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Trade in an evolving context: international standards, innovation and digitalization
Advances in information and communication technologies are fundamentally transforming food systems, including the ways in which agricultural trade is organized. This transformation can affect the competitiveness of different actors within value chains and presents an evolving need for analysis and technical assistance. At the same time, in developing countries there is a great need to improve capacities to meet international standards for food safety and plant and animal health so that producers can gain better access to global markets. FAO supports its Members through evidence-building on emerging issues and provides technical assistance in response to demands relating to food safety and trade facilitation, trade digitalization, and innovation, among others.
Key messages

 

Non-tariff measures, particularly procedural bottlenecks in the application of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures, present significant obstacles to trade.


 
New technologies that present advantages in food production, processing, handling, distribution and trade continue to be developed, but significant challenges to their widespread adoption in developing countries remain.

 

 

 FAO supports regional and national institutions to better prepare for technological and regulatory changes, to promote the effective participation of countries in the global trading system and to ensure better market access for small- and medium-scale value chain actors, including women, youth, and vulnerable groups. 
Publications
Trade and Food Standards
13/09/2017

This publication explains how international food safety standards are set through the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Food Standards Programme – the Codex Alimentarius Commission – and how these standards are applied in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement).Through the FAO/WHO C odex Alimentarius, members establish science-based, internationally agreed food standards. The publication describes the two organizations, how they operate together, and how countries can and should engage to keep international food standards up to date and relevant, and to resolve trade issues. The publication also highlights the need to invest in domestic capacities to be prepared now and in the future to keep food safe and to ensure that trade flows smoothly. The publication also illustrates some of the drivers of change in the area of food regulation, underlining the need for governments to be constantly attentive and ready to pick up on challenges and new opportunities, be they related to human health, consumer preferences or evolutions in technology. Members will need strong institutions and national capacity to respond to these challenges, both domestically and in the dynamic international system of food standards and trade rules that they have created. They will need to be flexible and forward looking, to enjoy the benefits and manage the risks the future holds, mindful that food is a commodity like no other.