in Bangladesh has been crowded with numerous unnecessary, confusing and overlapping regulations which this study has suggested should be minimised by the introduction of a single law encompassing all the food safety issues. Thirdly, the investigation into the food safety regulatory framework in Bangladesh revealed that the regulatory bodies that deal with the regulations are also quite large in number which makes the entire regulatory regime burdensome and ineffective. The present study has recommended a single regulatory body for coordinating all food safety activities, so ensuring the greater transparency and increased accountability. Fourthly, this study reveals that affected or injured consumers do not obtain damages entirely commensurate with their injuries under the current civil liability regime. In order to address this concern, this thesis has suggested that the current statutory laws be updated by introducing adequate and effective provisions as well as codifying the product liability of food manufacturers under the law of torts. Fifthly, the imposition of criminal liability on food manufacturers is also not effective as the current regime provides unstructured mens rea, narrow actus reus, and unrestricted defences of the offences. This study suggests introducing a Three-Tier model of offences, where offences with subjective mens rea, offences with objective mens rea and absolute liability offences will be available to try contraventions of food safety regulations. This dissertation also argues for the broadening of the actus reus of the offences and narrowing the defences for food manufacturers. Finally, this research offers a way in which to adopt the responsive regulation theory to the enforcement regime of the food safety regulations in Bangladesh and also analyses a number of other enforcement problems. It is believed that if all these recommendations of this thesis are adopted, the food safety situation in Bangladesh can be improved by having regulations that are effective. In addition, the findings of the thesis could have implications and usefulness in the global context, particularly in the developing and least developed countries

Responsive regulation and application of grading system in the regulation of food safety

The traditional tit for tat philosophy in the food safety regulatory regime has been proved ineffective in most cases. Rather, starting with persuasion, advice, and then escalating to more severe punishments for the continuing non-compliance of the regulation as suggested in the responsive regulation by Ayres and Braithwaite has been proved more effective in the food safety regulatory regime of some jurisdictions. Responsive regulation aims to increase responsibility among corporations. So, if a corporation shows responsibility, it should be rewarded, and if a corporation shows irresponsibility it should be reprimanded if necessary. There is no logic in seeing and treating every manufacturer the same, considering their regular compliance or regular non-compliance with regulation. Furthermore, in a free market economy, food manufacturers have to compete everyday with their counterparts in regard to safety and standards. So, once they are rewarded for their compliance by upgrading their current grade, they can use this reward for their advertising, which will help their business flourish. Conversely, if any manufacturer shows irresponsibility and continuously produces unsafe and low quality food, it can be degraded from an upper to lower grade. However, even the lowest graded manufacturer will have to maintain the minimum standard of safety required by the state regulations. This concept can be called responsibility ensures upgrading, irresponsibility risks degrading . A qualitative research method has been used in this research, and extensive literature has been analyzed for reaching this suggestion. Thus, it can be argued that the application of grading system, along with the responsive regulation, can help to bring more effectiveness to food safety regulatory regimes

Food safety offenses In New South Wales, Australia: a critical appreciation of their Complexities

Food is essentially a primary need of all life to remain alive. Faults or carelessness of human beings renders foods unsafe, which may cause disease and death. This article examines selected food safety offenses of New South Wales aimed at assessing their definitional clarity and penal rationality looking through the lens of an offender\u27s culpability. It carries out a critical analysis based on archival materials and concludes that the present offense provisions hold significant merits to regulate food safety; however, further clarity of their inherent complexities could enhance their efficacy

Extensive food adulteration in Bangladesh: a violation of fundamental human rights and the state’s binding obligations

© The Author(s) 2014. The right to life is inherently connected with the right to food which implies that any foodstuff be nutritious and safe. The government of Bangladesh bears binding obligations to protect these rights under both international human rights instruments and its national constitution. The violation of these rights has, nonetheless, been commonplace causing numerous human deaths and terminal diseases. The perpetrators have been adulterating foods, flouting laws with impunity and taking advantage of regulatory impotence and governmental lenience for decades. Laws exist in books, regulators subsist in theory, but consumers die without remedies. This situation must not prevail forever as every human has an inherent right to live until their natural demise. This article aims to explore the binding obligations of the government to prevent food adulteration and to protect people’s essential rights. It highlights that numerous laws exist almost invisibly in the country, and recommends that their enforcement be reinforced in order to protect the people who are exposed to the overly contaminated food markets in Bangladesh

Dishonest and excessive use of antibiotics in meat producing animals in Bangladesh: a regulatory review

The article aims to bring about regulatory reforms concerning excessive use of medically important antimicrobials (MIA) on meat producing animals (MPA) in Bangladesh. An excessive use of MIA with a dishonest motive of artificially fattening animals including poultry chickens has been commonplace in Bangladesh. The usage of MIA in such a manner has the potential to create antimicrobial resistant infections in the animals, which can be transmitted to humans through food, direct contact with MPA or even via environmental spread. Such a transmission has already massively occurred in Bangladesh. In formulating recommendations, we critically analyse the existing regulatory functions and employ both empirical and doctrinal methods of analysis. Our empirical research reveals that the regulatory laxity, profit motive, and ignorance of antibiotics users and meat consumers about the latent harm are major factors contributing to the unsafe use of MIA. To address these factors, we submit eleven specific recommendations for necessary reforms