Incentive structures for food safety and quality assurance: an international comparison

Abstract

This paper compares the incentive structures for changes in food safety legislation and in private sector business strategies in the UK, Canada and Australia. The experiences of these countries with respect to food safety scares is quite different, leading to different incentives for change and alternative legislative and private sector responses. In the UK, incentives were primarily related to crisis management and the restoration of consumer confidence following a number of high profile food safety scares. In Canada and Australia, the policy focus has been on risk management and the prevention of trade-threatening food safety issues. Private sector responses to food safety have included the growth of vertical alliances in the UK and Australian beef industries. These are less evident in Canada. The three-country comparison presented in this paper highlights the importance of incentives for change in determining the respective roles of public policy and private sector responses to food safety issues.