Public and Private Standards for Food Safety and Quality: International Trade Implications

This article examines the implications for the international trade environment of public and private standards for food safety and food quality. Public (mandatory) standards are a response to a perceived market failure and include mandatory risk assessment procedures, restrictions on harmful products, and labelling requirements. Disparate public standards create challenges for international trading partners and are dealt with through the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements. Private standards for food safety and quality are becoming a prominent feature of international food markets and include proprietary, consensus and third-party standards. The WTO has no jurisdiction over private standards. Key questions include whether private standards divert or reduce trade or whether they can be trade enhancing, and under what conditions. The implications for the WTO are discussed, and future trade policy research needs pertaining to the co-existence of public and private standards for food safety and quality are identified.food safety, GLOBALGAP, HACCP, mandatory standards, private standards, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Traceability in Meat Supply Chains

Traceability through the agri-food supply chain has become the focus of recent industry initiatives and policy discussions in Canada. Traceability can be part of a strategy to reduce the risk or minimize the impact of a foodborne disease problem. It can also be part of a larger quality assurance strategy, facilitating the verification of specific quality attributes. This paper examines the economic incentives for implementing traceability systems in the meat and livestock sector, including ex post cost reduction, enhanced effectiveness of liability law, and reduced information costs for consumers. Preliminary evidence is presented from experimental auctions in Ontario and Saskatchewan that measured consumer willingness to pay for traceability information, food safety assurances and animal welfare assurances for beef and pork.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

TRACEABILITY AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELLING

Country of origin labelling (COOL) on food products is controversial. There is disagreement over whether consumers value information on country of origin intrinsically or as a quality or a safety signal. The debate becomes more heated when country of origin labelling is mandated by regulation, with fears that the regulation is driven by producer rather than consumer interests. Country of origin labelling has implications for traceability systems in agrifood supply chains. The ability to provide consumers with information on the country of origin requires a basic level of traceability, although does not necessarily imply full traceability throughout the supply chain to the farm. This paper examines the role of traceability and identity preservation systems in marketing agrifood products, focusing on the underlying economic functions of traceability systems. Voluntary versus mandatory labelling of country of origin and/or traceability becomes a question of determining if consumers value this information and whether a market failure exists in providing this information. The table implications of mandatory country of origin labelling are explored within this context.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

CONSUMER DEMAND FOR TRACEABILITY

Consumers have become more discerning in their food consumption choices. Food safety and food quality issues have moved to the forefront of consumer concerns, industry strategies, and in some cases, government policy. A variety of private sector and public policy traceability initiatives have emerged, partly with the objective of reducing consumer information asymmetry with respect to food safety and food quality attributes. This paper examines the role of traceability systems in the food industry and distinguishes between ex-post traceback systems and ex-ante quality verification systems. Examples of voluntary private sector livestock traceability systems and public sector traceability programs are discussed, including the trade implications of mandatory traceability and labeling. The paper presents preliminary results from experimental auctions measuring consumer willingness-to-pay for traceability, food safety and on-farm production assurances.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

PUBLIC POLICY RESPONSES TO INCREASED VERTICAL LINKAGES IN AGRI-FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS

vertical coordination, vertical linkage, public policy, agri-food supply chains, supply chain management, Agribusiness, Q1, L1,

Farm Animal Welfare and Quality Verification

Existing empirical evidence suggests that farm animal welfare may not be a top-of-mind issue for many consumers in North America. Nevertheless, there is pressure from animal welfare groups on food retailers and processors to implement more stringent requirements for their suppliers. Is the demand for more stringent animal welfare protocols primarily determined by a subset of consumers with very strong preferences or by an underlying change in consumer and societal preferences? Who do consumers trust for credible quality assurances with respect to farm animal welfare attributes? This paper provides a basis for further analysis of these issues. The roles of different stakeholders in delivering farm animal welfare quality assurances to consumers are first discussed. Then a social welfare analysis of the Canadian market for animal friendly pork is presented under different scenarios with respect to the strength of consumer preferences and the existence of voluntary standards versus mandatory standards. The analysis suggests that a situation of voluntary labelling that is reasonably credible is desirable as it maximizes the welfare that accrues to all players on the market. Furthermore, this scenario allows heterogeneous consumers to choose between different combinations of price and quality according to their preferences. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research.farm animal welfare, quality assurance, labelling, certification, heterogeneous consumers., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, Q18,

Modelling Reference-Dependent and Labelling Effects in Consumers’ Functional Food Choices

This paper examines the reference-dependent and labelling effects when consumers make choices about functional foods, and explores how changes in reference points could alter individuals’ preferences. Functional food (probiotic yogurt) and regular food (regular yogurt) are used as examples to explore the potential reference-dependent effects and labelling effects. A consumer utility model with reference point effects is developed. The paper also explores how to model the effects of different labelling (health claim) policies, which could influence consumer preferences by changing consumers’ reference points.consumer utility, functional food, labelling policy, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D11, D12,

The Impact of Labeling Practices on Perceived Quality of GM Food Products: A Revealed Preferences Approach

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion about the impact of different labeling practices on the quality of genetically modified (GM) food products as perceived by the consumer. Thus far, many studies have adopted a stated preferences approach, finding that consumers have different willingness to pay for GM and non-GM products. This article offers an empirically tractable theoretical model that can be used easily to investigate the impact of GM labeling practices on the perceived quality of GM food products, making use of market data.consumer preferences, genetically modified food products, labeling, quality, variety, elasticity of substitution, Consumer/Household Economics, Q11, Q18, D12,

Modelling functional food choice and health care impacts: A literature review

The global market for functional foods is estimated to be worth about US$33 billion (Hilliam, 2000). Given the information asymmetry inherent in functional foods, labelling information plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional foods is an important new area of research. Several potential consumer choice models are available to assess consumer choices for functional food. This paper provides an overview of key consumer research questions, and a review of several different models, including the Stated Preference Choice Model with Discrete Choice Analysis, Dependent Preference Model, and modified Protection Motivation Theory.information asymmetry, stated preference models, protection motivation, functional food, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, I1, D12, D82,

BEEF PRODUCER ATTITUDES TO COORDINATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN CANADA AND THE UK

Livestock Production/Industries,