Standards and Agro-Food Exportsfrom Developing Countries: Rebalancing the Debate

Jaffee, Steven ; Henson, Spencer

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS;    AGRICULTURE;    ANIMAL;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3348
RP-ID  :  WPS3348

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The proliferation and increasedstringency of food safety and agricultural health standardsis a source of concern among many developing countries.These standards are perceived as a barrier to the continuedsuccess of their exports of high-value agro-food products(including fish, horticultural, and other products), eitherbecause these countries lack the technical andadministrative capacities needed for compliance or becausethese standards can be applied in a discriminatory orprotectionist manner. The authors draw on availableliterature and work in progress to examine the underlyingevidence related to the changing standards environment andits impact on existing and potential developing countryexporters of high-value agricultural and food products. Theevidence the authors present, while only partial, suggeststhat the picture for developing countries as a whole is notnecessarily problematic and certainly less pessimistic thanthe mainstream "standards-as-barriers"perspective. Indeed, rising standards serve to accentuateunderlying supply chain strengths and weaknesses and thusimpact differently on the competitive position of individualcountries and distinct market participants. Some countriesand industries are even using high quality and safetystandards to successfully (re-)position themselves incompetitive global markets. This emphasizes the importanceof considering the effects of food safety and agriculturalhealth measures within the context of wider capacityconstraints and underlying supply chain trends and drivers.The key question for developing countries is how to exploittheir strengths and overcome their weaknesses such that theyare gainers rather than losers in the emerging commercialand regulatory context.