Food Safety in Agricultural International Trade: The Spanish experience in Mediterranean products

Food international trade between developed and developing countries is increasing as a consequence of the worldwide liberalization movement. Tariffs and technical barriers are decreasing and many exporters in developing countries are ready to supply to developed markets. However there are non-tariff barriers, some of them related to food safety. The goal of this paper is to analyse how some food safety and quality control measures may be overcome by Less Developed Countries following some indications, such as a benchmarking analysis. The identification of "best practice" in operating firms may be useful to others. We describe the evolution of international trade, the situation at destination and origin markets through the international channel. It is important to identify the role of food safety and traceability in food international relations. A case study is mentioned with the analysis of the fresh food export supply in Spain