International trade and food safety in developing countries

The World Bank has been promoting the concept that access to markets is an important part in the development of its clients i.e. third world countries, and is increasingly demanding attention for the removal of restrictions imposed by developed countries on international trade, especially with respect to developing countries. The majority of trade-limiting factors in developing countries relate to economics, poor infrastructure and lagging skills; food safety is still mainly the responsibility of the consumers. Improving food safety along western standards, however, may carry considerable costs and price food out of reach of the poor. Therefore, introduction of new food safety tools and rules need to be affordable and build on local food management customs rather than simply imposing western standards that are expensive to monitor. World Bank experience of investing in food safety indicates a number of issues that frequently surface, including (i) confusion between quality and safety, (ii) over regulation, (iii) selective enforcement, (iv) lack of integration of food laws and regulations in the overall legislative system, (v) multiplicity of responsible agencies, and (vi) the mismatch between the standards required in OECD- and in an developing-countries. It is recommended to improve awareness, simplify rules, improve skills and infrastructure, adapt food safety monitoring to local conditions, and help formulating HACCPs for niche products from developing countries. It is also recommended to ensure stronger voice of the poor in food safety decisions, and a greater participation of the poor and poor countries in international standard setting organizations.