The EU Food security policy: Implications on EU- China trade relations/ by Geraldine Acedillo, Paola Alvarez, Margarita Bernardo

• Main Authors: Acedillo, Geraldine, Alvarez, Paola, Bernardo, Margarita
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Food supply > Government policy > European Union; Food industry and trade > European Union; Food > Safety measures
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/7747
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study examines the implications of food safety policies imposed by the European Union to its trade relations with China. In order to answer this query, the researchers must first, be aware of the reason behind the imposition of the said policies. The status of food safety policies in the EU and groups, organizations and countries, who pushed for the creation of these policies, were taken into consideration. Policies formulated by the EU regarding food safety and the policies made by China as a form of response were also included to explain the measures taken by both countries in order to maintain their trading relationship. Second, the researchers must also be able to show how China responded to the imposition of food safety policies. This can be done by explaining the positive as well as the negative responses made by China and the list of policies it created. Third, this research shows the causal relationship between the imposition of the EU regulatory barriers on Chinese GMO products and its effect to the EU and Chinas market by presenting the following: time series data on Chinese food exports, trend of Chinese products exported to the EU upon the imposition of food safety policies in 1998 and after the imposition of the policies by looking at the volume of trade or export. Fourth, the researchers examined how the imposition of regulatory barriers benefited China in the international food market. As a final point, this study justifies the function of multilateral institutions in keeping EU and Chinas trade relationship in spite of EUs imposition of regulatory barriers and Chinas export of unsafe agricultural products. In answering the query of this study, the researchers developed on one major hypothesis and included two sets of corollary questions that could help in determining further the answers to the major hypothesis. The major null hypothesis is that the imposition of EU regulatory barriers on Chinese GMO products would hamper or restrict the free flow of goods between the two countries causing a strain on their trading relationship, while its alternative hypothesis is that this imposition of regulatory barriers 121 by the EU would promote the trading relationship of the two countries by improving the quality standards of Chinese food exports to the EU and at the same time helping the EU regulate the price of goods in its own market. As for the two pairs of corollary questions included in the study, the first examines how China would react to this imposition of regulatory barriers by the EU. The null hypothesis of this question is that China would retreat from continuing to export agriculture products to the EU, whereas its alternative hypothesis states that China would cooperate with the EUs imposition of food safety regulations and would continue to sustain its exports to the EU. The second corollary question is concerned on how this imposition of food safety regulations by the EU would affect the international market. The null hypothesis to this second question presumes that the international market will not be affected with the EUs imposition of food safety regulations given that China would not cooperate and would just continue to trade with its other trading partners, as for its alternative hypothesis, the international market would be affected with the EUs imposition of food regulatory barriers because of the effects it would create in the flow of goods in the international market. In answering each set of questions, the researchers employed different methodologies. For the first set of questions the researchers examined the bilateral relationship of both China and the EU from 1998-2007 by looking at the trend of both countries imports and exports to each other.