MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
Division of University Relations
403 Olds Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1047
MEDIA CONTACT: Lawrence Busch
(517) 355-3396 or
Sue Nichols
University Relations
(517) 355-2281
11/8/99
BEYOND FREE TRADE: MSU CONFERENCE PAVES WAY TO IMPROVE WORLD FOOD STANDARDS
EAST LANSING, Mich. - When free trade found its way into the world's food supply system some five years ago, it was expected that science and technology would lead the way to better and safer food.
Seventy experts from around the world - who gathered at Michigan State University recently - are leading the cry that it will take more than quantitative standards and rules to govern the trade in food that ends up on tables around the world.
"The complexities of the food supply demand that more voices be heard about issues of culture, religious beliefs and economic equity," said Lawrence Busch, director of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards at MSU. "The harmonization of food standards is more complex than anyone anticipated. These are questions that cannot be ignored. People's livelihoods are threatened."
In early November, members of governmental agencies, consumer and advocacy groups, national research agencies and academics from 22 countries gathered for a workshop on "Markets, Rights and Equity: Rethinking Food and Agricultural Standards in a Shrinking World."
Besides Busch, MSU organizers included R. James Bingen, Thomas Reardon and Craig Harris. The consensus: No longer can far-reaching decisions about standards for food safety, labor, quality, environmental impact and the like be set in a vacuum.
The group will work to lay the groundwork to make standards more just and equitable and aim toward an ongoing public forum through the World Trade Organization to continue to air these issues.
Among their findings:
-- The need for greater democracy in establishing and enforcing standards in regards to food safety, labor, quality and environmental impact in the food chain. "Currently, standards are enforced by the WTO behind closed doors," Busch said, "making public understanding and implementation difficult."
-- The need to acknowledge the growth of private standards: Supermarket chains and food processors increasingly are setting standards for the food they buy and such standards are not uniform.
-- Risk assessment needs to move beyond science. "Science can tell us what risk is, but not whether it's a risk worth taking," Busch said.
-- The WTO must take cultural diversity into account. Acknowledging that what may be acceptable in one country - unpasteurized milk, for instance - might be unacceptable in other countries.
-- International organizations need to be more accountable to the public when setting standards.
-- Economic impact must be shared equitably. High standards in the food chain are more burdensome on smaller, poorer countries, which have to incur more costs to be up to speed. Likewise, a system must be set up to be sure poorer counties have the means to dispute trade agreements.
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