Food Regulation and Trade: Toward a Safe and Open Global Food System [Paperback]

Donna Roberts (Author), David Orden (Author), Tim Josling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

The discovery of a single animal with "mad cow" disease in a herd in the state of Washington in December 2003 put US beef exports to two dozen countries on hold, despite assurances that the US food supply remained safe. Guarding the safety of a nation's food supply, ensuring quality, and providing information to consumers so that they can make informed choices are widely accepted as universal obligations of governments. But differences in the way that governments fulfill these obligations can lead to trade conflicts. The potential for such conflicts increases as more affluent and safety-conscious consumers demand additional regulations in national food systems. Governments should handle these conflicts in a way that both upholds food safety standards—and public confidence in them—and preserves the framework for trade and the benefits of an open food system.

Food Regulation and Trade: Toward a Safe and Open Global System, published by the Institute for International Economics, examines the current state of regulation of the increasingly global food system, analyzes the underlying causes of the trade conflicts (both those that are currently evident and those that are waiting in the wings), and outlines the steps that could be taken to ensure that food safety and open trade become at least compatible and at best mutually supporting.

From their broad analysis and interwoven case studies, Josling, Roberts, and Orden conclude that there is ample room for improving the performance of regulatory authorities in providing safe food and preventing the spread of animal and plant disease. International institutions can play a vital role in coordinating these efforts among developed and developing countries and in reducing uncertainty. By contrast, the role of governments in the regulation of quality should in most cases be limited to the prevention of misleading claims, and international rules should be focused on reducing transaction costs rather than imposing uniform measures across disparate markets.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Timothy Josling is emeritus professor at the Food Research Institute and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for International Studies, Stanford University. He has held academic positions at Stanford, the University of Reading, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Agricultural Trade Policy: Completing the Reform (1998).

Donna Roberts is a senior economist at the Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture. She served as a delegate to the WTO's Committee on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures while on assignment at the US Trade Representative's Permanent Mission in Geneva from 1996 to 2002. In her current position, she continues her research on food regulation and trade.

David Orden is senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and professor in the department of agricultural and applied economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He was visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales (1990-91), chairman of the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium (1996-98), and visiting professor at Stanford University (1998-99). He is coauthor of Policy Reform in American Agriculture: Analysis and Prognosis (University of Chicago Press, 1999).

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Peterson Institute (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881323462
• ISBN-13: 978-0881323467
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,123,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examines the current state of regulation, July 5, 2004

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food Regulation and Trade: Toward a Safe and Open Global Food System (Paperback)

The collaborative effort of Timothy Josling (Emeritus Professor at the Food Research Institute and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for International Studies, Stanford University), Donna Roberts (Senior Economist at the Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture), and David Orden (Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Food Regulation And Trade: Toward A Safe And Open Global System is a seminal and ground breaking study which examines the current state of regulation with respect to the increasingly global food system. Analyzing the underlying causes of trade conflicts precipitated by conflicting national interests as well as such emergency anomalies as the outbreak of "mad cow disease", Food Regulation And Trade outlines the steps that need to be taken in order to ensure that food safety and open trade become not only compatible but mutually supporting. With the use of illustrative case studies, suggestions for improving regulatory authority performance, the focus on what international institutions can do to coordinate international efforts among developed and developing countries, the necessity for international rules focused on reductions in transaction costs, Food Regulation And Trade is a timely and critically important contribution to corporate, governmental, and academic International Economics Studies reading lists and reference library collections.