The Costs and Benefits of Introducing Mandatory Hygiene Regulations

In an idealised model the costs of capital and maintenance and the resulting flow of income benefits over a period of years enables the analyst to produce computations of present values and internal rates of return that summarise the whole investment process in a micro environment. In approaching an industry investment problem like mandatory hygiene regulations with benefits or costs to other entities involved, identifying the appropriate capital and maintenance costs and the industry and non-industry benefits is a giant task. In this paper, we report an attempt to identify the extra costs involved in the introduction of the regulations where industry recorded data is not available, and an attempt to identify industry and non-industry benefits from modelling market effects when countries impose restrictions on exports of NZ meat products. For the latter we employ the GTAP model and examine the saved costs to NZ when countries do not impose import restrictions on hygiene grounds. The problem involves consideration of private and public costs and benefits and the flow of costs and benefits when inadequate data is only available. Although our results are confined to average responses to the hygiene programme, they do give an indication of the overall necessity for embarking on such programmes in today's trading conditions.HACCP/RMP, Benefit Cost Analysis, Meat, New Zealand, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

HACCP/RMP Adoption in the New Zealand Meat Industry

In New Zealand, the Animal Products Act 1999 requires that all animal product primary processing businesses must have a risk management programme (RMP) based on the principles of Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). However, due to market access requirements, many primary food exporters have voluntarily adopted HACCP systems for food safety management since the 1990s. This paper studies the process of HACCP/RMP adoption and the transition from voluntary HACCP to mandatory RMP in New Zealand Meat Industry. The main issues explored are plants' motivations, implementation problems, costs and benefits associated with the implementation of HACCP/RMP. The paper concludes with implications for policy design and further research.HACCP/RMP implementation, HACCP/RMP benefits and costs, New Zealand Meat Industry, Agricultural and Food Policy,

A Nonparametric Approach to The Analysis of HACCP/RMP Implementation Process

In this paper we conduct an analysis of the implementation of HACCP/RMP in the NZ Meat Industry based on the data collected from our recent survey. Nonparametric methods are used to measure the association between plant characteristics such as size, age, activities, and food safety management practices and HACCP/RMP adoption motivations, implementation problems, benefits, and costs. Results give insights into the ongoing process of mandatory RMP in New Zealand.HACCP/RMP implementation, New Zealand Meat Industry, nonparametric methods, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Modelling Nitrogen Fertiliser Demand in New Zealand

In New Zealand, the demand for nitrogen fertiliser has increased markedly since the early 1980s. Potentially, this trend has significant environmental and climate change implications. While many factors could contribute to this trend, little work has been done to examine the drivers of increased use of nitrogen fertiliser in New Zealand. In this paper, we review the international literature and discuss a theoretical framework for modelling fertiliser demand. Using a national data set, we develop an empirical cointegration model for New Zealand. The results suggest that, in the long run, nitrogen fertiliser use is elastic (2.3) to output prices and unit elastic to its own price.Nitrogen fertiliser demand, New Zealand, Cointegration, Demand and Price Analysis,

Productivity in the New Zealand primary and downstream sectors

In New Zealand, there has been increasing interest in productivity growth, both at economywide and sector levels. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry maintains a total factor productivity series for the primary sectors. As part of the ministry's flagship project on growth and productivity, we are reviewing the methodology and extending productivity derivation to downstream industries. This paper presents our research results to date.total factor productivity, New Zealand, agriculture, forestry, downstream sectors, Productivity Analysis,

ESTIMATING THE COST OF FOOD SAFETY REGULATION TO THE NEW ZEALAND SEAFOOD INDUSTRY

In New Zealand, the Animal Products Act 1999 requires all animal product processing businesses to have a HACCP-based risk management program by the end of 2002. This paper attempts to measure the effects of such regulation on the variable cost of production of the New Zealand seafood industry. Using the framework developed by Antle (2000), a model of quality-adjusted translog cost function is estimated using census of production data from 1929 to 1998. Our results show that variable costs could increase from 2% to 22% or from 2 cents to 19 cents per kilogram.HACCP, compliance costs, seafood, Production Economics,

An Economic Analysis of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point-Based Risk Management Programme in the New Zealand Meat Industry

The replacement of the Meat Act 1981 by the Animal Products Act 1999 opened a new era for food safety management in New Zealand. Administering food legislation is now the sole responsibility of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority instead of being shared between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Health as previously. At the core of the legislative change is the requirement for Risk Management Programmes (RMP). Every single animal primary processing business is required to have an RMP for each type of product. An RMP is required to embrace the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). While there have been some studies considering the implementation of HACCP in food businesses worldwide, there has not been any study focusing on HACCP adoption in New Zealand. The mandating of RMP has also made the implementation process more complex. On the other hand, it also brings new experience in terms of food safety management. This thesis examines the implementation process of HACCP/RMP in New Zealand. It also explores the interaction between food safety management and international competitiveness through an economic analysis of the impacts of the program on a New Zealand food processing industry. The meat industry was chosen as a case study as it is one of the first industries that had to comply with the first deadline of the implementation (July 2003). Also, being a significant export-oriented industry of New Zealand, the meat industry provides an ideal case for the purpose of this study. The thesis consists of four parts. Part I presents an introduction to the study including a review of international and national food safety issues, the relationship between food safety and trade and international competitiveness, and the HACCP economic literature. This background helps to shape the research objectives and methodology as described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses the design of the survey to collect plant experience regarding the implementation of HACCP/RMP in New Zealand. Part II analyses the experiences within the New Zealand meat industry regarding the implementation of HACCP/RMP. It discusses plant motivations to adopt the program and the implementation issues they are facing. Plant observations on the costs and benefits of the implementation are reported. Further, data gathered from the survey are used in a non-parametric analysis of the influences of the plant characteristics on the HACCP/RMP implementation process. The analysis provides implications for HACCP/RMP policy design. Part III presents the modelling techniques to quantify the costs and benefits of HACCP/RMP implementation. In Chapter 8, a quality-adjusted cost function is used to estimate the change in variable cost of production due to HACCP/RMP. It shows that this type of cost can make up a significant proportion of the total implementation cost. In Chapter 9, an export model is employed to analyse the impact of HACCP/RMP on meat industry export performance. The results show that the programme can bring a positive impact on exports. However, the magnitude of the impact depends on the status of existing food safety management before HACCP/RMP implementation. In Chapter 10, the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to simulate the scenarios where market accesses to significant export destinations are lost when HACCP/RMP is not adopted. The estimated costs of these losses signal the potential benefits of HACCP/RMP. The research results show that HACCP/RMP can deliver a net benefit to the New Zealand meat industry. The thesis concludes with implications for policy design and future research directions. It signifies that the research findings, in addition to reporting an investigation into HACCP/RMP implementation process in New Zealand, provide an important foundation for future research on food safety and international competitiveness

Information and flux in a feedback controlled Brownian ratchet

We study a feedback control version of the flashing Brownian ratchet, in which the application of the flashing potential depends on the state of the particles to be controlled. Taking the view that the ratchet acts as a Maxwell's demon, we study the relationship that exists between the performance of the demon as a rectifier of random motion and the amount of information gathered by the demon through measurements. In the context of a simple measurement model, we derive analytic expressions for the flux induced by the feedback ratchet when acting on one particle and a few particles, and compare these results with those obtained with its open-loop version, which operates without information. Our main finding is that the flux in the feedback case has an upper bound proportional to the square-root of the information. Our results provide a quantitative analysis of the value of information in feedback ratchets, as well as an effective description of imperfect or noisy feedback ratchets that are relevant for experimental applications.Comment: LaTeX, 13 pages, 2 figure

Phenolic metabolites of anthocyanins following a dietary intervention study in post-menopausal women

Scope Numerous studies feeding anthocyanin-rich foods report limited bioavailability of the parent anthocyanins. The present study explores the identity and concentration of the phenolic metabolites of anthocyanins in humans. Methods and results Anthocyanin metabolites were quantified in samples collected from a previously conducted 12-wk elderberry intervention study in healthy post-menopausal women. Individual 1-, 2- and 3-h post-bolus urine samples and pooled plasma samples following acute (single bolus) and chronic (12-wk supplementation) anthocyanin consumption (500 mg/day) were analysed using HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Twenty-eight anthocyanin metabolites were identified in urine and 21 in plasma (including sulfates of vanillic, protocatechuic and benzoic acid). Phenolic metabolites reached peak concentrations of 1237 nM in plasma, while anthocyanin conjugates only reached concentrations of 34 nM. Similarly, in urine, phenolic metabolites were detected at concentrations of 33 185 ± 2549 nM/mM creatinine, while anthocyanin conjugates reached concentrations of 548 ± 219 nM/mM creatinine. There was no evidence that chronic exposure had any impact on either the profile or quantity of metabolites recovered relative to acute exposure. Conclusion An extensive range of phenolic metabolites of anthocyanin was identified following elderberry consumption in humans, including 11 novel metabolites, which were identified at much higher concentrations than their parent compounds

The effect of quantum memory on quantum games

We study quantum games with correlated noise through a generalized quantization scheme. We investigate the effects of memory on quantum games, such as Prisoner's Dilemma, Battle of the Sexes and Chicken, through three prototype quantum-correlated channels. It is shown that the quantum player enjoys an advantage over the classical player for all nine cases considered in this paper for the maximally entangled case. However, the quantum player can also outperform the classical player for subsequent cases that can be noted in the case of the Battle of the Sexes game. It can be seen that the Nash equilibria do not change for all the three games under the effect of memory.Comment: 26 pages, 7 ps figure