Protéger la santé ou le commerce un dilemme pour les aliments pour bébés

This article explores the effect of EU regulation on baby food products. A large number of medical studies have shown that pesticides and contaminants contribute to various health problems including cancer, lung disease or reproductive, endocrinal and immune system disorders. They also agree that children are more vulnerable to the dangers of pesticides and contaminants because as soon as start eating solid, they eat a limited number of food items among which fruits and vegetables hold an important position. This increased children's exposure to substances which they are less capable of metabolizing than adults (Muhlendahl et al. 1996; Koletzko et al. 1999). In order to protect the health of the most vulnerable part of the population, the European Union (EU)'s regulation establishes that no more than 0.01 mg/kg of any single pesticide residue is permitted in baby food products. It creates a difference in regulations between the EU and most of its trading partners, the majority of which do not differentiate food safety regulations according to the population age. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the impact of the specific European regulation on MRL of pesticides on trade of baby food products and compare the EU regulation to the regulations of its major trading partners through a severity index. We introduce this index in an econometric model to assess the trade implications of the standard levels in this emerging sector. The results show that the EU regulation may constrain trade.