Governing Food Security: Law, Politics and the Right to Food (European Institute for Food Law Series)

The first decade of the twenty-first Century has witnessed a fundamental reform of European food law. We have now come to the point where modern EU food law has taken shape. This ''European Food Law Handbook'' is written in the perspective of food law embedded within general EU law. It highlights the consequences of this combination and provides insights in both substantive and procedural food law. This handbook analyses and explains the institutional, substantive and procedural elements of EU food law, taking the General Food Law as a focus point. Principles are discussed as well as specific rules addressing food as a product, the processes related to food and communication about food through labelling.These rules define requirements on subjects like market approval for food additives, novel foods and genetically modified foods; food hygiene, tracking & tracing, withdrawal & recall. The powers of public authorities to enforce food law and to deal with incidents are set out. Attention is given to the international context (WTO, Codex Alimentarius) as well as to private standards. The ''European Food Law Handbook'' is produced in co-operation with the European Institute for Food Law and is relevant for practitioners and scholars both with and without a background in law. It is ideal for education purposes With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, food security still is a dream rather than reality:'a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'. Political commitments at world summits on food security, market-based agricultural policies, science-based food safety regulation and voluntary guidelines on the right to food have not ended hunger, malnourishment or food safety crises in our world. The question arises whether food insecurity is a situation that exists in spite of these commitments and legal measures, or rather due to them? This book has three purposes. Firstly, it offers insights in how law, politics and the right to food contribute to food security in both positive and negative ways. For this purpose, different theories, concepts and methodologies from legal, political, anthropological and sociological sciences are used and developed. Secondly, the book explains that food security and food policies cannot be treated as given, at one level or in one domain only. This is done in different ways: by pointing out the emergence of new paradigms on food security, human rights and science that shape food policies; by showing how law and policies at one level affect food security at another level; and by treating food security and food policies as linked to governance regimes of agriculture, food, feed, water or property. Finally, the book offers scholarly analysis of paradigms and practices but also presents social science-based ways to indirectly contribute to food security, varying from improving justiciability to building trust, from seeking ways to address non-scientific concerns to creating room for plurality of lifestyles and norms, from unmasking dominant discourse to understanding or strengthening abilities or arrangements to cope with vulnerability. The Plural Wells Of The Right To Food / Bart Wernaart -- The Freedom To Feed Oneself : Food In The Struggle For Paradigms In Human Rights Law / Bernd Van Der Meulen -- State Obligations For Human Rights : The Case Of The Right To Food / Asbjørn Eide -- The Netherlands And The Right To Food : A Short History Of Poor Legal Cuisine / Frank Vlemminx -- Declared, Not Acquired : Claiming Hunger As A Violation Of The Right To Food, With A Case Study From Indonesia / Irene Hadiprayitno -- Food Politics : Science And Democracy In The Dutch And Eu Food Polity / Henri Goverde -- From Food Security To Food Quality : Spreading Standards, Eroding Trusts? / Gerard Breeman And Catrien Termeer -- Food Safety Governance From A European Perspective : Risk Assessment And Non-scientific Factors In Eu Multi-level Regulation / Anna Szajkowska -- Farmland And Food Security : Protecting Agricultural Land In The United States / Margaret Rosso Grossman -- Intellectual Property Rights And Food Security : The International Legal Battle Over Patenting Staple Crops / Melanie Wiber -- Food Security As Water Security : The Multi-level Governance Of Virtual Water / Dik Roth And Jeroen Warner -- Food Security In A Bolivian Indigenous Territory : Exchange Relations Of Subsistence Farming Reproduced In Indigenous Governance / Michiel Köhne -- Feed Security Contested : Soy Expansion In The Amazon / Otto Hospes. Edited By Otto Hospes, Irene Hadiprayitno. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "The food sector is the third most regulated industry in the EU. It is the most important production sector, but its competitiveness and innovativeness are under pressure. This book reports on a legal research into the question if there is a connection between the sector's declining innovativeness and competitiveness on the one hand and the increasing regulatory burden on the other hand. The aim is to indicate opportunities to remove avoidable obstacles for the food industry in general and small and medium enterprises in particular. The book brings to light several shortcomings in the regulatory framework and makes concrete recommendations for simplifying and improving EU food legislation. The findings are based on fundamental legal analyses. They are combined with the following three empirical case studies: premarket approval schemes, for novel foods in particular; the application of the EU food hygiene package in the dairy sector in selected regions in Italy and France; and private standards in the Dutch dairy sector. The book shows that compliance by the EU legislator and authorities with EU food law principles and requirements is key to improving the position of food businesses."--Publisher's description Introduction -- Introduction To Law -- International Public Law -- The European Union And Food Law -- The Institutions Of The European Union -- The Embedding Of Food Law Into Substantive Eu Law -- Food Law : Development, Crisis And Transition -- The General Food Law : General Provisions Of Food Law -- Product 1 : Authorisation Requirements -- Product 2 : Food Safety Criteria : Contaminants And Restricted Substances -- Process : Food Handling, Hygiene, Traceability And Recall -- Informed Choice : Presentation Of Food Products -- Public Powers : Official Controls, Enforcement And Incident Management -- Consumer -- Quality And Marketing Standards For Fresh Fruit And Vegetables -- International Food Law -- Private Food Law -- Conclusion. Bernd Van Der Meulen, Menno Van Der Velde ; With Contributions From Anna Szajkowska And Ronald Verbruggen And A Foreword By Robert Madelin. Rev. Ed. Of: Food Safety Law In The European Union. 2004. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 513-548) And Index. With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, food security still is a dream rather than reality: 'a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'. Political commitments at world summits on food security, market-based agricultural policies, science-based food safety regulation and voluntary guidelines on the right to food have not ended hunger, malnourishment or food safety crises in our world. The question arises whether food insecurity is a situation that exists in spite of these commitments and legal measures, or rather due to them? This book has three purposes. Firstly, it offers insights in how law, politics and the right to food contribute to food security in both posi Introduction -- Competitiveness and food law -- Accessibility of food law -- Premarket approval schemes -- Food safety targets -- Food handling and controls -- Labelling -- Supportive schemes -- Good administrative practices -- Conclusions -- Recommendations