Some Dynamic Aspects of Food Standards

Food standards have existed since the beginning of trade and exchange, but have increased and expanded in recent years, affecting global and local value chains. This has triggered vigorous debates on the impacts on trade and development. Standards may simultaneously enhance economic efficiency and redistribute rents, complicating policy analysis and implying that “the economics” and “the politics” of standards are often hard to separate. While substantial research has contributed important insights, dynamic aspects of standards have not received much attention. I present a framework to illustrate some dynamic economic and political aspects of standards in closed and open economies. This framework integrates changes over time in preferences, implementation costs, and protectionist pressures as determinants of standards, and suggests explanations for persistent differences in food standards across countries. Hysteresis in standards can persist due to protectionist motives, even if the initial standards were not introduced for protectionist reasons. I use some historical cases to document both the persistence and adjustment of standards over time and with international integration.