Seminar on International Trade
February 2015
Outline
Chang-fa Lo

Multilevel Regulatory Options for Food Safety from Farm/Factories to Tables

Part I – Overall Issues
1. Introductory setting
(1) From farms/factories to tables
(2) Functions and importance of food – physiological, social and symbolic functions
(3) Different kinds of foods
(i) Food vs. food products
(ii) Functional food
(4) Food safety and related concepts
(i) Food safety and food-related human rights
(ii) Safety vs. quality
(iii) Safety vs. healthiness or nutrition
(iv) Food safety vs. food defense
(5) Local, regional and global food chains
(6) Goals and approaches
(i) Preventing, reducing or eliminating hazards
(ii) Approaches and mechanisms

2. Food hazards and public health concerns
(1) Public health concerns
(2) Food hazards
(3) Microbiological hazards, zoonosis and food-borne illness
(4) Chemical and biological hazards: Toxins, pesticides and chemical contaminant, additives
(5) Physical hazards

3. Food safety, technology and risk
(1) Technologies improving food safety
(2) Technologies to screen and identify potentially unsafe foods
(3) Technology giving rise to uncertainty (GM food)
(4) Technology harming food safety
(5) Acceptable risks, bearable risk or “Reasonable certainty of no harm” standard
(6) Precautionary principle

Part II – Regulatory Approaches
4. Normative and Inducement Options
(1) Regulatory/normative options
(2) Inducement options
(3) Deregulation or self-governance
(4) Cultural factor

5. Approaches to regulate producers, industries and production activities
(1) Entry threshold – Licensing requirement and renewal
(2) GAPs/Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)/Good Aquaculture Practices (AqPs)
(3) Small and large farms
(4) Corporate social responsibility
(5) Whistleblower
(6) Production and preparation process (packaging)

6. Approaches to regulate products and production methods
(1) Certification mechanism
(2) Risks-based
(3) Contents regulation
(4) Labelling and container requirements
(5) Warning labels
(6) Categorization of food: High-risk foods
(7) Organic food
(8) Process and production methods (PPM)

7. Approaches to regulate supply channels
(1) Supply chains – local, regional and global
(2) Tracking and tracing mechanism and record keeping
(3) Due diligence requirement for business operators
(4) Preventive measures

8. Approaches to regulate the markets and products’ market entry
(1) Role of the market
(2) Market mechanism and failure
(3) Promotional and advertising activities
(4) Marketing approval
(5) Market opening – to induce competition for good products
(6) Testing requirement

9. Approaches to affect the consumption behavior
(1) Transparency requirement
(2) Access to information and informed choice
(3) Good quality mark
(4) Consumer Awareness
(5) Behavior change – educational activities

Part III – Civil and Criminal Approaches and Government Responsibility
10. Civil liability and consumer protection
(1) Deterrent effect arising from civil liability
(2) Strict liability for certain activities
(3) Presumed amount of losses
(4) Punitive damages

11. Criminal punishment
(1) Deterrent effects arising from criminal penalty
(2) Types of activities/persons subject to criminal punishment
(3) Extent of penalty

12. Government’s responsibility
(1) Competent regulatory agencies – training and expertise
(2) Adequate resources and tools
(3) Funneled window
(4) Coordination among agencies
(5) State’s compensation

Part IV – International Framework
13. International agencies
(1) Food and Agriculture Organization
(2) Codex Alimentarius – standards setting
(3) WTO – involvement in notification under SPS and others

14. International cooperation
(1) Information-sharing
(2) Regulatory cooperation – international tracking and tracing
(3) Technical cooperation and assistance

15. An international framework convention needed
(1) Current situation
(2) Developing approaches
(3) Bilateral, regional and international
(4) Coordination of international efforts
(5) Coordination among treaties