“They Collected What Was Left of the Scraps”: Food Surplus as an Opportunity and Its Legal Incentives

For many years the problem of food security has been addressed only in relation to developing countries, due to the fact that people in developed nations had a relatively abundant supply of food. This is not anymore true both because of the economic crisis and an increasing demand of food at the global level. Therefore, food surplus in the food chain both at the production level and at household consumption could become a resource. In this respect, legal rules (e.g., the Good Samaritan Act in the United States) may provide incentives to economic agents for recovering food surplus. This paper examines in a comparative way legal remedies provided by United States and European Union to address food surplus. Some suggestions are provided to further improve the systems as well

Intellectual Property, Open Science and Research Biobanks

In biomedical research and translational medicine, the ancient war between exclusivity (private control over information) and access to information is proposing again on a new battlefield: research biobanks. The latter are becoming increasingly important (one of the ten ideas changing the world, according to Time magazine) since they allow to collect, store and distribute in a secure and professional way a critical mass of human biological samples for research purposes. Tissues and related data are fundamental for the development of the biomedical research and the emerging field of translational medicine: they represent the “raw material” for every kind of biomedical study. For this reason, it is crucial to understand the boundaries of Intellectual Property (IP) in this prickly context. In fact, both data sharing and collaborative research have become an imperative in contemporary open science, whose development depends inextricably on: the opportunities to access and use data, the possibility of sharing practices between communities, the cross-checking of information and results and, chiefly, interactions with experts in different fields of knowledge. Data sharing allows both to spread the costs of analytical results that researchers cannot achieve working individually and, if properly managed, to avoid the duplication of research. These advantages are crucial: access to a common pool of pre-competitive data and the possibility to endorse follow-on research projects are fundamental for the progress of biomedicine. This is why the "open movement" is also spreading in the biobank's field. After an overview of the complex interactions among the different stakeholders involved in the process of information and data production, as well as of the main obstacles to the promotion of data sharing (i.e., the appropriability of biological samples and information, the privacy of participants, the lack of interoperability), we will firstly clarify some blurring in language, in particular concerning concepts often mixed up, such as “open source” and “open access”. The aim is to understand whether and to what extent we can apply these concepts to the biomedical field. Afterwards, adopting a comparative perspective, we will analyze the main features of the open models – in particular, the Open Research Data model – which have been proposed in literature for the promotion of data sharing in the field of research biobanks. After such an analysis, we will suggest some recommendations in order to rebalance the clash between exclusivity - the paradigm characterizing the evolution of intellectual property over the last three centuries - and the actual needs for access to knowledge. We argue that the key factor in this balance may come from the right interaction between IP, social norms and contracts. In particular, we need to combine the incentives and the reward mechanisms characterizing scientific communities with data sharing imperative

La regolamentazione dell’acqua destinata ad impiego alimentare: analisi storico comparativa dei differenti approcci sviluppati negli USA e nella UE = The Regulation Of Water For Nutritional Use: A Comparative and Historical Analysis of the Different Approaches Developed in US and EU Law

L’acqua è una componente essenziale per la vita dell’uomo. La frase “acqua è vita” esprime una consapevolezza che non necessita di particolari cognizioni mediche: in assenza di adeguata idratazione un individuo è destinato a perire nel giro di pochi giorni. La dottrina ha elaborato una vastissima riflessione sulla gestione e la tutela del bene acqua: l’identificazione di modelli di proprietà per l’allocazione dei diritti di utilizzo dell’acqua è un tema con cui si sono cimentati molti insigni giuristi. Il tema è stato, più di recente, affrontato nell’ambito del diritto ambientale, che sin dall’emergere della disciplina ha visto nella tutela delle risorse idriche dagli inquinanti uno dei propri campi elettivi di applicazione. L’acqua è considerata oggi non solo una risorsa, ma una commodity che genera scontri al calor bianco fra i sostenitori della qualità dei servizi idrici municipali, tendenzialmente attenti all’impatto ambientali e quanti invece considerano le acque imbottigliate un bene irrinunciabile. Questo studio approccia un tema classico in una prospettiva innovativa, che è propria del diritto alimentare. Questo nuovo ambito tematico del sapere giuridico ha sviluppato strumenti ermeneutici che consentono di cogliere quali istituti permettono al consumatore di confidare ragionevolmente nella sicurezza degli alimenti e quali siano le tutele disponibili. L’alimento è visto quindi nella sua attitudine a venire a contatto con l’uomo e ad essere un fattore di rischio per la salute. Questa prospettiva consente di esaminare unitariamente le discipline delle diverse acque per uso alimentare (le comuni acque servite dalla reti idriche, le acque minerali, le acque utilizzate nei processi industriali ...), la cui trattazione è stata tenuta rigidamente separata dacchè nell’Ottocento le acque minerali furono assimilate per un verso ai rimedi termali e per l’altro alle risorse minerarie. La giurisprudenza, sopratutto quella statunitense, ha contribuito al progressivo convergere dei differenti regimi giuridici delle acque alimentari, arrivando al punto di sottopore queste ultime (anche quando provenienti dagli acquedotti) al regime dei prodotti difettosi allo scopo di offrire maggior tutela ai consumatori. Dal canto suo anche l’Unione Europea, che è in procinto di dotarsi di una nuova Direttiva sulle acque per il consumo umano, sembra intenzionata sempre più a considerare tutte le acque dal punto di vista alimentare, per gestire, tramite i principi alimentari dell’HACCP, le acque come un vero e proprio alimento sospeso in rete. Questa ricerca, ripercorrendo storicamente le tappe dell’evoluzione legislativa per la protezione della sicurezza e qualità dell’acqua, intende mettere in luce come l’acqua non sia semplicemente una risorsa, ma anche un vero e proprio “prodotto” del diritto. ENGLISH ABSTRACT Water is more than a key element for human life: it is often said that “water is life”. We don’t need to possess particular medical notions to realize that without an adequate water supply human beings are likely to die in a few days. In the legal field there has been a flourishing of theories and studies related to the conservation and protection of this common good: eminent scholars have reasoned on share schemes and property models for resource allocation. More recently this topic has become one of the elective themes for scholars in environmental law, who have been especially interested in the conservation of the resource. Nowadays water is considered not merely a resource, but a fashionable commodity in an open battle engaged by the environmental activists who support tap water, and those who cannot refrain from using bottled water. This paper purports to study the water “phenomenon” in a new and different perspective, that of food law. In the past representatives of this new branch studies have developed hermeneutics which allows us to understand how to protect consumers and to ensure food safety. Food is everything that comes to mouth and may pose risks for human health. This pespective allow the joint examination of the rules pertaining to the different types of water (tap water, mineral water, bottled water, water used in food processing), which instead were examined and considered separately following a tradition going back to the nineteenth century, when mineral waters started to be considered as part of the regulation of thermal waters. Courts (especially in the United States) have contributed to reconsider this traditional discipinary divide, considering tap water as a product to which apply the relevant liability rules. The European Union, on its part, is due to adopt a new directive on water intended for human consumption and seems willing to consider all types of water in a common framework, sharing same principles of HACCP system. Examining the legal evolution of water law, this paper highlights how water is not only a resource but a “product” of law. Questo paper © Copyright 2011 Francesco Planchenstainer è pubblicato con Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non commerciale-Non opere derivate 2.5 Italia License. Maggiori informazioni circa la licenza all’URL: <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/it/

MANAGING FOOD SAFETY EMERGENCIES AND CRISES: A MULTILEVEL COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE US AND EU LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

La presente tesi analizza la gestione delle crisi e delle emergenze alimentari negli USA e nell’UE addottando il triplice punto di vista delle autorita’ pubbliche, industria, consumatori). Le crisi e le emergenze provocate da incidenti di sicurezza alimentare sono eventi ad alto impatto sia in termini umani che economici. Crisi e emergenze sono il prodotto sia della crescente complessita’ della catena alimentare sia anche della crescente incertezza scientifica delle societa’ postmoderne. La tesi intende dimostrare che le crisi alimentri sono sempre piu’ a crocevia fra igiene pubblica, salute animale e sicurezza alimentare. Il primo capitolo descrive le piu’ importanti crisi alimentari degli ultimi vent’anni: gli eventi sono analizzati comparativamente al fine di evidenziare i tratti salienti in comune. Il secondo capitolo affronta il ruolo ricoperto dalle le istituzioni pubbliche, l’industria e i consumatori in caso di incidenti di sicurezza alimentare. Il capitolo considera i diversi punti di vista dei soggetti coinvolti mettendo in luce gli interessi in gioco e il comportamento di industria e consumatori in relazione al rischio alimentare. Il quarto capitolo rappresenta il cuore dell’intera tesi analizzando in maniera comparativa il sistema giuridico statunitense ed europeo. Nelle conclusioni sono offerte possibili soluzioni per fare fronte alle problematiche analizzate.This dissertation analyses the management of food safety emergencies and crises in the US and the EU adopting a threefold perspective (i.e., public authorities, industry, consumers). Food safety emergencies and crises are highly burdensome events that may leave behind high fatalities tolls and severe economic consequences. Crises and emergencies are the outcome of both the increasing complexity of the food chain and the growing scientific uncertainty that modern societies are called to face. While it is impracticable to eradicate these events, countries may build prevention and preparedness in advance. This work attempts to capture an original way the role covered by different stakeholder in crises preparedness and response. The dissertation also aims to demonstrate that food safety crises are increasingly at the intersection between Public Health, animal health and food safety. The first chapter provides a case history of the most relevant food safety crises in the last two decades. From the BSE scandal that hit Europe in 1996 to the most recent E.coli outbreak in Germany of 2011, the events are analyzed in a comparative way as to point out the essential features of food safety crises. The second chapter canvasses the role played by public authorities, industry and consumer in food safety incidents. In the attempt to define crises and emergencies, a review of most important theories from organizational literature is provided, with an emphasis on the importance of scientific uncertainty. The chapter deals with stakeholders’ different perspectives outlining the interest at stake and describing at the same time stakeholders’ behavior vis-à-vis food related risks. The fourth chapter represents the core of the dissertation analyzing the legal framework of the US and the EU. The dissertation considers not only food safety provisions but also Public Health provisions describing rights and duties of the subjects involves in these events. The chapter focuses also on the problem of information at the intersection with different aspirations (e.g., the right to know and confidentiality). The dissertation ends with some concluding remarks suggesting possible solution to solve the mentioned shortcomings