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Changing agricultural trade patterns and policy have powerful but often misunderstood effects on food security in the medium term — partly because they are indirect and partly because insufficient attention is given to the key changes. Africa, in particular, is being squeezed. Current patterns of importing cereals and exporting other agricultural products depend upon price effects of both OECD protectionism and preferences. In the future changes to both could increase the price of cereal imports and reduce the volume and prices of exports. These shifts are not from the formal Doha negotiations on agriculture but from the re-arrangement of agricultural subsidies in OECD countries, changes in trade preferences, and Africa's limited technical capacity to participate actively in setting standards.

Food safety and the trade-off between precaution and increased agricultural exports are at the forefront of policy debate. Moreover, how international standards are set for food safety, can have a profound effect on export prospects for the least developed countries. This study examines the impact of adopting international food safety standards and harmonization of standards on global food trade patterns. The paper estimates the effect of aflatoxin standards in 15 importing (4 developing) countries on expor ts from 31 (21 developing ) countries. We estimate that world exports would rise by $38.8 billion if an international standard (Codex) were adopted, compared to the current divergent national standards in place.

In the Philippines, rootcrop-based food products are gaining popularity in street food trade. However, a number of street-vended food products in the country are reported to be contaminated with E. coli posing possible risk among consumers. In this study, information on quantitative risk assessment of E. coli in street-vended cassava-based delicacies was generated. The assessment started with the prevalence and concentration of E. coli at post production in packages of the cassava-based delicacies. Combase growth predictor was used to trace the microbial population of E. coli in each step of the food chain. The @Risk software package, version 6 (Palisade USA) was used to run the simulations. Scenarios in the post-production to consumption pathway were simulated. The effect was then assessed in relation to exposure to the defined infective dose. In the worst case scenario, a minimum and most likely concentration of 6.3 and 7.8 log CFU of E. coli per serving respectively were observed. The simulation revealed that lowering the temperature in the chain considerably decreased the E. coli concentration prior to consumption and subsequently decreased the percentage of exposure to the infective dose. Exposure to infective dose however was increased with longer lag time from postproduction to consumption.

International trade plays an important role in national economics. The Codex Alimentarius Commission develops harmonized international food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade. The Codex maximum residue limits (MRLs) elaborated by the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues are based on the recommendations of the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticides (JMPR). The basic principles applied currently by the JMPR for the evaluation of experimental data and related information are described together with some of the areas in which further developments are needed.

In addition to multilateral trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world has seen a remarkable proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the last two decades. This study investigates the impacts of these multilateral and regional trade institutions on food trade. The Gravity model of international trade is used for the empirical analysis. The model is developed in a large panel data setting and attempted to address some potential problems in the estimation including multilateral trade resistances and zero trade values. The results suggest that both the WTO and RTAs have delivered significant positive effects on bilateral trade among the participant countries, but not food. Only RTAs are found to have increased bilateral food trade among the members. However, although no evidence can be found that the WTO enhances food trade among the members, it promotes food trade of the developing countries more than the developed ones.

International agri-food trade has expanded rapidly during the past decades and changed considerably in structure with important implications especially for developing economies. One of the main environmental concerns regarding international trade is about the exploitation and redistribution of water resources. In this paper we use the virtual water approach for analyzing the relation between global agri-food trade, its structure and virtual water flows in the period of 1986 to 2011. Specifically, for five world regions we calculate growth rates of interregional trade values and virtual water volumes, the contribution of different product groups to trade and the economic water efficiency of imports and exports. Our findings show that over time trade values have generally increased more rapidly than virtual water volumes. In Africa and South America virtual water exports have roughly quadrupled since 1986. In all regions staples and industrial products account for the largest share in virtual water trade. The recent shift towards high-value exports is beneficial for developing countries from a regional water efficiency perspective due to high trade values and low associated virtual water volumes. Water efficiency of trade has increased in all regions since 2000 and export water efficiency is especially high in Europe., An updated version of this working paper is published as: Schwarz, J., Mathijs, E. and Maertens, M. (2015) Changing Patterns of Global Agri-Food Trade and the Economic Efficiency of Virtual Water Flows. Sustainability 7, 5542-5563

The ability to analytically identify irradiated food—complementary to certification—helps to enhance consumers confidence. It makes it possible to check compliance with existing regulations (e.g. enforcement of labelling, control of prohibition) and to facilitate international food trade. An enormous effort—both at the world-wide international level (ADMIT) and at European (BCR)/national level—has led to several validated and even standardized (CEN) detection methods for a large number of different food products. In this short review, the present methods are summarized, limitations and new developments drafted.

Nature 543, 700–704 (2017); doi:10.1038/nature21403 In the Supplementary Information of this Letter, the first file, labelled ‘Supplementary Table 1’, linked incorrectly to Supplementary Table 2 (extraction rates for food commodities) and the second file, also labelled ‘Supplementary Table 1’, linked to Supplementary Table 1 (GWD intensities for crops by country).

Price competition is a fundamental assumption in modeling trade. Empirical applications often use unit values as proxies for price. This is a problem if unit values cannot explain trade flows consistent with the price competition assumption. The paper determines whether this condition exists in food product trade. Trade balances by product are used to indicate successful competition in trade. Export and import unit values are used to determine if competition is dominated by price or nonprice competition. Trade flows are then categorized in four ways: successful price competition, unsuccessful price competition, successful nonprice competition, and unsuccessful nonprice competition. This categorization is applied to 372 food products using the Standard International Trade Classification. Nearly 40% of U.S. food exports could be characterized as dominated by nonprice competition. In those instances, we contend that unit values are not valid proxies for price, thereby limiting their usefulness in traditional import demand estimation and trade policy simulation models. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Concerns are increasing day by day as begomoviruses (Geminiviridea) are posing serious threat to large number of cultivated and non cultivated crops globally. Rapid emergence, diversity and spread of begomoviruses are mainly due to food trade and modernized agricultural practices. Strategies that can be adopted for defense against begomoviruses include several cultural, sanitary and chemical measures but all these are temporary, expensive, laborious and environmentally hazardous. So adopting genetic defense mechanisms against the begomoviruses can be a permanent and long lasting solution. These may include transgenic incorporated resistance in cultivars through biotechnological measures and pathogenic derived resistance via virus proteomic approaches. Similarly RNAi and Antisense RNA based technology can be utilized for virus disease management. The review converge its focus upon the modern day biotechnological approaches to cope the begomoviruses and sheds light upon various genetic defense approaches by summing up the recent documented research regarding the management of begomoviruses.

Introduction: Beaches are a place for interaction and leisure, as well as a scenery for the provision of services, including the street food trade. In this segment, different workers with different type of foods are included, especially the popsicles. Methods: This study aimed to characterize microbiologically the popsicles commercialized on the beaches of Salvador, Bahia State. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 13 beaches, with the application of semi- structured questionnaires to 33 vendors to characterize microbiologically the popsicles sold on the beaches of Salvador, Bahia State, and the collecting of 198 samples, which were submitted to analysis: counting of Psychrotrophic microorganisms and coagulase-positive staphylococci, estimation of the Most Likely Number of total and thermolerant Coliforms/Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp research. Results: The results showed that in the microbiological profile, most of the samples were in compliance with the standards. However, 34.3% (68) of non-compliance were recorded, including contamination by the various microorganisms studied, except for Salmonella spp., which was not identified. Conclusion: The study identified risks to the costumer's health, given the contamination in the products, for both groups of sellers.

What explains volatility in world food prices? Are the “fundamentals” of supply and demand the basic factors? Can national or international policies toward food grain reserves help to stabilize food prices? What are food stocks “worth” if the levels of grain reserves, especially in large countries, affect food trade policies in these countries? This effect would be the reverse of the usual causation where policies can directly affect the levels of both public and private stocks.

The food trade by hawkers in Brazil has increased in the recent years, but there are questions about the food safety of these products. In view of the high consumption of barbecues in the streets of cities across the country, this study aimed to analyze the microbiological quality of beef barbecues sold by hawkers, also, the adoption of Good Manufacturing Practices procedures by the food handlers in the city of Anapolis, Goias. Eleven ambulant points were evaluated and in each point it was collected a sample of raw and roast beef barbecue. At each point, it was also collected a sample of handler hand through the rinse hands in saline contained in sterile plastic bag. Questionnaires were applied to check the knowledge of vendors about manufacturing practices. In samples of raw meat was held the count of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. search, while in the samples of roast beef was held the count of Staphylococcus aureus , E. coli , sulphite reducing Clostridium and Salmonella sp. search, as required by the legislation. The microbiological analysis revealed that one ambulant point had roast beef barbecue sample with an unsatisfactory quality. None of handlers had S. aureus or E. coli on hands. Regarding the knowledge about goods practices, it was noted failures, mainly in preparation and transport of food.

In the half century since its founding, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, or simply Codex, has established thousands of global standards that allow for food trade to move smoothly, even as world food production and trade have become hugely more complex than they were at the time of Codex’s founding. Codex’s success is due, certainly in part, to a set of ground rules and procedures that member countries agree to abide by when they become members. Collaboration and honest negotiation in good faith become more and more important as the membership demographics of Codex become more and more diverse – and as they more truly reflect the demographics of those countries that trade food globally. Continued good faith and increasing policy sophistication will be necessary to keep Codex on a necessarily continual growth curve.

From 20 September through 5 October 2012, the largest recorded food-borne outbreak in Germany occurred. Norovirus was identified as the causative agent. We conducted four analytical epidemiological studies, two case–control studies and two surveys (in total 150 cases) in secondary schools in three different federal states. Overall, 390 institutions in five federal states reported nearly 11,000 cases of gastroenteritis. They were predominantly schools and childcare facilities and were supplied almost exclusively by one large catering company. The analytical epidemiological studies consistently identified dishes containing strawberries as the most likely vehicle, with estimated odds ratios ranging from 2.6 to 45.4. The dishes had been prepared in different regional kitchens of the catering company and were served in the schools two days before the peaks of the respective outbreaks. All affected institutions had received strawberries of one lot, imported frozen from China. The outbreak vehicle was identified within a week, which led to a timely recall and prevented more than half of the lot from reaching the consumer. This outbreak exemplifies the risk of large outbreaks in the era of global food trade. It underlines the importance of timely surveillance and epidemiological outbreak investigations for food safety.

Legislation based on international standards and harmonized between trade partners facilitates trade and enables products from developing countries to be competitive in the international market. Countries looking to export to the EU should aim to harmonize legislation with EU rules. If exporting to EU markets is not a priority, countries should follow requirements of the WTO SPS agreement and thus ensure that their products can access markets of all WTO member states. Both the EU and WTO legislative models for food safety require a risk-based approach to food safety controls, prioritizing funds and activity on the most risky areas. Reforms in this area should be primarily focused on ensuring food safety, although ensuring that consumers are receiving the quality of food that they expect is also a consideration. When planning legislative reform, the burden on business should be carefully considered, and consultation with the business community is strongly recommended to obtain a good understanding of the business perspective. Public awareness on the need for reforms can be important and it is essential to outline the benefits of improved food safety legislation to consumers and their representative bodies as they can help to support reforms and sustain their results.

Globally, the further expansion of cropland is limited by the availability of adequate land and by the necessity to spare land for nature conservation and carbon sequestration. Analyzing the causes of past landuse changes can help to better understand the potential drivers of land scarcities of the future. Using the FAOSTAT database, we quantify the contribution of four major factors, namely human population growth, rising percapita caloric consumption (including food intake and household waste), processing losses (including conversion of vegetal into animal products and nonfood use of crops), and yield gains, to cropland expansion rates of the past (1961–2007). We employ a Kayatype decomposition method that we have adapted to be applicable to drivers of cropland expansion at global and national level. Our results indicate that, all else equal, without the yield gains observed globally since 1961, additional land of the size of Australia would have been put under the plough by 2007. Under this scenario the planetary boundary on global cropland use would have already been transgressed today. By contrast, without rising percapita caloric consumption and population growth since 1961, an area as large as nearly half and all of Australia could have been spared, respectively. Yield gains, with strongest contributions from maize, wheat and rice, have approximately offset the increasing demand of a growing world population. Analyses at the national scale reveal different modes of landuse transitions dependent on development stage, dietary standards, and international trade intensity of the countries. Despite some wellacknowledged caveats regarding the nonindependence of decomposition factors, these results contribute to the empirical ranking of different drivers needed to set research priorities and prepare wellinformed projections of landuse change until 2050 and beyond.

International food trade rules, as established and agreed under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), have enhanced the role of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). However, the increased recognition has also led to increased pressure for the Codex to define more clearly the approach to the setting of international food standards. The paper provides an account of the discussions in Codex on three complex debates: the setting of residue limits for hormones in meat and in milk and the adoption and use of four `statements of principle' on the role of science in the Codex decision-making process. Arising from these debates, the paper looks at the role of science in the adoption of Codex standards and considers those issues, known as `other legitimate factors', which also figure in the process.

Nations are becoming increasingly dependent upon internationally traded food products, often at the expense of traditional agricultural commodities. As the focus shifts to high value-added imports and exports, regulations targeting the food safety attributes of these products are increasingly cited as a source of potential non-tariff barriers to trade. To counter such concerns, various bilateral and multilateral efforts to demonstrate the integrity of the regulatory systems under which these foods are produced are taking centre stage. Little analysis of the relative efficacy of such rapprochement efforts exists. This paper therefore discusses the impacts food safety regulation can have on the growth in food trade by presenting a review of key regulatory rapprochement efforts targeting them. The GATT SPS Agreement in particular is discussed. Recent disputes centring on the impacts of food safety regulations are also reviewed to suggest how GATT commitments are being interpreted and enforced. This discussion highlights potential road-blocs to additional trade facilitation and evaluates if a ‘hard law’ system now exists.

The individual sanitary measures that comprise food inspection and certification systems often vary from country to country, and determination of their equivalence is arguably the most important contemporary food safety issue in international food trade. Development of a framework for judgement of equivalence requires a comprehensive understanding of risk analysis and food safety objectives. These management tools allow the application of agreed principles and guidelines in an iterative stepwise process, so that a different sanitary measure can be judged by an importing country as achieving it's chosen level of consumer protection.

We provide a formal analysis of the welfare and trade implications of ecolabeling schemes. We couch our analysis in the context of a stylized model of the textiles market between an industrialized North and a developing South. Textiles ecolabeling involves production-process standards, raising concerns of protectionism against the South. We investigate several labeling scenarios (labeling by North, labeling by both North and South, and harmonization).

Reference methods, such as those published by ISO (International Standards Organisation), are often laborious, expensive, and time consuming. More convenient, cheaper and more rapid methods are therefore often preferred for daily use. However, results obtained with such methods should be accepted by official control laboratories and trade partners, MicroVal, a European project for the validation and approval of alternative methods for the microbiological analysis of food and beverages, was set up to achieve this. A description is given of MicroVal. The general rules and certification procedures are described, as well as how the certification is organised. MicroVal aims at certifying alternative methods, i.e. methods which perform as well as internationally standardised methods. Whenever possible, an ISO standard method is used as the reference. Certification of alternative methods should ensure their acceptance by governmental inspection laboratories and laboratories in the food trade, thus facilitating commerce within the European Union.

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the public health hazards and socioecological problems posed by the street food industry in Africa. To mitigate these problems and enhance sustainable development of the street food trade, the paper emphasizes the need for African countries to intensify the education of street food consumers, and vendors in particular, on basic food safety matters and formulate their codes of practice for street foods using the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach. In view of their general weakness on the individual basis, consumers are urged to form organizations through which they can assert their rights and be heard on matters affecting them.

Beim in dieser Arbeit betrachteten Handelsunternehmen lassen sich die Lager des Trockensortiments anhand ihrer Lagersystematik in Schnell- und Langsamdreher sowie Cross-Docking unterscheiden, wobei jeder dieser Lagertypen unterschiedliche Lager- und Umschlagskosten verursacht. Der Einkauf hatte bisher nur ungenaue Vorgaben f��r die Zuordnung der Trockensortimentsartikel zu einem m��glichst optimalen Lagertyp, wodurch h��ufig hohe Liefer- bzw. Logistikkosten entstanden. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die Frage zu beantworten, wie sich Artikel des Trockensortiments dem optimalen Lagertyp am Beispiel eines ��sterreichischen Handelsunternehmens zuordnen lassen. Das Trockensortiment wurde zu diesem Zweck hinsichtlich der optimalen Lager- und Belieferungsform analysiert, um eine Vorgehensweise f��r die Ermittlung der optimalen Lagerzuordnung zu entwickeln und diese in einem Entscheidungsbaum dokumentieren zu k��nnen. In einem ersten Schritt wurden f��r jeden Lagerstandort Transport-, Lager- und Kapitalbindungskostens��tze sowie Restriktionen und Grenzwerte ermittelt. Anschlie��end wurden diese in eine logische Reihenfolge gebracht und in einem Entscheidungsbaum miteinander verkn��pft. Da die praktische Anwendung dieses Entscheidungsbaumes aufgrund der Berechnung aufwendig ist, wurde dieser in ein Excel-Makro umgesetzt. Mit dessen Hilfe wurden in weiterer Folge Umlagerungsvorschl��ge erarbeitet und deren Einsparungspotential errechnet. Die Zusammenf��hrung aller Kosten, Eigenschaften und Kriterien in einen Entscheidungsbaum erm��glicht zuk��nftig eine einheitliche Vorgehensweise bei der Ermittlung des optimalen Lagertyps f��r neue Artikel. Zur praktischen Anwendung steht dem Einkauf durch diese Diplomarbeit zuk��nftig ein Tool zur Verf��gung, das erlaubt, mit m��glichst geringem Aufwand den optimalen Lagerstandort, sowie die finanziellen Einsparungen im Vergleich zu den anderen Standorten zu ermitteln. Die Analyse der bestehenden Trockensortimentsartikel hinsichtlich ihrer Lagerzuordnung hat ergeben, dass viele Artikel nicht an dem f��r sie optimalen Lagerstandort liegen. F��r jene Artikel, die ein besonders hohes Einsparungspotential durch eine Umlagerung aufweisen, wurden Umlagerungsvorschl��ge erarbeitet mit denen sich, je nach Umsetzungsgrad, ein hohes finanzielles Gesamteinsparungspotential ergibt., The dry foods storages of the trading company mentioned in this work can be distinguished based on their storage classification in fast- and slow-moving goods as well as cross-docking. Each of these storage types has different storage and handling costs. To date, the purchasing department had only vague specifications for the assignment of dry foods to the best possible storage type, which often results in high delivery and logistics costs. The aim of this diploma thesis was to answer the question how dry foods articles are assigned to the optimal storage type using the example of an Austrian trading company. For this purpose, dry goods were analyzed regarding their optimal way of storage and delivery in order to develop a procedure for determining the optimal storage assignment and document them in a decision tree. As a first step, transportation, inventory and capital commitment cost rates, as well as restrictions and limits, are determined for each storage location. Afterwards, these are put into logical order and linked with each other in a decision tree. As the practical application of this decision tree is very complex due to calculation, it is then implemented in an Excel-Macro. With its help, rearrangement proposals are subsequently developed and their potential savings are calculated. Combining all costs, characteristics and criteria together in a decision tree allows a consistent procedure to determine the optimal storage type for new articles in the future. For practical application, this thesis provides the purchasing department with a tool that allows determining the optimal storage location with the least possible effort, as well as the financial savings in comparison to the other sites. The analysis of the existing dry goods products in terms of their storage assignment has shown that many products are not stored at the optimum storage location. For products featuring particularly high potential savings through rearrangement, rearrangement proposals have been drafted. Depending on the degree of realization, these proposals provide high overall savings potential.

China's economic growth is expected to continue into the next decades, accompanied by sustained urbanization and industrialization. The associated increase in demand for land, water resources, and rich foods will deepen the challenge of sustainably feeding the population and balancing agricultural and environmental policies. We combine a hydrologic model with an economic model to project China's future food trade patterns and embedded water resources by 2030 and to analyze the effects of targeted irrigation reductions on this system, notably on national agricultural water consumption and food self-sufficiency. We simulate interprovincial and international food trade with a general equilibrium welfare model and a linear programming optimization, and we obtain province-level estimates of commodities' virtual water content with a hydrologic model. We find that reducing irrigated land in regions highly dependent on scarce river flow and nonrenewable groundwater resources, such as Inner Mongolia and the greater Beijing area, can improve the efficiency of agriculture and trade regarding water resources. It can also avoid significant consumption of irrigation water across China (up to 14.8 km(3)/y, reduction by 14%), while incurring relatively small decreases in national food self-sufficiency (e.g., by 3% for wheat). Other researchers found that a national, rather than local, water policy would have similar effects on food production but would only reduce irrigation water consumption by 5%.

The novelty of this paper is to use national rate of assistance (NRA) to assess the impact of domestic support on food security vulnerability to trade. We first build a theoretical framework linking the vulnerability of food security to trade and national policy intervention in agriculture. Second, we measure the impact of national policy responses to 2008 price surge using the NRA on importable food products for 42 countries over the period 1995-2010. Our results suggest that most developing countries have used their possibility to play with the NRA level to compensate the effects of the 2008 food price surge.

Foodborne diseases cause an estimated 48 million illnesses each year in the United States, including 9.4 million caused by known pathogens. Real time detection of cases and outbreak sources are important epidemic intelligence services that can decrease morbidity and mortality of foodborne illnesses, and allow optimal response to identify the causal pathways leading to contamination. For most outbreaks associated with fresh produce items, outbreak source detection typically occurs after the contaminated produce items have been consumed and are no longer in the marketplace. We developed a probabilistic model for real time outbreak source detection, prediction of outbreaks, and contamination-prone area mapping with the aim of developing a cyber-infrastructure to support this activity. The models inputs include environmental, trade and epidemiological dynamics. Because effective distance reliably predicts disease arrival times we estimate the distance of outbreak sources from spatio-temporal patterns of foodborne outbreaks. As a case study we consider the 2013 Cyclospora outbreaks in the USA that were related to contaminated fresh produce (cilantro and fresh salad mix) from Mexico. We are able to match case distributions related to both food commodities and determine their outbreak sources with an average accuracy of 0.93. Assuming a similar pattern of contamination for 2014, outbreak patterns can be similar or worse with an unchanged food trade that is likely. The study aims to provide a methodological framework to evaluate environmentally sensitive food contamination and assess interdependencies of socio-environmental factors causing contamination. We emphasize the linkage of patterns and processes, the positive role of uncertainty, and challenge the belief that information about the whole food supply chain is needed for traceback analysis to be useful for identifying likely sources. Our specific prediction strongly emphasizes the need for real-time surveillance to identify and respond to this pending outbreak.

In addition to multilateral trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world has seen a remarkable proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the last two decades. This study investigates the impacts of these multilateral and regional trade institutions on food trade. The Gravity model of international trade is used for the empirical analysis. The model is developed in a large panel data setting and attempted to address some potential problems in the estimation including multilateral trade resistances, zero trade values and endogeneity. The results suggest that both the WTO and RTAs have delivered significant positive effects on trade, but only RTAs are found to have succeeded in increasing food trade among the members. However, although on average the WTO has negative implications on food trade, it has facilitated the developing countries more than the developed countries.

The main objective of the article is evaluation of selected elements of commercial infrastructure in the context of food purchasing conditions by the inhabitants of Cracow district communes (Zabierzów and Kocmyrzów-Luborzyca). The study allowed to determine the frequency of selection various forms of food trade in the place of respondents residence. Also was received a subjective assessment of the factors determining the choice of purchase place by respondents where the food products are bought. Respondents also expressed their general opinion about the access to trade infrastructure and about the level of supplies in food stores in their place of residence.

The purpose of the article was to confirm the thesis of the rapidly growing commercial importance of transnational corporations in food retailing in the world, especially in Poland and their influence on other actors in the food chain. The article presents the development of the largest commercial transnational corporations in the world and in Poland and description of the major changes in food trade in our country. The study based on an analysis of the literature and statistical data. It confirmed that the importance of commercial corporations in the food industry is very large and will continue to increase.

This study investigates food trade impacts of the enormous numbers of trade agreements in the world with special focus on developing countries. The Gravity model is used for the empirical analysis and developed in a large panel data setting. The results suggest that both multilateral and regional trade institutions have delivered significant positive impacts of food trade among developing countries. Although the WTO is found to have negative implications on food trade in general, it has increased food trade among developing countries. RTAs are found to have increased food trade among developed countries as well as the developing countries.

The ongoing political conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories results in an increasing physical separation and societal alienation of both conflicting parties. In some contexts such as trade ongoing cooperation exists. We provide a micro-level analysis of economic interactions between Israeli and Palestinian wholesale traders of fruits and vegetables. We use a unique dataset gathered by a quantitative survey among Israeli wholesale traders in order to obtain evidence on their perspectives on this economic exchange. Trading patterns show vivid economic exchange of mainly informal character. Logistic regressions suggest that education and the personal social network play vital roles for the existence of Israeli-Palestinian trading relationships. Israeli traders feel not affected by the conflict but wish for its quick settlement. A low level of transaction problems is reported. They are mainly caused by the political and security situation and by the payment behavior of the Palestinian trading partners. Daily contacts of economic agents lead to continuous economic cooperation despite of ongoing political conflict and improve the perception of the actors of the other party.

Private standards are increasingly governing international food trade, but little is known about the implications for developing countries. The objective of the study is to provide evidence in the ongoing debate on standards as barrier or catalyst for developing countries’ export. We use the Peruvian fresh asparagus export sector as a case study and provide empirical panel data evidence on the effects of certification to private food standards on export volumes of firms. Our dataset on the transactions of 567 export firms from 1993 to 2011 allows us to take export dynamics and time trends into account, as well as to keep country and sector specific effects constant. In our empirical strategy, we first use simple OLS and ignore firm-specific unobservable effects and dynamic export patterns. We then account for export persistence, as well as company fixed effects and finally, use System-GMM estimators to address potential reversed causality issues. These approaches represent substantial methodological improvements compared with previous studies on the trade effects of private standards. The empirical innovation is crucial for accurate impact estimation, as results indicate that certification to standards has a positive effect on the export volumes of companies, but that the significant effect dwindles as soon as unobserved firm heterogeneity and export persistency are properly controlled for. Additional studies with large data availabilities are needed to further disentangle the effect and confirm the case study results.

Maximum residue limits (MRLs) on pesticides and veterinary drugs in plant and animal products are established to promote food safety and animal and plant health. In practice, however, they are often accused of creating unnecessary trade barriers. The controversy is more prominent when a given MRL is stricter than the corresponding international standard developed by Codex. Using the score indices constructed by Li and Beghin (2012), we empirically assess the implications of stringency in MRLs in plant and animal products, relative to Codex levels, for Canadian and US trade performance. We find little evidence that US imports are influenced by domestic stringency or those imposed by its trading partners. However, US exports are negatively affected by stringency in destination markets. Canada’s stringent MRLs facilitate its exports of plant and animal products and these exports do not seem to be impeded by MRL stringency in destination markets. Canada’s imports do not appear to be systematically influenced by either its own or its trading partners’ MRL stringency. We draw implications for the potential harmonization of MRLs between the two countries.

Can transparency mitigate the trade-distortive effects of nontariff measures (NTMs)? This chapter explores the trade impact associated with promoting greater transparency in NTMs, using a new database of transparency provisions in over 100 Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). The investigation surveys the incidence and scope of transparency provisions in RTAs, and econometrically assesses the trade effects of these instruments on bilateral agricultural and food trade. The findings demonstrate that transparency provisions in RTAs are associated with greater agricultural trade flows, suggesting that transparency should remain an important element of ongoing policy efforts to make NTMs less onerous for trade in agriculture.

Food safety standards have proliferated as multilateral and bilateral trade agreements constrain traditional barriers to agricultural trade. Stringent food standards can be driven by rising consumer and public concern about food safety and other social objectives, or by the lobbying efforts from domestic industries in agriculture. We investigate the economic and political determinants of the maximum residue limits (MRLs) on pesticides and veterinary drugs. Using a political economy framework and econometric investigation, we find that nations with higher income and larger population adopt stricter MRLs. We also find that countries set more stringent MRLs in their more competitive sectors. Moreover, we show that MRLs and import tariffs are policy substitutes for policy makers. Finally, we find that countries with higher regulatory quality set tougher food standards.

Antallet sultne i verden har okt, selv om det kan diskuteres om det i dag er en hoyere eller lavere andel som lider under sult enn for seks ar siden – for matprisokningen. Alle er uansett enige om at det samlet sett produseres nok mat i verden til at alle kan fa dekket sine ernaeringsbehov. Artikkelen viser at to hovedretninger i debatten om matproduksjon star mot hverandre. Den dominerende retningen fokuserer primaert pa matsikkerhet, forstatt som okt matproduksjon og okt handel med mat. Den andre retningen argumenterer for at interessene og rettighetene for de mest sarbare ma ha forrang i politiske prioriteringer, og at de sarbare sikres best med en strategi basert pa menneskerettigheter. Artikkelen drofter landfordeling, okt bruk av genteknologi i landbruket og nedbygging av handelshindre for landbruksprodukter. Industrialisering av landbruket og liberalisering av handelen med landbruksvarer kan gi gode resultater pa makroniva – pa kort sikt. Dersom malet er a fremme situasjonen for de mest sarbare og samtidig mote klimautfordringene er losningen en nedenfra-tilnaerming, som til na er blitt ignorert av de fleste stater. Nokkelord: retten til mat, matsikkerhet, klima, Verdens handelsorganisasjon, FNs tusenarsmal English summary: The struggle over food intake and food production The number of hungry persons in the world has increased – although it is debatable whether there is currently a higher or lower proportion of suffering from hunger than six years ago – before the food price increases. All agree that the overall production of food in the world is adequate for everyone's nutritional needs. The article demonstrates that there are two main approaches in the debate on food production. The dominant approach focuses primarily on food security, understood as increased food production and increased food trade. The other approach argues that the interests and rights of the most vulnerable must prevail, and that improvements for the vulnerable are best ensured with a strategy based on human rights. The article analyzes land distribution, increased use of genetic technology in agriculture and reduction of trade barriers for agricultural products. Industrialization of agriculture and the liberalization of trade in agricultural products can provide good results at the macro level – in the short term. If the goal is to promote the situation of the most vulnerable and at the same time addressing climate change, the solution is a bottom-up approach, which until now has been ignored by most states.

This paper considers the relationship between anthropology and the interdisciplinary field of commodity studies through an examination of an important commodity chain in the Asia-Pacific, the live reef fish for food trade. Using an ethnographic perspective, I focus on how particular social relationships within this commodity chain have significant implications for two key concerns of commodity studies-the distribution of benefits through commodity chains and how commodity chains are regulated. The social relationships between fishers and traders provide a powerful avenue for relative economic prosperity for fishers, yet the forms of social relationships that operate between fishers, traders and regulators mean that regulation of the trade is not being implemented. This analysis provides an example of how an ethnographic lens can provide a useful perspective that can contribute to an interdisciplinary dialogue on commodity chains. © 2013 Copyright Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.

A description is given of MicroVal, a Eureka project for the validation and approval of alternative methods for the microbiological analysis of food and beverages. The general rules and certification procedures are described as well as how the certification may be organized in future. MicroVal aims at certifying alternative methods, i.e. methods which perform as well as internationally standardized methods. Whenever possible, an ISO standard method is used as the reference. Certification of alternative methods should ensure its acceptance by governmental inspection laboratories and laboratories in the food trade, thus facilitating commerce within the European Union. Although the realization of the project has not been finalized, a certification protocol has been developed, of which details are given.

Tomando como estudio de caso a Cataluña, el principal propósito de la tesis es el de analizar desde la geografía las acciones, relaciones e interacciones de los actores involucrados en la cadena de abastecimiento y comercialización de productos agroalimentarios en una actividad turística emergente denominada como turismo gastronómico y determinar si éste puede o no constituir una estrategia para el desarrollo local. Para responder al principal objetivo, en el análisis de las relaciones, se tomaron las dimensiones fundamentales de la geografía económica relacional que parte del trabajo previo de Storper (1997), desarrollado por Bathelt y Glückler (2003) y su propuesta de cuatro dimensiones de análisis que corresponden a la organización, la evolución, la innovación y la interacción entre actores y organizaciones. Como lo mencionan los autores, estos ¿pilares¿ representan las categorías analíticas centrales en el estudio de las estructuras y los procesos económicos y sociales desde la perspectiva relacional. El enfoque metodológico, aplicó la triangulación como procedimiento válido para la investigación cualitativa. La información cualitativa correspondió a la aplicación de manera personalizada de 22 entrevistas semiestructuradas a actores clave del sector público y privado involucrados en diversas actividades relacionadas con la gastronomía en el área de estudio. Las entrevistas fueron complementadas con información cuantitativa procedente de la aplicación de 320 encuestas telefónicas a actores involucrados en la producción, comercialización y restauración (hoteles y restaurantes) de productos promocionados como gastronómicos distribuidos en todas las 41 comarcas con las que cuenta Cataluña. Como parte de los resultados obtenidos y su análisis, se demostró la existencia y validez del turismo gastronómico como un nuevo campo institucional arraigado en contextos socioculturales, económicos e institucionales particulares. Esto se confirmó a partir de la aplicación de uno de los pilares de la geografía económica relacional como es el de la organización. Además y como resultado de otro de los pilares de la geografía económica relacional que es el de la interacción; éste, conllevó a concluir que las relaciones e interacciones en la cadena de abastecimiento y comercialización se dan gracias a que quienes participan de manera ya sea individual o colectiva bajo figuras organizacionales, comparten una serie de normas, valores, hábitos, acuerdos y prácticas que pueden ser denominadas como convenciones basados en los trabajos de Boltanski y Thevenoth (1991) y Thevenot et al. (2000). Estos acuerdos permiten la construcción de percepciones comunes del contexto estructural (Morgan et al., 2006). Los resultados obtenidos y su análisis, permiten entender que los nuevos fenómenos turísticos como el turismo gastronómico, se desarrollan de una manera más estructurada y se difunden a una mayor velocidad entre empresas, instituciones y asociaciones, en aquellas regiones que cuentan con un pasado turístico más maduro y experimentado en otros productos turísticos. Por tanto se identificó la experiencia de los actores, su conocimiento y el aprendizaje entre éstos, como un elemento fundamental en la ¿expansión¿ de nuevos fenómenos turísticos. Razón por la que en el caso catalán, el turismo gastronómico muestra un mayor dinamismo en marcas turísticas del litoral y prelitoral, como escenarios consolidados con otros productos turísticos como el caso del turismo de "sol y playa"., The central part of this thesis is dedicated to a specific case study undertaken in Catalonia, a region in which both gastronomy and gastronomic tourism (the main elements of which – according to Boniface (2003) – can be associated with local, regional, artisan, traditional and speciality products) have enjoyed considerable popularity. Despite this, a broad based and rigorous analysis of the Catalan phenomenon, including a detailed examination of its agrifood production, distribution and commercialisation under specific regional "gastronomy labels”, has yet to be fully developed. Hence, the chief goals of this thesis are 1) to identify the contexts for and the patterns of interaction between the various stakeholders that participate in the agrifood supply chain in the emerging tourism activity known as “Gastronomic Tourism” and 2) to determine if gastronomic tourism can form a successful part of the local development strategy. To achieve these goals this thesis first examines a reconceptualised model of economic geography as developed by Bathelt and Glückler (2003). Drawing on Storper’s (1997) holy trinity, the authors propose four ions of relational economic geography: organization, evolution, innovation and interaction between actors and institutions. Two research techniques have been applied. The first has been the collection of qualitative information in face-to-face interviews with 22 key actors engaged in various activities associated with Catalan cuisine. The second technique has involved a telephone survey conducted with 120 producers of typical gastronomic food products, 100 retailers and 100 restaurants and hotels. In the light of information obtained from the interviews and surveys as well as from direct observation, gastronomic tourism is undoubtedly an expanding phenomenon and one which requires the coordinated efforts of all those involved in it. Overall, the empirical research reported here provides considerable evidence that gastronomic tourism can stimulate a region’s economy by providing opportunities to create and organize new tourism products and to reinvent and lengthen the lifecycle of tourism products traditionally dedicated in Catalonia and Spain to sun and beach tourism. However, it is still not an easy task to determine the actual success of this emerging phenomenon in inland areas of Catalonia that do not share the same tourist dynamics of its coastal areas., Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist die Herausschälung von korrespondierenden Mustern einzelner Akteure und/oder Interessengruppen innerhalb des katalanischen Landwirtschafts- und Ernährungssektors. Das Forschungsinteresse gilt hierbei insbesondere jenen Aktivitäten, die im Kontext des s.g. “Gastronomic Tourism” nachhaltige Entwicklungsstrategien auf lokaler Ebene aufzeigen. Im Rahmen der Konzeptualisierung werden zunächst inhaltlich relevante Aspekte und Dimensionen des Beziehungsgeflechts Akteur versus Institution (Stichwort vier Ionen: Organisation, Entwicklung, Innovation und Interaktion) herausgearbeitet (vgl. Bathelt/Glückler 2003, Storper 1997). Ausgehend von einer relationalen Grundperspektive, offenbaren die hierzu notwendigen Untersuchungsmethoden einerseits die Möglichkeit eines qualitativen Interviewverfahrens (vgl. Bathelt/Glückler 2003, die 22 wichtigsten katalanischen Akteure des Arbeitsfeldes „Gastronomic Tourism“), andererseits das in diesem Zusammenhang gleichfalls obligatorische quantitative Interview mittels eines standardisierten und strukturierten Telefongesprächs (120 Produzenten, 100 Händler, 100 Restaurants und/oder Hotels). Die Auswertung der Analyseergebnisse auf der Basis der bereits oben vorgestellten vier Grundkonzepte (Stichwort: Ionen) bestätigt auf der Ebene der Organisation die Existenz von “Gastronomic Tourism” als neuen und institutionellen Bereich. Jenes Kräftefeld ist eingebettet in spezifisch soziokulturellen, ökonomischen und/oder institutionellen Kontexten. Die Fokussierung auf Interaktion verdeutlicht das sich gegenseitig bedingende Wechselspiel von Lebensmittelversorgungsketten (Stichwort: Aufbau gemeinsamer Praktiken, Routinen, Vereinbarungen und Gewohnheiten, gemeinhin subsumiert als Konventionen, vgl. Boltanski/Thevenoth 1991, Thevenot et al., 2000, Morgan et al., 2006). Identität versus Tradition erscheint hierbei als signifikantes Merkmal. Erfolgreiche Interaktion ist nur unter jener Ausgangslage denkbar. Die sehr deutlich angestiegene Nachfrage hinsichtlich eines sensiblen Umgangs des Themas “Gastronomic Tourism” weist auf die Notwendigkeit zukünftiger Forschung hin. Um regionalökonomische Effekte und Erfolgsfaktoren dementsprechend noch tiefgreifender zu verstehen, erscheint es notwendig, Ausprägungen hinsichtlich eines veränderten Freizeitverhalten (Stichwort: Nachhaltigkeit) mit spezifischen Analysetechniken (Stichwort: naturnaher Tourismus) zu verweben.

In last decades, international trade has been characterized worldwide by a significant opening up, mainly based on the reduction of tariffs. However, simultaneously there has been an increase in non tariff measures (NTMs) notified to the WTO. Within this category they are technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS). The increasing importance of these requirements highlights the need to attend to the effects that SPS/TBT measures have on the flow of imports and exports. In order to address this matter, a literature review was made to consider the latest research in the field specifically in the case of food and agricultural sector. Finally, as an overall result the existence of a “dual” effect was shown regarding the relationship between SPS/TBT and food and agricultural international trade which depends on the trade-off between implementation costs and the benefits of a better positioning in an gradually more demanding market.

The ongoing political conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories results in an increasing physical separation and societal alienation of both conflicting parties. In some contexts such as trade ongoing cooperation exists. We provide a micro-level analysis of economic interactions between Israeli and Palestinian wholesale traders of fruits and vegetables. We use a unique dataset gathered by a quantitative survey among Israeli wholesale traders in order to obtain evidence on their perspectives on this economic exchange. Trading patterns show vivid economic exchange of mainly informal character. Logistic regressions suggest that education and the personal social network play vital roles for the existence of Israeli-Palestinian trading relationships. Israeli traders feel not affected by the conflict but wish for its quick settlement. A low level of transaction problems is reported. They are mainly caused by the political and security situation and by the payment behavior of the Palestinian trading partners. Daily contacts of economic agents lead to continuous economic cooperation despite of ongoing political conflict and improve the perception of the actors of the other party.