dards has started as regulation of agrifood systems has shifted from nation-states to a broader set of organizations and institutions of the agrifood systems that also include global governance organizations, (e.g., World Trade Organization), multilateral and regional regulatory schemes (e.g., the EU) and private sector organizations, including transnational corporations (e.g., Cargill and Wal-Mart) (Scholte, 2000; McMichael, 2004; Higgins and Lawrence, 2005).
As the organization of agrifood systems has shifted, standards have become one of the most significant emerging practices for governing food (Bain et al., 2005; Higgins and Lawrence, 2005). Economists have typically highlighted the role standards play in helping to reduce transaction costs, increasing the predictability of a product and in general, simplifying what could be a very tedious and complicated process. With the increasing importance of standards, however, a shift has occurred from the use of standards as technical tools for market homogeneity to the use of standards as strategic tools for accessing markets, coordinating systems, enhancing quality and safety assurance, product branding and creating niche markets (Giovannucci and Reardon, 2000; Reardon et al., 2001).
The importance of standards has been recognized especially as the way in which the globalization of agriculture and food has been operationalized. Many authors have pointed to the growing concerns surrounding the distributional benefits of standards, especially for poor countries, small scale producers (both in poor and rich countries) and farmers utilizing alternative production systems (Dolan and Humphrey, 2000; Reardon and Farina, 2002; Dunn, 2003; Freidberg, 2004; Unnevehr and Roberts, 2004; Bain et al., 2005). In particular, this growing body of research has highlighted the rise of different types of standards, the lack of opportunity for specific groups to participate in standard setting, the high costs associated with standards adoption and the elevation of standards that require adherence to specific forms of production and processing in agrifood systems.
Historically, standards in most national food sectors have focused on what are called product (or performance) standards—that is, the composition (e.g., shape, color, etc.) of the final product and/or health features of the product (e.g., pesticide residues, contaminants, etc.) all of which are easily measured in the end product (Hannin et al., 2006). In much of the recent standards literature, the explanation for the emergence of food safety (or product) standards has to do with the decline of nation-state regulation combined with the many well-publicized food safety scares that have occurred in various countries (e.g., BSE—bovine spongiform encephalopathy, E-Coli contaminated meats and vegetables and dioxin-contaminated chicken). Thus, in order to reassure consumers of the safety of food products, countries and companies have imposed more stringent food safety standards. In Europe, NGOs pressure activities and consumers demand are often mentioned as the explanation for the increase in animal welfare standards and more broadly quality standards (Murdoch and Miele, 2004; Miele et al., 2005). Quality standards, (i.e., organics, fair trade, animal welfare) as opposed to food safety standards (i.e., pesticides residues, contaminants), are processed based standards, which means that the focus is on how the product is produced, |
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with definitions of quality revolving around shared, socially constructed values (such as environmental conservation or regional characteristics) (Renard, 2005). Moreover, quality standards are voluntary standards and it is argued that industry leaders adopt voluntary quality standards due to consumer demand, or at the very least, to allow retailers to differentiate products along lines that appeal to consumers, such as animal welfare, environmental sustainability and worker welfare (Hatanaka et al., 2005).
2.8.5 Food safety, quality regulation and food market niches
Created by FAO and WHO, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has elaborated many international standards. According to the Codex Alimentarius definition, food safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use (Codex Alimentarius, 1997).
Recent food scares in NAE have stimulated public concerns about food and farming. Consumers find it difficult to know where their food comes from, how it is produced and how far it has traveled. Food provision is increasingly organized through complex supply chains, often on a global scale. This has implications for consumer confidence, food safety and public health. In order to address this problem at the global level a number of international standards for food have been elaborated. For food safety the most widespread standard is HACCP which stands for "Hazard Analysis at Critical Control Point". The Codex Alimentarius Commission has adopted HACCP as the international standard for food safety. Under the EU food hygiene legislation, there are over a dozen measures covering specific products, an initiative to consolidate all hygiene legislation into one single text led to the implementation of EU Hygiene of Foodstuffs Regulations, 1998. While HACCP had its origin in the USA, it has now been introduced by the Hygiene Rules 93/43/ EWG in the production line of food in Europe. It bears the main ideas from the worldwide-accepted HACCP-System of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (Wilm, 2005).
Chronology of HACCP development (Wilm, 2005)
1959—Development of the HACCP concept to assure one hundred percent safety of food to be used in space. 1971—The HACCP system was published and documented in the USA. 1985—The National Academy of Science (NAS) recommended the use of the system. Worldwide the system became used and the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius (Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation) cited the system in the Codex. 1993—The European regulation 93/43 EG since 1993 provides the use of the system for the production of food.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed the ISO-9001:2000 quality system that aims to enhance customer satisfaction. This includes the processes for continual improvement of the quality system and the assurance of conformity to the customer and applicable regulatory requirements. In global business the certification according ISO 9000 turned out to be an imperative duty. Certification to an ISO 9000 standard does not guarantee |