EXPORT PERFORMANCE OF FIRMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY STANDARDS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Turkey changed her economic policy in 1980s towards more liberal economy and higher exports. During this transition, the structure of the exports also changed from agricultural products towards industrial ones. Export of food products, for which the European Union is the largest market, has an important share in total exports. Recently, EU has started to increase the stringency of her regulations related to food quality, safety and environmental standards. This development necessitates the analysis of how Turkish firms exporting into EU should respond to them, and that is what this paper will try to demonstrate. We believe that such analysis is very valuable not only for Turkey but also for other developing countries.