Foundations of Food Law & Policy: Ten Years of European Food Safety Authority

We are pleased to announce the publication of Foundations of EU Food Law & Policy: Ten Years of European Food Safety Authority co-edited by Alberto Alemanno and Simone Gabbi.

This volume presents the viewpoints of academics, food lawyers, industry and consumer representatives as well as those of EU policymakers on the first ten years of activity of one of the most prominent European agencies. Its broader purpose, however, is to discuss the future role played by EFSA within the rapidly-evolving area of EU food law and policy. By revisiting and discussing the milestones in the history of EFSA, the collection provides forward-looking views of food leaders and practitioners on the future scientific and regulatory challenges facing the European Union. In particular, by presenting a critical assessment of the agency’s activities within its different areas of work, the book offers readers a set of innovative tools for evaluating policy recommendations and better equips experts and the public to address pressing regulatory issues in this emotive area of law and policy. Despite its celebratory mood, the book’s focus is more about the future than the past of EU food law and policy. Each chapter discusses how EFSA’s role has evolved and identifies what it should have done differently while presenting an overall assessment of how the agency has discharged its mandate.

The full content list is available from the Publisher, Ashgate.  The book can be purchased from Amazon.   It has received excellent reviews:

“This book presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the origin, history, and accomplishments of the first decade of the European Food Safety Authority, by an impressive group of experts. It is an essential volume for anyone interested in Food Law and its Politics.”
Peter Barton Hutt, Harvard Law School

“I have found it quite surprising that the EFSA, an institution that is eminently relevant to our everyday life, has remained the domaine reservé of a few researchers. And yet, this is a meeting point for the scientist, the political economist, and the lawyer. The editors of this volume belong to the exclusive club of experts, as they have already produced an impressive volume of rigorous work in this area. It is only natural then, that they gathered around them a ‘dream team’ of policy makers and researchers to produce this unique volume that discusses in exacting manner the EFSA on its own, and through a comparative angle along with institutions in other parts of the world entrusted with similar mandate. The end product offers not only a fresh perspective on the ‘internal’  workings of the EFSA, but also a comprehensive view of the institution as seen from the perspective of other European agencies interacting with EFSA. Alberto Alemanno and Simone Gabbi should be credited for producing an excellent book on the law, policy, and polity of the EFSA. This is a very timely publication, and yet one which will remain actual for many years to come.”
Petros C. Mavroidis, European University Institute, Florence

“This book is a fascinating read for anyone dealing with food law and policy. Its topic represents at the same time a valuable case-study of regulatory and administrative law in action. An impressive team of authors sketches law, procedure, science and multi-level politics surrounding the past decade of food regulation in the EU.  The book focuses on national, European and international regulatory cooperation, as well as it dealing with topics on the fault line of law, scientific based risk regulation and political sensitivities. This combination raises a host of questions relevant well beyond the next decade of food regulation and modern public law.”

Herwig Hoffmann, Professor of EU Law and Transnational Law at the University of Luxembourg

“This comprehensive edited volume makes an important contribution to the study and understanding  of EU food law and the shaping of food policy with a central focus on the European Food Safety Authority.   It contains a unique mixture of in-depth study, practical insights and critical analysis and gives food for thought on future challenges. I strongly recommend this impressive book to all academics and practitioners who study, and work with,  EU food law and policy.”

Ellen Vos, Maastricht Centre for European Law, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University. 

Annual AALS Section Meeting: Innovations in Teaching Food Law and Policy

Happy 2014. Thank you to all who attended the very exciting panel held past week at the AALS annual meeting in New York regarding integrating food law into law schools' curricula.  Speakers included Susan A. Schneider (Director, LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law, University of Arkansas), Michael Roberts (Executive Director, Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy, UCLA), Alli Condra (Fellow, Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic). 

Initially, the discussion focused on how each of these programs approaches teaching food law and policy, predominately with a focus on connecting laws governing food production with sustainability and public health concerns. Also flagged was the need for more intensive scholarly work regarding the legal framework of food regulation domestically, the racial and socio-economic impacts of food law, and the implications of food and food systems in the context of laws regulating international trade and export.

One consistent thread emerged: food is everything-- meaning every kind of law, in all types of practice-- and the opportunities to explore food law and policy in the law school setting are varied and compelling. Some schools have taken on helping small food related business through providing practical how-to publications or support through their transactional legal services clinics. Some professors teach food law through courses like administrative law where they draw heavily on food related case law and regulations. Others are engaging with international food law through direct services; at Wake Forest, Barbara Lentz led a team of students this month to Nicaragua to help local farmers meet certification requirements for U.S. food imports.

In addition to a lively and energizing discussion, a few follow up points emerged:

1. CALL FOR SYLLABI: In the Q & A session there was If you teach a food law course, whether survey, seminar, traditional course with a focus on food law, please post your syllabus for interested parties to consult and consider in making up their own classes. 
2. UPCOMING CONFERENCES:  UCLA’s Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy will be hosting a Food Law Litigation Symposium this April, dates to TBD.  The Resnick Program also plans a larger scale conference on food law in the fall of 2014.
3. NEW ASSOCIATION: We are in the early stages of forming a Food Law and Policy Association.  If you are interested in being a founding member, please email Melissa.mortazavi@brooklaw.edu.

Science and Technology in International Economic Law: Balancing Competing Interests

Professor Kuei-Jung Ni, Visiting Scholar, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and Professor of Law at the Institute of Technology Law, at National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan is pleased to announce that the book that he co-edited with Professor Bryan Mercurio at the Chinese University of Hong Kong was recently published.

The book, "," was published by Routledge. Professor Ni's article, titled Does Science Speak Clearly and Fairly in Trade and Food Safety Disputes? The Search for an Optimal Response of WTO Adjudication to Problematic International Standard-Making, is included in the book.