Private Regulation, Supply Chain and Contractual Networks: The Case of Food Safety (original) (raw)

Shifting responsibilities for food safety in Europe: An introduction

Appetite, 2006

Following the BSE crisis in 1996, the European food sector underwent profound regulatory and institutional change. The present introductory article introduces, and sketches the background to, seven studies of the institutional reactions and initiatives that were part of, or prompted by, this reorganisation. The studies analyse the way in which the division of responsibilities for food safety has changed both across the EU as a whole and, more specifically, in six European countries. Prepared as part of the comparative research project, Trust in Food, the studies attempt to go beyond traditional policy network analysis and work on regulation. They ask which constellations of societal actors and logics are important in the shifting responsibilities of public and private actors; and they treat this as an empirical question. It emerges that, at EU level, the main strategy for restoring consumer confidence in food was to enhance the institutional independence, transparency and consumer agency. In the countries covered by the remaining six studies, by contrast, institutional reactions in the food sector varied depending on the particular configurations of state, market and civil society. r

The impact of EU public organizational rules and private standards on official food controls

2016

The EU multilevel protection system of the food market is based on three different elements relevant both for private and business operators: the direct effect of organizational norms imposed on the Member States by the recent EU food safety legislation; the role of public control and the integration of private standards in the government structure of a globalized market. This article aims to focus on the problems arising from the integration of the EU and national legal systems about food safety, as well as to interpret the role of private standards, accreditation and public control in the new scenario, characterized by an increasing complexity brought on by the globalization of commerce and the integration of many different legal orders and sources of obligations. The result is a juridical analysis on who controls what and on the basis of which power/rules, taking into account the increasing role of self-regulation in food production and distribution

Private food safety standards, private law and the EU: exploring the linkages in constitutionalization

The Role of the EU in Transnational Legal Ordering, 2020

Verbruggen, P. (Accepted/In press). Private food safety standards, private law, and the EU: Exploring the linkages in constitutionalization. In M. Cantero Gamito, & H-W. Micklitz (Eds.), The role of the EU in transnational legal ordering: Standards, contracts, and codes (pp. 54-79). Edward Elgar. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research-You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain-You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

The Architecture of Food Safety Control in the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union

This survey of food safety control systems in the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union is designed to assess the degree to which the present systems in the two unions can ensure effective food safety control, thus ensuring the free movement of goods within the single market. The analysis spans both central and country level institutions for ensuring food safety in the countries of these two economic unions. We conclude that there are cardinal differences between the food safety systems in the two unions both at the central and country levels. The overhaul of the EU food safety control system in the 2000s led to a significant transfer of decision making authority to EU institutions. Very little, if any, of the EU-type central edifice exists in the Eurasian Economic Union.

Providing Safety for the Food Consumer on the EU Market

Knowledge Horizons - Economics, 2013

Starting from how food product quality can and is defined and from the differences of approach for food and non-food products, we can formulate the concept of food consumer safety. This concept underpins the systems meant to ensure the quality of these products and to trace the stages of the EU specific logistical chains in order to prevent and reduce risks and dangers that can threaten the European food consumer's health.

European food regulation and accountability: the interplay of influences shaping the new regulatory terrain

This chapter highlights key emergent themes of the complex model of food regulation in the UK, that is evolving as a result of the private, institutional and consumer pressures on food regulation. The growing significance of incorporating consumer and public concerns and constructions in policy making, along with fostering a pivotal and globally competitive European food market is discussed. The riding of these two 'horses', one associated with the deepening spatial mobility of food; the other associated with continuously giving this mobility some degree of public legitimacydefines the agenda for the new complex model of food regulation. A model, within a new publicly-defined set of parameters which has re-cast, private interest regulation, that is supposedly in the (European) public interest.

Experiments in Food Safety Policy Integration in the European Union*

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2006

Policy issues are increasingly cross-cutting. Policy integration has therefore become a fashionable concept among policy-makers at domestic and international levels. Theoretically, the article facilitates a deeper understanding of the concept of policy integration. Empirically, this article analyses food safety policy integration in the European Union (EU). Three different historical phases are identified here. The central argument is that the way cross-cutting policy issues are integrated within policy sectors affects the opportunities for effective integration of these issues across different policy sectors.

Regulation for Safe Food: A Comparison of Five European Countries

Scandinavian Political Studies, 2008

This article explores food safety regulation in five European countries by comparing their main legislation and organizational characteristics. The aim is to gain insight into the particular characteristics of food safety regulation, understand major differences and similarities, and reach a firmer understanding of how regulation evolves. Food safety regulation concerns vital questions, and is a field with a long history. Food scandals -in particular the 1996 BSE crisisand European integration have prompted major changes. The BSE scandal revealed important underlying conflicts of interest and dilemmas concerning the twin objectives of ensuring safe food while also ensuring honest trade in food. This led to a questioning of existing structures and paved the way for new regulation. The authors' main finding is that food safety regulation has similar origins, addresses similar tasks, and raises similar problems and conflicts in all five countries. A tension between protecting public health and paying heed to business interests, and a struggle for control over this policy field between the administrations of health and agriculture, are common features. However, the configuration of food safety regulation in legislative and organizational terms varies. The comparative focus reveals that national context and history are important for understanding change. This leads to the conclusion that the framing and reframing of the field depend largely on how it is structured and regulated initially, as well as on the constellations of interests and values that are operative and legitimate in each context.