Learning objectives
The Lab aims at achieving the following objectives:
a. Knowledge and understanding. The Lab aims at providing participants with a preliminary, jet varied, picture of the problems and solutions related to the food safety standards demanded from, and to, the stakeholders of the modern agri-food supply chain
b. Capability of applying knowledge and understanding. Lab participants will be capable of applying established and new knowledge to each stage of the agri-food supply chain subject to food safety regulations. In particular, Lab participants will be able to quantify the costs of (non) complying to food safety regulations using different approaches
c. Autonomous judgement making. Employing the tools provided during the Lab, participants will be able to establish whether the costs of the concerned food safety standards exceed the associated benefits, such that it may be rational disrespecting them; enforcing/requiring compliance with food safety standards equals imposing a non-tariff barrier to trade and/or to the development such that political and trade negotiations take place also on these matters; whether requiring/promoting improved food safety standards is an “economic” request on the part of the consumer or only an additional marketing option for the supply side of the agri-food supply chain
d. Communication skills. The Lab intends to provide participants with the necessary technical and specific language required to evaluate and communicate the economic costs and benefits of food safety standards applied along the agri-food supply chain in an appropriate manner
e. Learning skills. The Lab will strive to combine teaching with individual and group student research activities. In particular, the analysis of consumer perception of food safety standards will be carried out by means of group activities and presentations
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
The topics addressed in this Lab include an introduction to the concept and notion of food safety standard to highlight its “private” and “public” meaning and goals; employing food safety regulations as non-tariff barriers to trade both for agricultural commodities and processed agri-food products; the “political economy” of food safety regulations and the costs of non-compliance; consumer behaviour towards food safety
Full programme
a. Overview of Food Safety Standards
b. The Role of Food Standards in Trade and Development, with special emphasis on Developing Countries
c. The Multilateral Governance Framework for Food
d. Economic assessment of food safety standards
e. Retail Driven Food Safety Regulation
f. Consumers’ Behaviour Towards Food Safety
Bibliography
Hammoudi, A., Grazia, C., Surry, Y. and Traversac, J.-B. (Eds.) (2015). Food Safety, Market Organization, Trade and Development. Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Teaching methods
a. Knowledge acquisition: lectures and seminars
b. Acquiring skills to apply knowledge: group activities and presentations
c. Acquiring the ability to making judgements: during the Lab, participants will be required to interact and engage in discussions on the issues analysed
d. Acquiring the learning skills: with respect to each tropic covered in the Lab, both theoretical and practical/research cases concerning the analysis of food safety standards will be covered and developed
e. Acquiring the technical language: technical language will be explained and systematically employed throughout the duration of the Lab and verified at the examination stage
Assessment methods and criteria
Learning results will be established and evaluated by means of a written exam, accounting for the student interaction in Lab activities. The written exam will be composed of four open-ended questions, marked with an equal amount of points, towards the final mark
Other information
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