2010 AAEA Presidential Address; forthcoming in January 2011 AJAE in shortened version.

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/02/10.

The United States is the third largest consumer of seafood products in the world. The percentage of imported seafood consumed in the U.S. has steadily increased from 66% in 1999 to over 84% in 2009 (NOAA, 2010). Food safety, especially of imported foods and products from developing countries,...

With the coming-into-effect of regulation (EC) Nr. 510/06 from the 20th March 2006 and the executive regulation (EG) Nr. 1898/06 the community-wide protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foods received a new legal basis. The new regulation...

Since late 2010 and continuing into 2011, price volatility, in relation to basic agricultural commodities, has occupied center stage on the agendas of decision makers. An additional concern has been uncertainty about a new global economic crisis in the wake of the macroeconomic difficulties...

Trade in genetically modified (GM) products remains a major issue in agricultural trade policy. In particular, the European Union has sought to deny market access to GM-products. In the wake of a WTO case brought by Canada and the US, among others, against an import ban imposed on genetically...

The regulatory regime for contamination permits the imposition of import bans with neither a scientific justification nor a risk assessment. No scientific assessment of Triffid flax was done prior to the import ban. The import regime put in place to deal with the contamination of flax with the...

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) which was signed into law in January, 2011 represents a major initiative to improve food safety in the US. The legislation mandates the US Food and Drug Administration with developing a regulatory system to implement the Act. As yet, the full effect of...

The preamble to this paper highlights some of the major policy issues facing Vietnam as far as its supply of pork is concerned, in particular, the problem of its demand for pork rising at a faster rate than its supply. Some relevant background to this research project is provided by outlining...