@article{Boys:205870,
      recid = {205870},
      author = {Boys, Kathryn A. and Caswell, Julie A. and Hoffmann,  Sandra A. and Colarusso, Samantha},
      title = {The Business of Safe Food: An Assessment of the Global  Food Safety Certification Industry},
      address = {2015},
      number = {330-2016-14032},
      pages = {30},
      year = {2015},
      abstract = {Business and consumer demand for private, third-party, and  public systems that audit and certify food safety is  growing both domestically and internationally.  As it has  been proposed that third-party certification systems be  used to help assure the safety of imported food products  governed by FSMA, demand for these standards is likely to  further increase.  It is unknown, however, to what extent  the food safety certification industry has the capacity to  accommodate this expanding demand.  This is particularly  true of regions where third-party firms which provide  audits to food safety standards (certification bodies), do  not have a large presence.          
This study offers a  first, in-depth, and comprehensive effort at assessing the  industrial organization of global food safety certification  industry.  Using a unique dataset developed for this study,  we inventory the food safety certification industry and the  firms that certify individual farms, food processors, and  food manufacturers to a broad range of national and  international food safety standards.  An assessment of the  geographic distribution of certification bodies is then  undertaken to identify areas in potential need of  additional food safety certification capacity. Implications  of these findings are considered.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/205870},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.205870},
}