Routledge Food Safety Standards in International Trade: The Case of the EU and the COMESA

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers in the developed world and Europe in particular. This has been highlighted by the recent spate of food scares ranging from the BSE (mad cow) crisis to Chinese melamine contamination of baby formula. To ensure food safety throughout Europe, stringent food safety standards have been put in place ‘from farm to fork’. At the same time, poor African countries in the COMESA rely on their food exports to the European market to achieve their development goals yet have difficulty meeting the EU food safety standards. This book examines the impact of EU food safety standards on food imports from COMESA countries. It also critically examines both EU and COMESA food safety standards in light of the WTO SPS Agreement and the jurisprudence of the WTO panels and Appellate Body. The book makes ground-breaking proposals on how the standards divide between the EU and the COMESA can be bridged and discusses the impact of EU food safety standards on food imports from poor African countries. Review 'The author deftly exposes current problems with safety standards in food exports from Africa to Europe from a legal perspective, with sensitivity and insight. This book delivers original solutions to these important social challenges and is an invaluable resource for African and European policy makers, academics and the socially concerned.' Dr Kamala Dawar, University of Sussex, UK 'Dr Osiemo has delivered an important and timely study of the comparable impacts of food safety standards in the context of regional trade arrangements: of particular note is his contribution to the debate about such standards in the context of Southern and Eastern Africa.' Professor Mary Footer, University of Nottingham School of Law, UK  About the Author Onsando Osiemo is a legal practitioner and researcher in Nairobi, Kenya. He obtained his PhD in law from the University of Amsterdam. His areas of research are in international trade law and regional integration in Europe and Africa.