Globally, trade in foods takes place in the framework of broad national, trading block and international agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, the national food safety laws of importing countries, which primarily have the role of protecting the safety of consumers, can act as non-tariff barriers to trade, This has long been recognized by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which has been the main world body working for the technical harmonization of international trade agreements to ensure that their use is equitable and non-discriminatory (Lupien, 1993).

There is still much to be done in the area of avoidance or satisfactory settlement of disputes regarding quality of imported foods, The interested parties - the producer, the carrier and the receiver (consignee) - need to agree on the limits of their responsibility, yet each should be able to demonstrate due diligence in its execution. The implementation at points of production of systems of quality management compatible with the standards of the ISO 9000 series could be appropriate and should include control of product identification, product traceability and non-conforming products, The well-accepted Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system for food production is among the available tools. The ideas contained in this system could be extended to anticipated or imputed hazards in the chain of transportation of perishable foods (Pawsey, 1994,1995).

References

Codex Alimentarius Commission. 1990. Codex Alimentarius. Abridged version. Rome, FAO/WHO.

Codex Alimentarius Commission. 1993. Recommended International Code of Practice for Storage and Transport of Edible Oils and Fats in Bulk (CAC/RCP 8-1987). In Codex Alimentarius, Vol. 8, Fats, oils and related products, p. 119-127. Rome, FAO/WHO. 2nd ed.

Codex Alimentarius Commission. 1994, Code of Practice for the Processing and Handling of Quick Frozen Foods (CAC/RCP 8-1976). In Codex Alimentarius, Vol. 5A, Processed and quick frozen fruits and vegetables, p. 451-468, Rome, FAO/WHO. 2nd ed.

Commission of the European Communities. 1992a. Commission Directive 92/1/EEC of 13 January 1992 on the monitoring of temperatures in the means of transport, warehousing and storage of quick-frozen foodstuffs intended for human consumption. Off. J. Eur. Communities - Legislation, 35(L34): 28-29.

Commission of the European Communities. 1992b. Council Directive 92/2/EEC of 13 January 1992 laying down the sampling procedure and the Community method of analysis for the official control of the temperatures of quick-frozen foods intended for human consumption. Off. J. Eur. Communities - Legislation, 35(L34): 30-33.

Council of the European Communities. 1991. Council Directive of 22 July 1991 laying down the health conditions for the production and the placing on the market of fishery products (91/493/EEC). Off. J. Eur. Communities - Legislation, 34(L268): 15-34.

Economic Commission for Europe, Inland Transport Committee. 1991. Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage (ATP). E/ECE 810,E/ECE/TRANS/563Rev. 1, New York, United Nations.

FAO. 1994. Assurance of seafood quality. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No, 334, Rome.

Garrett, S. & Hudak-Roos, M. 1992. The US model seafood surveillance project. In H.H. Huss, M. Jakobsen & J. Liston, eds. Quality assurance in the fish industry. Proceedings of an international conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 26-30 August 1991, p, 501-508. Development in Food Science 30. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Elsevier Science Publishers.

Gill, C.O. & Phillips, D.M. 1993, The efficiency of storage during distant continental transportation of beef sides and quarters. Food Res. Int., 26(4): 239-245.

International Organization for Standardization. 1994. Draft International Standard ISO/DIS 9002. Quality systems-model for quality assurance in production, installation and servicing (revision of first edition (ISO 9002; 1987)), In ISO 9000; international standards for quality management, p. 205. Geneva. 4th ed.

Lima dos Santos, C.A.M. 1992. Quality assurance in the fish industry of developing countries. In H.H. Huss, M, Jakobsen & J. Liston, eds. Quality assurance in the fish industry. Proceedings of an international conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 26-30 August 1991, p. 533-546. Development in Food Science 30, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Elsevier Science Publishers.

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Milton, R.F. & Jarrett, K.L 1970. Storage and transport of maize-2. World Crops, 22: 48-49.

Milton, R.F. & Pawsey, R.K. 1988. Spoilage relating to the storage and transport of cereals and oil seeds. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 7:211-217.

Pawsey, R.K. 1994. A proposal for a HACCP system shell for application to the advance protection of air freighted fresh perishable food products from microbiological hazard. Poster presentation at the 7th International Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology, Prague. Proc. Int. Union Microbiol. Soc. (Abstr.)

Pawsey, R.K. 1995. The retrospective use of HACCP in the determination of point(s) of quality loss in transported containerised frozen foods. In Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Refrigeration, The Hague, the Netherlands, 20-25 August 1995. (In press)

Spriegel, G. 1993. Quality, safety and profit: a retailer’s view. Proc. Food Sci. Technol, Today, 7(3): 171-175.

White, D.R.L. & Noseworthy, J.E.P. 1992. The Canadian quality management program. In H.H. Huss, M. Jakobsen & J. Liston, eds. Quality assurance in the fish industry, Proceedings of an international conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 26-30 August 1991, p. 509-513, Development in Food Science 30, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Elsevier Science Publishers.