The Evolution of Public Standards and Assurance Schemes for Food Safety and Quality(Security, Relief in Food and Representation of Quality, Symposium Reports at 2003 Annual Meeting of the Society)

Abstract

The economics of breach analyzed in this paper concludes that the proper labeling that can effectively support the consumer's right of selection is essential on the one hand, whereas perpetual controls must be maintained at high levels in order to strengthen confidence in food saftey. An analytical comparison of the Food Sanitation Law (FSL) and the Japanese Agricultural Standards Law (JAS) that were undertaken with respect to parallelism and dissimilation in assuring food safety in the postwar period. The FSL consists of regulative measures to assure food hygiene and safety, while the measures of the JAS are economically incentive-based (certificate and/or labeling) to achieve high quality together with safety. In the latter period of the 1960s, when the number of food poisoning accidents had been decreasing, each policy regressed to its proper function. In 1995 the FSL was substantially amended due to an expansion of emerging hazards, a more integrated food system, social demand for deregulation, enactment of product liability laws, an increase in international trade, and the necessity of harmonizing international sanitary regulations. A new hygiene control called HACCP was begun. In 1993, JAS was amended to establish a high quality standard and an organic JAS including GMO and place of origin labeling in 1999. The Basic Law of Food Safety enacted in 2003 will become an institutional framework with three principles such as 'Consumers First', 'From Farm To Table', and 'Risk Analysis'.