Kindji, Kévine; Faure, Michael --- "Overcoming food safety challenges through regulatory cooperation: Evidence from the UEMOA" [2017] ELECD 641; in Verbruggen, Paul; Havinga, Tetty (eds), "Hybridization of Food Governance" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 272

Book Title: Hybridization of Food Governance

Editor(s): Verbruggen, Paul; Havinga, Tetty

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785361692

Section: Chapter 12

Section Title: Overcoming food safety challenges through regulatory cooperation: Evidence from the UEMOA

Author(s): Kindji, Kévine; Faure, Michael

Number of pages: 25

Abstract/Description:

Recent trends in food safety regulation at the international level highlight a fundamental shift from end-product sampling and inspection into preventative risk-based safety and quality systems. Subsequently, addressing food safety risks in a more efficient manner implies an increased cooperation between public and private actors to take into account a broad range of interests, and when necessary reconcile conflicting interests. This type of regulatory arrangements has been referred to as hybridism. Interactions between public and private sectors might take many forms or involve different state and/or non-state actors. Levi-Faur identifies four major forms of hybrid regulations where responsibility for regulatory design or regulatory enforcement is either shared by the regulator and the regulatees, or relies mainly upon one of them. This chapter intends to draw on that scheme to highlight regulatory mechanisms used within the West-African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to improve food safety systems both at national and regional levels. This approach is important since most of the reforms that occur in the region are public initiatives which incidentally involve private operators. These private operators are mostly actors in Member States involved in export supply chains, ranging from primary producers to food processing plants, and including professional and consumer associations. In this context, this chapter attempts to ascertain whether the involvement of private stake-holders in food safety regulation and enforcement within the UEMOA has contributed to improved food safety governance, or can compensate the insufficiency of public capacities in Member States.