Food and agribusiness survey
67 per cent of respondents indicate that they will increase investment in food safety over the next 12 months.
"The regulations are appropriate. What is needed is better enforcement and monitoring of regulations."
James Spinney, Associate director, Strand Hanson
Only 25 per cent of respondents believe that greater food safety regulation is necessary, although there is some concern that regulations are not up to standard in some emerging markets. A number of respondents have indicated that there would be some benefit in regulations being more uniformly applied across the globe. Many respondents feel that the issue primarily lies in enforcement and monitoring, rather than the regulations themselves. They point to the horsemeat scandal in the UK and suggest that more intensive DNA testing would have revealed the issue. Respondents also say that more can be done to improve the traceability of products.
Respondents credit the WTO with having a positive effect on global food safety regulation and recognise that Russia's recent award of WTO membership has helped it to make progress in this regard.
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