Food Safety and International Trade—Research Briefs

Agriculture Information Bulletin No. (AIB789) , February 2004

Expanding food trade has brought into sharper relief the divergence among countries' food safety regulations and standards. Differences in food safety regulations and standards can cause frictions and even disputes that interrupt international food trade. Countries are, however, tackling food safety and trade issues by learning from each other's successes in managing food safety to narrow regulatory differences, collaborating to adopt common or international standards set by a third party, or reaching compromises on conflicting standards. This set of research briefs presents some of the highlights of the ERS report, "International Trade and Food Safety: Economic Theory and Case Studies."

Keywords: BSE, dioxin, economic theory, food safety, grains, international trade, meat, poultry, produce, regulation, regulatory trends, Salmonella, seafood, ERS, USDA

In this series ...

Reports are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Food Safety and International Trade (AIB789-1)

• Food Safety and International Trade: Theoretical Issues (AIB789-2)

• Resolving Trade Disputes Arising from Trends in Food Safety Regulation: The Role of the Multilateral Governance Framework (AIB789-3)

• Food Safety Issues for Meat/Poultry Products and International Trade (AIB789-4)

• Response to U.S. Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Associated With Imported Produce (AIB789-5)

• Mycotoxin Regulations Implications for International Agricultural Trade (AIB789-6)

• Seafood Safety and Trade (AIB789-7)

Updated date: February 28, 2004