We examined the cross-national adoption of six major private food safety standards, focusing on the role of certifiers and international trade. Results based on a negative binomial model show that the number of domestic certification bodies, total food exports, and the proportion of food exports to North America had a positive effect on a country’s adoption of food safety standards. We also found that distance creates product differentiation for standards and therefore disadvantages developing countries in Africa and Asia for adopting standards. Providing these countries with better access to certifiers can alleviate this geographic disadvantage.