IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v11y2021i4p328-d531802.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the Importance of International Quality Standards Regarding Global Trade in Food and Agricultural Products: Analysis of the German Media

Author

Listed:
  • Katja Pietrzyck

    (International FoodNetCenter, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 7-9, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

  • Nora Berke

    (International FoodNetCenter, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 7-9, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

  • Vanessa Wendel

    (International FoodNetCenter, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 7-9, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

  • Julia Steinhoff-Wagner

    (International FoodNetCenter, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 7-9, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

  • Sebastian Jarzębowski

    (Logistics & SCM Center, Kozminski University, 03-301 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Brigitte Petersen

    (International FoodNetCenter, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 7-9, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

Rapid globalization of the agrifood industry has important impacts on international trade and quality management (QM). Likewise, the European Union has negotiated a series of bilateral free trade agreements. Of note was the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States of America, where the debate focused on the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards, especially for agricultural and food products. This topic offered the mainstream media excellent substances for coverage. This paper explores German print media, television, and radio on the importance of international quality standards in the agrifood sectors in light of the TTIP. A quantitative and qualitative empirical content analysis was performed to investigate media reporting regarding (a) it is scientific character, (b) the use of the term “quality standards” of the agrifood industry, and (c) the reporting on the agrifood industry and QM linked with TTIP, focused on harmonization. The results showed that interrelations between QM and global trade were not presented to recipients in-depth. A trend toward information asymmetries in recipient’s knowledge is indicated. The study addresses recommendations for future collaborations between media, policy-makers, and further cooperation in the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards and control procedures within global trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Katja Pietrzyck & Nora Berke & Vanessa Wendel & Julia Steinhoff-Wagner & Sebastian Jarzębowski & Brigitte Petersen, 2021. "Understanding the Importance of International Quality Standards Regarding Global Trade in Food and Agricultural Products: Analysis of the German Media," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:328-:d:531802
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/4/328/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/4/328/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johan F. M. Swinnen & Jill McCluskey & Nathalie Francken, 2005. "Food safety, the media, and the information market," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 175-188, January.
    2. Vigani, Mauro & Olper, Alessandro, 2013. "GMO standards, endogenous policy and the market for information," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 32-43.
    3. Gene M. Grossman & Phillip McCalman & Robert W. Staiger, 2021. "The “New” Economics of Trade Agreements: From Trade Liberalization to Regulatory Convergence?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(1), pages 215-249, January.
    4. Yuksel, Hatice & Karantininis, Konstantinos & Hess, Sebastian, 2014. "A media analysis of food crisis: from qualitative analysis to a quantitative approach," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182685, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Strömberg, David & Prat, Andrea, 2011. "The Political Economy of Mass Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 8246, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Alessandro Olper & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Mass Media and Public Policy: Global Evidence from Agricultural Policies," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 27(3), pages 413-436.
    7. Pietrzyck, Katja & Petersen, Brigitte & Jarzębowski, Sebastian, 2018. "The Role of quality management in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Part nership (TTIP): the case of the polish Agri-food sector," Problems of Agricultural Economics / Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej 276627, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI).
    8. Bullock, David S. & Mittenzwei, Klaus & Josling, Timothy E., 2019. "Social Welfare Effects of Transparency and Misinformation in a Political Economy," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 485-494, August.
    9. Yu Jin Woo & Ikuo Kume, 2021. "Taking Gains from Trade Seriously: The Effects of Consumer Perspective on Free Trade," Working Papers 2020, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    10. Marks, Leonie A. & Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas G. & Allison, Kevin & Zakharova, Ludmila, 2003. "Media Coverage Of Agrobiotechnology: Did The Butterfly Have An Effect?," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 21(1), pages 1-20.
    11. Roger A. Dahlgran & Dean G. Fairchild, 2002. "The demand impacts of chicken contamination publicity-a case study," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(4), pages 459-474.
    12. Martin Haselmayer & Marcelo Jenny, 2017. "Sentiment analysis of political communication: combining a dictionary approach with crowdcoding," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 2623-2646, November.
    13. Kynda R. Curtis & Jill J. McCluskey & Johan F.M. Swinnen, 2008. "Differences in global risk perceptions of biotechnology and the political economy of the media," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 77-89.
    14. Rieger, Jörg & Kuhlgatz, Christian & Anders, Sven, 2016. "Food scandals, media attention and habit persistence among desensitised meat consumers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 82-92.
    15. Hallman, William K. & Hebden, W. Carl, 2005. "American Opinions of GM Food: Awareness, Knowledge, and Implications for Education," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1-4.
    16. Stevens, T.M. & Aarts, N. & Termeer, C.J.A.M. & Dewulf, A., 2018. "Social media hypes about agro-food issues: Activism, scandals and conflicts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 23-34.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katja Pietrzyck & Sebastian Jarzębowski & Brigitte Petersen, 2021. "Exploring Sustainable Aspects Regarding the Food Supply Chain, Agri-Food Quality Standards, and Global Trade: An Empirical Study among Experts from the European Union and the United States," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Martin Caraher & Cristina Santini & Alessio Cavicchi, 2023. "‘Growing’ Insecurity in Agricultural Food Chains: An Editorial Commentary," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-5, February.
    3. Lina Baranauskaitė & Daiva Jurevičienė, 2021. "Import Risks of Agricultural Products in Foreign Trade," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Imaneh Goli & Hossein Azadi & Astrida Miceikienė & Vjekoslav Tanaskovik & Ivana Janeska Stamenkovska & Alishir Kurban & Ants-Hannes Viira, 2022. "Training Needs Assessment: The Case of Female Rice Farmers in Northern Iran," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandro Olper & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Mass Media and Public Policy: Global Evidence from Agricultural Policies," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 27(3), pages 413-436.
    2. Vigani, Mauro & Olper, Alessandro, 2013. "GMO standards, endogenous policy and the market for information," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 32-43.
    3. repec:lic:licosd:30612 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Martin Browning & Lars Gårn Hansen & Sinne Smed, 2013. "Rational inattention or rational overreaction? Consumer reactions to health news," IFRO Working Paper 2013/14, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    5. Kym Anderson & Gordon Rausser & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Political Economy of Public Policies: Insights from Distortions to Agricultural and Food Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 423-477, June.
    6. Katja Pietrzyck & Sebastian Jarzębowski & Brigitte Petersen, 2021. "Exploring Sustainable Aspects Regarding the Food Supply Chain, Agri-Food Quality Standards, and Global Trade: An Empirical Study among Experts from the European Union and the United States," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Wenshou Yan & Yan Cai & Xuan Guo, 2023. "How can trade partners be chosen when facing food scandals? China's milk scandal as a natural experiment," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(4), pages 603-635, October.
    8. Resnick, Danielle & Babu, Suresh & Haggblade, Steven & Hendriks, Sheryl L. & Mather, David, 2015. "Conceptualizing Drivers Of Policy Change In Agriculture, Nutrition, And Food Security: The Kaleidoscope Model," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 258732, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    9. Ventura, Vera & Frisio, Dario G. & Ferrazzi, Giovanni, 2015. "How Scary! An analysis of visual communication concerning genetically modified organisms in Italy," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211921, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Martin Browning & Lars Gårn Hansen & Sinne Smed, 2019. "Heterogeneous Consumer Reactions to Health News," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(2), pages 579-599.
    11. repec:lic:licosd:32312 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Giovanni Maggi & Ralph Ossa, 2020. "Are Trade Agreements Good For You?," NBER Working Papers 27252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. McFadden, Brandon R. & Lusk, Jayson L., 2013. "Effects of Cost and Campaign Advertising on Support for California’s Proposition 37," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-13, August.
    14. Filipe Campante & Ruben Durante & Francesco Sobbrio, 2018. "Politics 2.0: The Multifaceted Effect of Broadband Internet on Political Participation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 1094-1136.
    15. Grant Lewison, 2007. "The reporting of the risks from genetically modified organisms in the mass media, 2002–2004," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 72(3), pages 439-458, September.
    16. Viswadeep Lebakula & Ben Porter & Megan Stubbs-Richardson & Taylor Ray & Arthur Cosby & Cindy Bethel, 2025. "A structural equation modeling approach to leveraging the power of extant sentiment analysis tools," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, February.
    17. Julia Rothbauer & Gernot Sieg, 2013. "Public Service Broadcasting of Sport, Shows, and News to Mitigate Rational Ignorance," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 21-40, March.
    18. Rahbauer, S. & Staudigel, M. & Roosen, J., 2018. "Investigating German meat demand for consumer groups with different attitudes and sociodemographic characteristics," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277058, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    20. Peake, Whitney O. & Detre, Joshua D. & Carlson, Clinton C., 2014. "One bad apple spoils the bunch? An exploration of broad consumption changes in response to food recalls," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 13-22.
    21. Francesco Drago & Tommaso Nannicini & Francesco Sobbrio, 2014. "Meet the Press: How Voters and Politicians Respond to Newspaper Entry and Exit," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 159-188, July.
    22. Yan, Zhen & Zhou, Jie-hong, 2015. "Measuring consumer heterogeneous preferences for pork traits under media reports: choice experiment in sixteen traceability pilot cities, China," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212609, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:328-:d:531802. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.