It’s not easy to navigate through EU food laws, so this book provides a clear analysis of the relevant EU regulations, making it beneficial to food safety organizations and food industry professionals. Ensuring Food Safety in the European Union provides an overall detailed analysis of the many and complex initiatives implemented by the European Union Institutions since the European Commission adopted on 12 January 2000 the "White Paper on Food Safety" with the objective of defining the policies to improve the level of health protection for the consumers of Europe's food. Achieving the highest standards of food safety in Europe has been a key policy priority for the European Institutions during the past 20 years through the implementation between 2000 and 2019 of many initiatives anticipated in the mentioned White Paper concerning: (i) The establishment of the European Food Safety Authority; (ii) the adoption of new food safety legislations in many domains; and (iii) the adoption of consumer’s mandatory and voluntary information regulations. Features Offers a clear and evolutive view of all relevant procedures and objectives to ensure food safety in European context Up to date presentation of EU relevant regulation and EFSA roles and activities Discusses the basic reasoning underlying the development and objectives of the current approach to food laws The book offers a review of all the available tools and their practical usefulness on food safety at European level and their possible integration. The interest of the European Institutions for food safety policies continues to be very high as shown by the adoption in September 2019 of the EU regulation 1381 to further reinforce and potentiate, among others, EFSA risk assessment. The main target of the book is the food business operators of large and medium enterprises and their consultants. Other interested parties are the authorities competent at national and regional and local level and university teaching professionals in charge of food safety and related courses.

Recent advances in agri-food technology have brought increasing complexity and emerging challenges to food safety regulation and governance, with many countries greatly divided in their regulatory approaches. As more advanced CRISPR-based gene-editing technologies and novel foods such as cloned animal products, non-traditional plants, nanofood, and plant-based meat are rapidly being developed, debates arise as to whether the existing models of governance require revision to ensure consumer safety. Of equal importance is the extensive use of pesticides, additives, and animal drugs, which raise concerns over the methods and approaches of government approval and phasing out of potentially risk-causing chemicals. Heightened public criticism of food safety and technology poses a signifi cant challenge to governments around the world, which struggle to strike a proper balance between technocracy- and democracy-oriented risk governance models. Drawing on expertise from the United States, European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Association of South East Asian Nations, Malaysia, and Taiwan, this book explores existing and emerging issues of food law and policy in the context of technology governance to offer an overarching framework for the interaction between food regulation and technology. It will be essential reading for academics, students, and practitioners with an interest in food law and policy, agricultural law and policy, and food safety and nutrition studies.

This book analyses EU food law from a regulatory, economic and managerial perspective. It presents an economic assessment of strategies of food safety regulation, and discusses the different regulatory regimes in EU food law. It examines the challenges of food safety in the internal market as well as the regulatory tools that are available. The book’s generic theorising and measurement of regulatory effects is supplemented by detailed analysis of key topics in food markets, such as health claims, enforcement strategies, and induced risk management at the level of the organizations producing food. The regulatory effects discussed in the book range from classical regulatory analysis covering e.g. effects of ex-ante versus ex-post regulation and content-related versus information-related regulation to new regulatory options such as behavioral regulation. The book takes as its premise the idea that economic considerations are basic to the design and functioning of the European food supply arena, and that economic effects consolidate or induce modification of the present legal structures and principles. The assessments, analyses and examination of the various issues presented in the book serve to answer the question of how economic theory and practice can explain and enhance the shaping and modification of the regulatory framework that fosters safe and sustainable food supply chains. ​ ​

The quality of the food we eat has become one of the biggest concerns for Europe's citizens. This brochure explains the role of the European Union (EU) in maintaining the highest standards of food safety and quality. The EU agricultural policy encourages farmers to produce a large choice of quality foodstuff, including organic production. European-wide legislation serves to keep food free of harmful substances and to keep consumers well informed through the labels on the food. The EU Food and Veterinary Office monitors whether safety rules are followed. Also, the EU activities related to new technology and to the global trade rules have an impact on our daily food.

Food safety is a top priority in Europe. The EU's demanding rules have been further toughened since 2000 to ensure that Europeans' food is extremely safe. The new approach is more integrated: feed and food are carefully tracked from the farm to the fork. EU authorities carefully evaluate risk and always seek the best possible scientific advice before banning or permitting any product, ingredient, additive or GMO. This applies to all feed and food, irrespective of whether it comes from inside or outside the EU. Safety does not mean uniformity. The EU promotes diversity based on quality. European law protects traditional foods and products from specific regions by ensuring consumers can distinguish them from copies. The European Union is increasingly encouraging its farmers to focus on quality - not just in food but also in the rural environment. The EU also respects the consumer's right to informed choice. It encourages public debate, it requires informative labelling and it publishes the scientific advice it receives, so that consumers can have confidence in the food they eat.

“As a Journal Editor for over twenty-five years, I have read a lot about the European Union. I am often asked, 'what are the major gaps in EU research?' My answer is always 'implementation'. Eva Thomann's book makes a major contribution to EU implementation studies. She brings really fresh thinking to the field. This is an important book for all students of the EU and of policy implementation." —Jeremy Richardson, Co-Editor of the Journal of European Public Policy This book sheds light on the patterns, causes and consequences of the “customization” of European Union (EU) policies. Even if they comply, member states interpret and adapt EU rules in very diverse ways when putting them into practice. We can think of and measure this diversity as a phenomenon of regulatory change along the implementation chain. The book explores what explains customization, and what it means for providing policy solutions to shared problems. It studies the implementation of EU food safety policies in Austria, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland using innovative qualitative comparative techniques. After looking at the role of prominent compliance arguments and the “logics of action” for customization, the study assesses how differing degrees of customization affect the success of the implementation. The book provides a new, evidence-based perspective on “gold-plating” and better regulation in Europe for scholars, students and practitioners of policy implementation, European integration and Europeanization alike.

This volume presents the viewpoints of academics, food lawyers, industry and consumer representatives as well as those of EU policymakers on the first ten years of activity of one of the most prominent European agencies. Its broader purpose, however, is to discuss the future role played by EFSA within the rapidly-evolving area of EU food law and policy. By revisiting and discussing the milestones in the history of EFSA, the collection provides forward-looking views of food leaders and practitioners on the future scientific and regulatory challenges facing the European Union. In particular, by presenting a critical assessment of the agency’s activities within its different areas of work, the book offers readers a set of innovative tools for evaluating policy recommendations and better equips experts and the public to address pressing regulatory issues in this emotive area of law and policy. Despite its celebratory mood, the book’s focus is more about the future than the past of EU food law and policy. Each chapter discusses how EFSA’s role has evolved and identifies what it should have done differently while presenting an overall assessment of how the agency has discharged its mandate.

This handbook analyses and explains the institutional, substantive and procedural elements of EU food law, taking the General Food Law as a focus point. Principles are discussed as well as specific rules addressing food as a product, the processes related to food and communication about food through labelling. These rules define requirements on subjects like market approval for food additives, novel foods and genetically modified foods; food hygiene, tracking & tracing, withdrawal & recall.

Food safety has been a global concern for many years. While global sourcing of foods and ingredients provides great opportunity for variety and diversity of cultural products, there are significant risks. Programs that regulate food safety and quality in countries around the world vary in their scope and effectiveness, with many being underfunded. Rapidly developing countries may lack the expertise, laboratory resources for testing, and established inspection programs to adequately promote the safety of foods. Rather, these countries may be more focused on providing enough food for their citizens. Lack of documentation or traceability in the exporting country can further exacerbate the situation. Of course, safety problems in food imported from more developed countries also occur, and the source of food borne disease outbreaks are found regularly within the United States. Improving Import Food Safety gathers together vital information on the food safety programs of national governments, the food industry, and the testing industry. Chapters have been contributed by authors from the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Readers will learn about a variety of regulatory approaches to food safety at the federal and state levels in the United States, as well as in selected countries and within the food industry itself. They will also gain insights into the nature and source of safety problems, in addition to approaches to food safety around the world. The book is divided into three sections: Highlighting Key Issues: authors illustrate the millions of permutations for the origin of ingredients, discussing the difficulty if policing imports, providing a unique perspective on the economic situation in China and insight into development of support for small farm producers in Mexico. Legal and Regulatory Issues/Structures in the USA and Abroad: describes the legal and regulatory system in the European Union, the United States, and China, plus a chapter addressing global approaches to fraud. Potential Strategies to Improve Import Safety: presents strategies to deal with what are ultimately global issues, but on multiple levels. Perspectives are provided by authors from Industry, and industry trade association, academia, and a recently semi-retired, global ambassador or food safety. Readers will find this book noteworthy because of the diverse topics and perspectives offered on the challenges of keeping food safe in a global economy. Authors come from a variety of backgrounds, and each has provided a unique perspective on this critical topic. The volume is aimed at importers and exporters of food and ingredients; food microbiologists, food safety and QC/QA personnel; regulatory and legal personnel in food manufacturing companies; food policy makers and regulatory officials and facility and graduate students in food science.

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers in the developed world and Europe in particular. This has been highlighted by the recent spate of food scares ranging from the BSE (mad cow) crisis to Chinese melamine contamination of baby formula. To ensure food safety throughout Europe, stringent food safety standards have been put in place ‘from farm to fork’. At the same time, poor African countries in the COMESA rely on their food exports to the European market to achieve their development goals yet have difficulty meeting the EU food safety standards. This book examines the impact of EU food safety standards on food imports from COMESA countries. It also critically examines both EU and COMESA food safety standards in light of the WTO SPS Agreement and the jurisprudence of the WTO panels and Appellate Body. The book makes ground-breaking proposals on how the standards divide between the EU and the COMESA can be bridged and discusses the impact of EU food safety standards on food imports from poor African countries.