One HACCP, two approaches: experiences with and perceptions of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety management systems in the US and the EU

This paper explores the differences in the use of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system to manage food safety risks in the food chain from farm to fork in the EU and the US. In particular, this paper investigates the current uses and potential expansion of HACCP as a mechanism for the delivery of safe agricultural products, particularly safe produce. It considers not only whether HACCP systems are the best mode of governance for delivering safe food, and describes why HACCP has achieved an important role in the regulatory framework that governs food safety, but asks why this role is different in the EU and US. Within the EU, HACCP is compulsory at all stages of the food chain other than primary production, whereas the mandatory use of HACCP in the US is less widespread. However, the empirical work found that HACCP is being used by businesses in both the EU and US as a basis for organizing their business, even when not required by regulation. Using data derived from semi-structured interviews with regulatory actors in the EU and US, this paper argues that the different approach to HACCP is a result of differing ideas about the role that it plays in the governance of food safety, and the different concepts of the role of regulation in securing safe food. Finally, the paper explores the difficulties of utilizing HACCP to manage produce safety risks, and raises further challenges that must be met in order to ensure that HACCP can successfully fulfill its potential as a governance mechanism

Using voluntary agreements to exclude stock from waterways: an evaluation of project success and persistence

Agriculture is one of the major drivers of ecological degradation in river basins. Excluding stock (cows and sheep) from grazing riverbanks and accessing rivers is one of the most common river restoration activities. To be effective, stock exclusion must be maintained indefinitely. In Australia, and elsewhere, stock exclusion projects are most commonly implemented by establishing voluntary agreements between landholders and government agencies. This study examined the extent to which landholders in 3 catchment management authority (CMA) regions in southeast Australia maintain stock exclusion from waterways, whether vegetation on riverbanks recovered, and the effectiveness of assessment methods. It was found that nearly half of landholders continue to graze stock on the riverbank. There has been some success with improving the condition of riparian vegetation. Sites with full stock exclusion contain the pre-European abundance of juvenile trees, and sites with continued grazing contain significantly lower abundance of juvenile trees. Establishing the effectiveness of management was made more difficult by the inconsistent methods used by the different CMAs. Stock exclusion projects implemented with voluntary agreements have the potential to succeed if oversight is improved between government agencies and CMAs and between CMAs and landholders. Projects will be easier to assess if regional authorities use consistent methods of assessment. Voluntary agreements are only suitable for environmental management if projects are monitored, maintained, and assessed appropriately

What explains the uneven take-up of ISO 14001 at the global level?: a panel-data analysis

Since its release in the mid-1990s, close to 37 000 facilities have been certified to ISO 14001, the international voluntary standard for environmental management systems. Yet, despite claims that the standard can be readily adapted to very different corporate and geographic settings, its take-up has been highly geographically variable. This paper contributes to a growing body of work concerned with explaining the uneven diffusion of ISO 14001 at the global level. Drawing from the existing theoretical and empirical literature we develop a series of hypotheses about how various economic, market, and regulatory factors influence the national count of ISO 14001 certifications. These hypotheses are then tested using econometric estimation techniques with data for a panel of 142 developed and developing countries. We find that per capita ISO 14001 counts are positively correlated with income per capita, stock of foreign direct investment, exports of goods and services to Europe and Japan, and pressure from civil society. Conversely, productivity and levels of state intervention are negatively correlated. The paper finishes by offering a number of recommendations to policymakers concerned with accelerating the diffusion of voluntary environmental standards

Understandings of sustainable corporate governance by Australian managed investment schemes and some implications for small-scale forestry in Australia

This study reveals that managers of Australian managed investment schemes understand sustainable corporate governance as a mix of financial, natural environment and social outcomes. The managers that were interviewed prioritized financial aspects of business performance but acknowledged that sustained financial performance was only possible if positive natural environment outcomes and positive social outcomes were also sustained. In this context, the managers expressed qualified support for the development of small-scale forestry in Australia

The reliability of product-specific eco-labels as an agrobiodiversity management instrument

This paper seeks to understand why multinationals prefer to launch a label specific to their own product and examines how reliable these product-specific eco-labels are. A new methodology is applied to assess the extent to which eco-labels live up to claims about their contribution to conservation and the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity. Product-specific eco-labels are considered as industry self-regulation and all three regulatory stages are studied: the planning, implementation and outcome stage. There are major differences between the product specific eco-labels in the degree in which agrobiodiversity management is part of the normative labeling schemes. Although there are some problems of reliability, such as transparency in the implementation stage and the monitoring in the outcome stage, the degree of reliability of product-specific labels is comparable with eco-labels of international labeling families. The conclusion is that only one of the product-specific eco-labels examined here is reliable when examined in the light of all three stages. The main reason why multinationals establish a product-specific eco-label instead of adopting one from an existing labeling family is that they want to profile themselves as distinct from other companies. The unique character of a product-specific label creates a market opportunity for them

Black-boxing Sustainable Development: Environmental Impact Assessment on the River Uruguay

International audienceThis chapter offers an original account of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a technology that scripts collective action through black-boxing the politics of governance. After tracing the global trajectory of the instrument, the chapter looks at EIA struggles in the case of pulp mills on the River Uruguay. As actors seeking to halt projects because of their potential harmful impact follow the choreography of EIA, the authoritative governance script is reinforced rather than undermined. There is a tragic aspect to this, in that those wishing to block a project are actually making it stronger. This points to a subtle de-politicization resulting from the evolution of instruments in use, and a need for their re-politicization

A study of compliance post-OFT infringement action

This article considers compliance with competition law among a particular sub-set of UK companies. The research was principally motivated by the reform of UK competition law in the late 1990's and the introduction of new investigatory and fining powers for the UK competition authorities, with potentially very serious consequences for companies in breach of competition law. There has been fairly extensive research into competition law compliance in Australia, and in particular, a Report based on a recent ACCC Enforcement and Compliance Survey noted that:- 'Those who have interacted with or been investigated by the ACCC generally report themselves to be more compliant.' Accordingly, in this research we sought to ascertain the extent to which an infringement finding by the OFT altered awareness of, attitudes to, and methods of compliance with competition law. This was undertaken by forwarding a questionnaire to all parties which were the subject of an infringement decision by the OFT under the Competition Act 1998. The research considers the extent to which competition law compliance, and the motivations for instituting an effective compliance programme, have been affected by enforcement action by the Office of Fair Trading under the Competition Act 1998

The importance of customer expectations: An analysis of CSR in container shipping

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been increasingly embraced by corporations to demonstrate effort to reduce negative environmental and social externalities resulting from their business activities. CSR covers a wide range of issues, including environmental concerns, occupational health and safety, local community social-economic welfare and workers' rights and welfare issues. Through a detailed content analysis of the CSR-related documents on the websites of the top container shipping companies in the world, this paper examines CSR adoption in the container shipping business. The analysis reveals that while institutional pressure plays an important role, shipping companies are more sensitive to market demands and their focus on CSR elements is selective depending on anticipated customer expectations