LAW-31806 International and American Food Law (Comparative Food Law)

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Contents:

Experience has shown that students who followed the food law course, especially those who have acquired a liking for regulatory affairs, desire to advance their knowledge in this field.
This course looks beyond the EU internationally at the WTO and the Codex Alimentarius and comparatively at the USA.
International law provides a meta-framework for national regulation affecting international trade. The WTO sets limits to trade barriers, requiring these to be science based or to conform to international standards such as the standards set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. These standards deal with issues relating to food safety, health and fairness.
After the EU, the United States of America is the world' s largest importing and exporting market in food products. Therefore graduates who, either occupationally or as field of study and research, get involved in international food trade are likely to be confronted with American legal requirements as well as important differences between US and EU legal culture.
This course will introduce the student to the different regulatory approaches to food in the EU and the US. To this end students will study the methodology of comparative law and will receive a brief introduction to US law and US food law. EU largely belongs to the continental European civil law tradition with its emphasis on legislation while the USA are currently the most important representative of the Angelo-Saxon common law tradition with its emphasis on litigation (in the EU often referred to as 'claim culture' ). These different legal traditions leave their traces on the regulation of food as well. Topics to be explored in depth are:
- the institutional framework of food law and, in particular, the differences between FDA and EFSA;
- premarket approval schemes for foods, in particular the differences between GRAS and novel foods;
- food hygiene, particularly the different approaches to HACCP;
- food labeling;
- food safety issues, including EU and US approaches to traceability and recall.
In the food law course, students have already encountered the ICT-cooperation between Wageningen University and the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign (USA) through our so-called transatlantic dialogue: an internet discussion between food law students on both sides of the ocean. Professor A Bryan Endres is willing to discuss topics with Wageningen students by video-conference-system. Most years Professor Margaret R Grossman (Bock Chair in Agricultural Law) visits the Law and Governance Group in Wageningen. If she is present in the right period, she will give lectures in this course.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain the functioning of international food law as meta-framework to EU and US food law;
- explain the basics of the structure and method of American law in general;
- explain the basics of the structure and method of American food law in particular;
- explain the relevance and method of comparative law;
- relate food law, food labelling law and food safety law;
- find and work with international, European and American sources of law;
- embed comparative legal methods into the design and execution of research.

Activities:

- lectures (live and through video-conference-system);
- group discussion;
- literature study;
- paper writing;
- excursion to WHO/WTO in Geneva.

Examination:

- paper (60%);
- written exam (40%).

Literature:

Reader.