Prof Stewart Lockie

Monday 26th March, 1pm - 2pm

Larry Saha Room, Haydon-Allen #2175

One of the more prominent shifts in the international regulatory terrain for food over recent years has been the rapid expansion of retailer-led production standards. Internationally, the most prominent standards are those developed by the Global Partnership for Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP), which outline practices and procedures to address food safety, environmental stewardship and labour welfare. Increasingly, retailers are imposing such standards are a basic requirement of market access. This has led to concern that those farmers unable to meet requirements or to pay auditing and certification fees may be excluded from dealing with major retailers and relegated to a second, uncertified market tier characterized by uneven quality and financial returns.

While most empirical studies have reported the exclusion of small producers from standards-driven supply chains, some have found evidence of integration and improved farm incomes. However, these studies also suggest that in the absence of considerable public investment in capacity building, infrastructure, advocacy, institutional development, research, promotions, and so on, such gains may be reversed and small-medium scale production replaced by plantation and other corporate farming models. What then of the implications of standards compliance for plantations and other corporate farms, not to mention their workers, suppliers, shareholders etc? On the one hand, compliance may lead to beneficial outcomes such as improved labour conditions and environmental management. On the other, standards and/or enforcement may be weak.

This paper will report on research in the Philippine export banana industry; an industry that historically has been accused of human rights abuses and environmental pollution. The paper will explore the relative extent to which internal corporate social responsibility programs and international production standards have changed the food safety, labour and environmental management practices on plantations that certify to such standards and the implications of GlobalGAP certification for international market access.