Liability Rules, Collective Organizations and the Provision of Food Safety

Abstract

There are many ways to improve food safety. It is wellrecognized in the literature that private bilateral -contracts, perhaps including third-party private certification, may substitute for or complement government regulation. However, these two options are not the only ones available. For example, in the last decade we have seen produce grower organizations using marketing orders or agreements to establish food safety duties among their growers—the most well known is the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. These establish responsibilities for growers and change the relationship between producers and buyers. Informational asymmetries, for instance, may mean that traceability, and thus culpability, would be very difficult for either consumers or government agents to determine.