Food Safety Regulations and Policies in Latin America

Abstract

Food safety is a concern that is addressed within Latin America, but its respective standards, regulations and policies vary among individual countries. While all countries in Latin America have legislation in place relative to food, not all of them have a coordinated control system, and existing control systems can vary significantly from country to country. Many countries in Latin America have enacted modern legislation relative to food, however the region's efforts regarding consistency and effectiveness of food safety regulation continues to be a work in progress. The Latin American region is capable of both providing sufficient food for its population, and also being an important participant in the ever-expanding global agrifood trade. Latin American nations are dealing with the fact that, “in recent decades, developed country governments and multinational firms have been imposing an ever-growing array of food quality and safety standards on imported foodstuffs” (Coslovsky, 2014, 33). As a result, influenced by globalization and not wanting to lag behind, most Latin American countries are continually striving to harmonize their food safety regulatory initiatives. This article brings to light food safety regulations and policies and their development processes in Mexico, the Central American countries and South American countries.