Traceability, Liability and Incentives for Food Safety and Quality

may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. 1Traceability, Liability and Incentives for Food Safety and Quality Recent food safety concerns and well-publicized food scares have heightened awareness of traceability in the food supply chain. When the first U.S. case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or “mad cow disease”) was discovered in Washington State, federal authorities suggested that “it might take weeks, even months, to track the origins of the diseased cow ” (Clemetson and Simon, p.1). With the cooperation of herd owners, livestock dealers and market operators as well as detailed record searches between United States and Canadian agencies, the authorities were able to trace the origin of the affected cow to Canada only after a week, but herd mates were never fully traced. The December 2003 case of BSE in Washington State highlighted the demand for traceability to regain consumer confidence after the discovery of a first event. In addition, in the case of highly contagious disease or when multiple related dangers are suspected, traceability is important to reduce risk of further damage