Publication: Food Safety Toolkit: Introduction and Quick Start Guide
Loading...
Published
2014-03
ISSN
Date
2016-10-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Legislation based on international standards and harmonized between trade partners facilitates trade and enables products from developing countries to be competitive in the international market. Countries looking to export to the EU should aim to harmonize legislation with EU rules. If exporting to EU markets is not a priority, countries should follow requirements of the WTO SPS agreement and thus ensure that their products can access markets of all WTO member states. Both the EU and WTO legislative models for food safety require a risk-based approach to food safety controls, prioritizing funds and activity on the most risky areas. Reforms in this area should be primarily focused on ensuring food safety, although ensuring that consumers are receiving the quality of food that they expect is also a consideration. When planning legislative reform, the burden on business should be carefully considered, and consultation with the business community is strongly recommended to obtain a good understanding of the business perspective. Public awareness on the need for reforms can be important and it is essential to outline the benefits of improved food safety legislation to consumers and their representative bodies as they can help to support reforms and sustain their results.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2014. Food Safety Toolkit: Introduction and Quick Start Guide. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25204 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Food Quality Issues : Understanding HACCP and Other Quality Management Techniques(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000)This teaching tool provides a basic understanding of food quality issues in developing countries and introduces the reader to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and other dominant methodologies for improving food quality. Quality has long been a factor in the success of food trade transactions; however, recent food safety issues have propelled quality control to the forefront of international trade concerns. Now with the increasing globalization of trade, food quality is also becoming a factor in domestic markets as quality and variety compete for a buyer's attention and regulatory bodies seek to better control potential threats. This document includes the following annexes: Table of good agricultural practices; Good manufacturing practices; and Contraventions cited for U.S. Food and Drug Administration import detentions.Publication Comparative Analysis of Certain Requirements of Food Legislation in the European Union and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-05)This report presents a comparative analysis of the food legislation requirements of the European Union (EU) and the Customs Union. Its purpose is to guide food business operators and public authorities engaged in reforming national food safety systems in the peculiarities of EU and Customs Union legal requirements and help them evaluate their capabilities in meeting those requirements. This report supports the International Finance Corporation’s efforts to facilitate the opening of new markets for the producers in emerging markets. This report compares the most critical aspects of food legislation of the EU and the Customs Union, such as: requirements and arrangements of food control; requirements to food quality; requirements to food labeling; food and food-related articles and materials that require special authorization; and laboratory control and food safety criteria. Ensuring food safety and consumer protection increasingly occupy the agendas of governments, which are looking to expand their trade networks. Likewise, food businesses interested in widening their export range need to understand quality and safety requirements in their target markets. This report offers unique, up-to-date information on the similarities and differences of the food safety requirements of the EU and Customs Union, with detailed assessments of the regulations that govern food safety.Publication Global Study on Reconstruction of Public Live Markets, Slaughterhouses, and Meat Processing Facilities, Volume 1. Main Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-11)This study used the data gathered during a previous World Bank project to assess the available options for the cost-effective reconstruction and rehabilitation of livestock market and slaughter facilities in the developing world. Using the rich array of resource material which the previous study gathered in five of the Bank's lending regions, this report provides information on the characteristics of these facilities. It assesses available technologies, processes and materials for reconstruction and makes recommendations on the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of these measures under a variety of conditions. Despite the very serious state of disrepair and poor operating standards, there is much than can feasibly be done to improve outcomes in the near term and bring about better welfare, safety, and hygiene conditions for all parties concerned.Publication Standards and Agro-Food Exports from Developing Countries: Rebalancing the Debate(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-06)The proliferation and increased stringency of food safety and agricultural health standards is a source of concern among many developing countries. These standards are perceived as a barrier to the continued success of their exports of high-value agro-food products (including fish, horticultural, and other products), either because these countries lack the technical and administrative capacities needed for compliance or because these standards can be applied in a discriminatory or protectionist manner. The authors draw on available literature and work in progress to examine the underlying evidence related to the changing standards environment and its impact on existing and potential developing country exporters of high-value agricultural and food products. The evidence the authors present, while only partial, suggests that the picture for developing countries as a whole is not necessarily problematic and certainly less pessimistic than the mainstream "standards-as-barriers" perspective. Indeed, rising standards serve to accentuate underlying supply chain strengths and weaknesses and thus impact differently on the competitive position of individual countries and distinct market participants. Some countries and industries are even using high quality and safety standards to successfully (re-)position themselves in competitive global markets. This emphasizes the importance of considering the effects of food safety and agricultural health measures within the context of wider capacity constraints and underlying supply chain trends and drivers. The key question for developing countries is how to exploit their strengths and overcome their weaknesses such that they are gainers rather than losers in the emerging commercial and regulatory context.Publication Financial Development and Survival of African Agri-food Exports(2011-05-01)This paper investigates the link between export survival of agri-food products and financial development. It tests the hypothesis that financial development differentially affects the survival of exports across products based on their need of external finance. The authors test whether exports of products that are relatively more reliant on external capital survive longer when initiated in more financially developed countries. The results suggest that agri-food products that require more external finance indeed sustain longer in foreign markets if the exporting country is more financially developed.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Early Impacts of Indonesia’s Investment Reforms(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-07-10)The Indonesian government implemented comprehensive investment reforms in 2021 to encourage investment inflows and related positive impacts. Compared to the previous investment regulation in 2016, the new decree removed foreign direct investment restrictions in over 500 business activities. By estimating the difference in difference in difference event study model, this paper empirically assesses the response in (realized and planned) foreign direct investment and realized domestic direct investment to the reforms. The paper also assesses whether there was growth in investments in fully liberalized sectors linked to Sustainable Development Goals as a proxy for the quality of investment. The results suggest that the investment reforms were associated with increases in realized foreign direct investment, realized direct domestic investment, and planned foreign direct investment, especially in fully liberalized sectors, while there was a decline in all three types of investments in the non-liberalized sectors. The results for planned foreign direct investment suggest that the increase in fully liberalized sectors is likely to continue. The results on direct domestic investment suggest a possible crowding-in effect. Among the fully liberalized sectors, the base metal industry was a key driver of growth, and sectors linked to Sustainable Development Goals sectors had mixed results. The findings provide suggestive evidence of the complementary effect of trade reforms, although the analysis does not specify which of the several reforms may have led to the increase. These results are robust when the possible effects of Covid-19 recovery and other macroeconomic factors are controlled for. These results are also robust to alternative event study models. Further analysis would be needed to observe the trajectory in both the quality and quantity of investment going forward, the distributional effects and the needed complementary reforms to ensure sustainable gains beyond the short run.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.Publication The Global Findex Database 2025: Connectivity and Financial Inclusion in the Digital Economy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-16)The Global Findex 2025 reveals how mobile technology is equipping more adults around the world to own and use financial accounts to save formally, access credit, make and receive digital payments, and pursue opportunities. Including the inaugural Global Findex Digital Connectivity Tracker, this fifth edition of Global Findex presents new insights on the interactions among mobile phone ownership, internet use, and financial inclusion. The Global Findex is the world’s most comprehensive database on digital and financial inclusion. It is also the only global source of comparable demand-side data, allowing cross-country analysis of how adults access and use mobile phones, the internet, and financial accounts to reach digital information and resources, save, borrow, make payments, and manage their financial health. Data for the Global Findex 2025 were collected from nationally representative surveys of about 145,000 adults in 141 economies. The latest edition follows the 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021 editions and includes new series measuring mobile phone ownership and internet use, digital safety, and frequency of transactions using financial services. The Global Findex 2025 is an indispensable resource for policy makers in the fields of digital connectivity and financial inclusion, as well as for practitioners, researchers, and development professionals.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2025: Jobs and Prosperity(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-07)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia eased to 2.4 percent in 2025, reflecting a sharp slowdown in the Russian Federation. Outside Russia, growth momentum remains broadly resilient, supported by private consumption, infrastructure spending, and a gradual recovery in trade. While a modest pickup is expected in 2026–27, growth is likely to remain well below the 2000–19 average. In this slow-growth environment, downside risks dominate, with the potential for setbacks in reforms posing a significant threat to investor confidence, private sector dynamism, and job creation. The region's labor market shows signs of resilience but faces deep-rooted structural challenges. Since the start of transition from planned to market in the early 1990s, employment has grown faster than the region's population, driven by rising labor force participation and a shift out of agriculture. Yet most new jobs are in low-productivity services, and productivity growth has stalled. Demographic pressures — aging, shrinking workforces, and emigration —add to the strain. Structural bottlenecks, including weak competition, limited access to finance, and outdated skills systems, constrain firm growth and innovation. The report calls for a three-pillar reform agenda: invest in foundational infrastructure for jobs, strengthen the business environment, and mobilize private capital. Targeting five priority sectors—manufacturing, agribusiness, tourism, healthcare, and energy—can help turn growth into better jobs and shared prosperity.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.