European Union (EU) food policy has experienced
a major overhaul in recent years. The new EU regulations
on food safety standards are increasingly complex, stringent,
and geared toward quality control, process verification,
labeling, and traceability. Moreover, placing risks and responsibility
for food safety on food businesses has greatly contributed
to the emergence of private-based standards—an increasingly
important feature of the new EU food regulatory landscape.
These developments have significant cross-border implications,
affecting not only trade with the United States, but also
globally as many countries are harmonizing their standards
with those of the European Union. This workshop will bring
together top experts from Europe and the United States to
address a range of issues related to this important and timely
topic, including:
Policy and Standards Harmonization:
Does the EU tendency toward process-based standards create a widening gap with U.S. product-based food regulations? Are there areas of convergence in regulating food safety/traceability between the United States and EU? What are the global trade implications of third countries harmonizing their standards with the EU?
Impacts on Food Industry:
What conditions favor the growth of private standards within the EU regulatory landscape? What are the points of convergence/divergence between public and private standards? How is the U.S. food industry responding to these developments?
Trade:
What are the direct and indirect impacts of changing EU regulations on U.S.-EU trade? What are the implications of changing retailer buying behavior on trade patterns? Under what conditions do standards either promote or inhibit trade?
The goal of this workshop is to provide a forum to discuss these issues and to pose ideas for future research.
If you have questions about the workshop, please contact Aziz Elbehri by email at aelbehri@ers.usda.gov or by phone at (202) 694-5291.
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