Benchmarking international food safety and quality systems towards a framework for fresh produce in the transitional economies

Abstract

Considerations for food safety, quality assurance and the increasing importance of credence attributes are directly influencing market access for developing country producers in the world's most developed markets. Voluntary quality assurance systems building on and additional to the regulatory requirements (for safety) increasingly define end market requirements. While some schemes offer superior characteristics in addition to management advantages in the supply chain, other schemes are regarded as deficient and sometimes misleading in delivering proclaimed quality and safety criteria. Producers and exporters in developing economies must understand and recognise the appropriateness of these various schemes and their value in the growing international trade for agri-food products.