Compatibility of free trade with health, safety, and environment

Abstract

Concern about food safety has caused trade frictions between exporting and importing countries. Can the expansion of world trade be compatible with maintaining the sustainability of both man and the earth? This paper searches for a practical solution from the viewpoint of international standardization. First, it is necessary to combine the WTO binding rules with voluntary standards in order to reduce social unrest. Second, if international standardization acts as an assessor and offers a common measure of risk, it will enlarge the freedom of choice by heterogeneous consumers. And third, the process of standardization should be governed by three fundamental principles: tripartite voluntary involvement, consensus-based decision making, and knowledge-based judgment.