Livestock food chains worldwide are changing to respond to changing demands for quantity and quality of livestock products. Within middle-income, low-income and least-developed countries, changes include increased industrialization, geographic shifts, and new forms of marketing and co-operation including increased vertical integration.
Standards and regulations for animal health, food safety and food quality affect and are affected by the structure of livestock food chains. These standards are increasing in stringency, complexity and cost. They are variable in nature and driven by multiple forces, which include international agreements and bodies, national policies and laws, and the requirements of large scale retailers.
Consumers in affluent countries have a major impact on standards setting, yet the results may affect poor and marginal producers, processors and consumers who do not directly trade in the global market and have very little voice in the standards setting process. The private sector has an increasing influence, while the impact of the public sector is limited and policies do not always reflect the needs of the various stakeholders in livestock food chains.
While the safety and quality of food for consumers is of paramount importance, a balance must be found between their needs and the livelihoods of vulnerable producers, traders and processors. Standards set may be inappropriate for local circumstances, imposing unnecessarily high demands on poor and marginal players, who may then be excluded from markets without alternative forms of livelihood.
Many developing countries would wish to expand their capacity to carry out the necessary analysis of what is appropriate for their domestic circumstances, and to negotiate in the international arena for standards that allow them to trade internationally and in a responsible manner, while at the same time promoting locally appropriate safety and quality of food. It is the responsibility of FAO to assist such countries in analyzing their respective situations, defining appropriate food safety and quality policies that do not lead to increased livelihood vulnerability, and engaging productively in international dialogue on standards and regulations.
The objective of this consultation was to provide advice to FAO and Member Governments on the impact of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards on domestic livestock markets, and in particular the poor who participate in livestock food chains, and the extent to which their concerns are being addressed. The consultation was asked to deliberate on the following questions:
An FAO/OIE workshop was held during Livestock Week, Montpellier, March 22–25 2004 and attended by members of the CGIAR system, international organizations and representatives of donors to livestock research. At this workshop, papers were presented on: ‘Trends in livestock market chains’; ‘Dynamics of animal health regulations’; ‘Food safety and quality requirements affecting the livestock sector’; ‘Technical and quality requirements of retailers’. Questions arising from the papers were debated by working groups and produced preliminary recommendations that were made available to the members of the current consultation while they prepared their working papers.
