FAO’s Development Law Service brought its expertise on food fraud to the Trade Dialogues on Food
Combatting Illicit Trade in Food and Food Fraud
On 3 March 2022, the Development Law Service (LEGN) participated in a Special Edition of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Dialogues on Food. The aim of the WTO Trade Dialogues on Food is to explore the relationship between international trade and food security. Following a High-Level meeting which saw FAO’s Chief Economist, Massimo Torero outline FAO’s work and approach to the subject, LEGN was requested to participate in a Technical Panel dealing with specific issues of food fraud and illicit trade.
At the panel discussion, Carmen Bullon, LEGN Legal Officer, introduced the main regulatory and legislative trends as well as options for regulating food fraud at the national level, noting how these are intrinsically linked to the international regulatory framework. She also elaborated on the work FAO does more generally in this area, in particular supporting developing countries in dealing with food fraud.
The panel addressed different aspects of food crime and food fraud, including the perspective of the private sector. It was noted that regulatory complexity often leads to increased smuggling and increased opportunities for food fraud to camouflage as a legitimate business. LEGN is working together with the UCLA’s Resnick Centre for Food Law and Policy to research and develop clear legislative guidance on food crime and fraud so as to pierce this veil of complexity. To learn more, look out for the upcoming joint FAO/UCLA publication “International and national regulatory strategies to counter food fraud” that will be available in LEGN’s website in the coming days.
The recording of the session is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0oYv-fhxk
For more information, please contact [email protected]