公众参与转基因食品安全监管的理论探源

公众参与转基因食品安全监管是转基因食品安全监管模式的创新。通过界定转基因食品安全监管和公众参与的内涵,论证转基因食品风险控制理论、转基因食品安全监管多元化理论和公民社会理论的适用性,为公众参与转基因食品安全监管的正当性提供理论支撑。     

国外关于食品安全问题理论研究现状

针对近十多年来西方社会科学界关于食品安全问题的主要研究成果,本文从食品安全问题产生原因、食品安全管理手段、食品安全风险认知、食品安全支付意愿及选择行为、食品安全监管制度五个方面进行简要梳理和评述。最后,对国外关于食品安全的理论进行了简要的评价。     

我国食品安全责任强制保险制度的法律构建

食品安全责任强制保险对分担食品生产经营者食品安全风险,及时为消费者损失提供救济具有重要作用,对食品安全的有效治理具有重要意义.分析我国食品生产经营企业结构特征,可以发现阻碍我国食品安全责任强制保险法律构建的两个主要原因:一是占据食品安全生产经营主体结构中80%以上数量的小微经营者,基于成本与收益的考虑,根本不愿意投保食品安全责任强制保险;二是承保机构基于食品安全事故中巨额赔付的风险,也对食品安全责任强制保险持消极态度.食品生产经营中的政府监管失灵和市场自我调整失灵是造成食品安全责任强制保险制度建设的主要障碍.为了有效发挥食品安全责任保险的功能,必须推进实施食品安全责任强制保险,以法律制度的形式来约束不同主体,从市场和政府两个方面来完善相关制度.     

我国食品安全监管体制研究——兼评我国《食品安全法》

我国食品安全监管的主要问题表现为行政监管组织法体系不健全、监管主体过多、行政监管权分配不合理以及对监管主体缺乏有力的责任约束机制。2009年2月通过的《食品安全法》并没有改变分段监管的模式，食品安全委员会权限设置不明确，影响监管力度。结合我国国情，要完善安全监管行政组织法体系、推行渐进式统一模式，将各个环节的监管职权逐步整合于食品药品监督管理局，加大食品安全委员会的职权，增强其协调权威性，并不断加强监管机构的监管责任，建立权责一致的行政和司法责任追究制度：     

保障食品安全更需国家战略产业政策——兼评《食品安全法》的规范价值

目前,中国食品安全事故频发、高发,是社会全面转型过程中伴生的社会异常现象,是多种复杂因素共同作用的结果,最终是由特殊的中国国情所决定的。《食品安全法》的制定和实施,可以说是应对现阶段食品安全问题突出的一场及时雨,至少使各级人民政府依法承担起食品安全监管的法律职责;但是单打独斗的政府监管模式并不能从源头上根本解决食品安全问题。因此,加强食品安全法治监管的同时,出台保障食品安全的国家战略产业政策,采取法治与政策并举的＂一鸟双羽＂治理模式,为从根本上解决食品安全提供多维度保障,才是最终解决中国食品安全问题的周全之策。     

近年来我国食品安全监管问题的研究综述

食品安全监管是近年来学界关注的焦点与热点之一。通过对学界食品安全监管问题研究成果的梳理,不难发现,学界的研究主要集中在法律制度、＂分段监管＂体制及地方政府职责定位三个方面。解决以上问题,学界的认识基本一致,即加强立法完善食品安全监管的法律制度保障;变＂分段监管＂为＂垂直监管＂、合作监管;加强地方政府监管过程中的责任机制,培育第三种力量,努力构建一种能够保障个人、团体、政府、媒体各方利益平衡点的监管体制。     

欧盟食品安全50年

二战后至今的50多年里,欧盟的食品安全政策从量的积累转型到质的提高.而在历经90年代的食品恐慌和危机后,欧盟食品安全的监管更是从法律、机构和控制措施上进行了变革性的调整,而现今从农田到餐桌的监管模式不仅保障了欧盟消费者的安全和健康,也同时为各国进行食品安全监管改革提供了指导和经验.本译文具体介绍了在以10年为一个变革单位的欧盟,其食品安全监管的政策、法律和制度建设是如何与时俱进、推陈出新以及促使这些变革的各种经济、技术等因素.     

重新思考中国食品安全监管时可以借鉴的欧盟经验

最近在中国发生的一些食品和饲料的恐慌使得中国开始重新思考有关饲料和食品安全的法律规范和监管模式.欧盟在经历了1996年的疯牛病危机后,其如何改革食品安全的监管模式对中国有借鉴作用.欧盟在面对不确定的风险时采取了一些有效的措施,但仍需面对诸多挑战.以此为中国的食品安全监管改革提供一些借鉴.     

国外食品安全法律制度及其启示

近年来,不断发生的危害公众生命与身体健康的食品安全事件充分暴露出我国现行食品安全立法不完善、监管责任不明的缺陷.就目前世界多数国家的立法情况来看,基本上都有一部或者几部关于食品安全的基本法律,对食品安全的基本规则、制度、标准加以规定,指导整个食品安全法律法规体系.如美国的,我国食品安全形势相当严峻,结合其他国家的有益经验,当务之急,我国食品安全监管方面的法律体系应在以下几个方面进行重构:完善法律,构建食品安全法律体系;科学规划,注重食品安全整体制度建设;统一监管,强化执法部门责任追究机制.     

食品安全政府监管体制机制创新:模式与途径——基于河北省的研究

河北省在食品安全政府监管体制机制创新上有两种显著模式:市级的石家庄模式和县级的涉县模式。两种模式有各自的特征,适用于不同情况。欲探索政府对食品安全监管的创新途径,须借助于一定理论。组织协调理论、机制结构理论和责任追溯理论能够从不同侧面阐释政府监管的原则和要求,是探索监管体制机制创新途径的理论根据。河北省食品安全政府监管在体制机制上创新的基本途径有:省、市级政府和县级政府分别以石家庄模式和涉县模式为基本参照;增强综合协调机构食安委和食安办的控制力和权威性;完善横向监管机制,做到无罅隙监管;改革政府绩效评价机制,增加食品安全之权重;调动社会力量参与监督以及充分利用信息机制和市场机制等。     

Implementation of food safety and quality standards: A case study of vegetable processing industry in Zhejiang, China

Over the last decade great attention has been paid to food safety/quality control due to the increases of food especially pesticide residues related diseases in China. Firms of Chinese vegetable industry have adopted a number of standards that can enhance safety of products. This study uses binomial and ordinal Logistic Regression Models to identify the determinants that influence the adoption behavior and adoption magnitude of food safety/quality standards in Chinese vegetable processing sector. The findings indicate that adoption behavior and adoption intensity are very closely linked to firm's characteristics such as firm size, expected premium, export market, brand name, e-commerce, training frequency and traceability. Moreover, the results suggest that the significance and magnitude of the coefficients associated with the independent variables differ between binomial and ordered logistic models. The results provide policy implications for food safety regulation and promote adoption of standards in Chinese vegetable processing sector.     

The roles of food prices and food access in determining food purchases of low-income households

A growing literature suggests that limited access to full-service grocery stores may be linked to poor diets, obesity, and other diet-related diseases. Food prices are likely to be as much of a factor in low-income consumers’ food purchase decisions as food store access is, but few studies consider the roles of prices and food access simultaneously. We incorporate supermarket access into a utility-theoretic censored demand system for 13 food groups among households that receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the U.S. The demand system is estimated with a Bayesian procedure which otherwise would have been cumbersome with the classical approach. Results suggest that prices are significant determinants of food purchases, but supermarket access has limited influence. Improving food choices, diet, and health may require addressing both accessibility and affordability.     

Beneficial safety decreases

We construct a model of rational choice under risk with biased risk judgement. On its basis, we argue that sometimes, a regulator aiming at maximising social welfare should affect the environment in such a way that it becomes ‘less safe’ in common perception. More specifically, we introduce a bias into each agent’s choice of optimal risk levels: consequently, in certain environments, agents choose a behaviour that realises higher risks than intended. Individuals incur a welfare loss through this bias. We show that by deteriorating the environment, the regulator can motivate individuals to choose behaviour that is less biased, and hence realises risk levels closer to what individuals intended. We formally investigate the conditions under which such a Beneficial Safety Decrease—i.e. a deteriorating intervention that has a positive welfare effect—exists. Finally, we discuss three applications of our model.     

The value of private safety versus the value of public safety

In this study, one group of respondents is offered to purchase a safety device to be installed in their cars, while another group is offered a public safety program (improved road quality) which results in the same size risk reduction. In terms of the value of a statistical life, our results are very reasonable. However, the WTP for the private safety device ishigher than the WTP for the public safety measure. Drawing on a model developed by Jones-Lee (1991), we show that some types of altruists may, but need not, be willing to pay more for a private risk reduction than for a uniform risk reduction of the same magnitude. Still, our empirical results are surprising, and further empirical research seems warranted.     

基于网络的安全风险分析

在现代社会生活中，网络为人们提供了各种信息交流的平台。由于运用网络进行沟通时存在交互性和操作的独立性特征，所以网络的运行存在风险。本文分析了形成网络安全的风险问题的种种因素，并提出了化解网络风险的对策。     

The value of improved road safety

We report the results of a contingent valuation study for finding a conservative estimate of the value-of-statistical-life in an urban road safety context in Sweden. We estimate the value of both a private-good device and a public-good safety program. The reduction of risk is communicated with a “community analogy” representation of the “Vision Zero” target of the national traffic-safety policy. According to this target, the road-traffic system should be designed so as to prevent accidents when they happen to lead to fatalities or severe injuries. We use the “certainty approach” for ex-post correction of results to remove or mitigate hypothetical bias of responses. As expected we find insensitivity of responses in the full sample to the size of the risk reduction being valued. By our approach we can compute a conservative estimate, based on answers from fully confident respondents, of the value of the largest possible safety enhancement (i.e. fulfilment of the “Vision Zero”). This lower bound estimate indicates a higher average willingness-to-pay for public safety-improving measures than currently assumed in benefit-cost assessments. We also find that the willingness to pay is considerably lower within a public-good than a private-good framework and a weak indication of sensitivity to scale among the most confident respondents. JEL Codes H43 · I18 · Q51     

Conflicts of interest in vaccine safety research

Conflicts of interest (COIs) cloud vaccine safety research. Sponsors of research have competing interests that may impede the objective study of vaccine side effects. Vaccine manufacturers, health officials, and medical journals may have financial and bureaucratic reasons for not wanting to acknowledge the risks of vaccines. Conversely, some advocacy groups may have legislative and financial reasons to sponsor research that finds risks in vaccines. Using the vaccine-autism debate as an illustration, this article details the conflicts of interest each of these groups faces, outlines the current state of vaccine safety research, and suggests remedies to address COIs. Minimizing COIs in vaccine safety research could reduce research bias and restore greater trust in the vaccine program.     

Exploring the endogenous governance model for alleviating food insecurity: Comparative analysis of food bank systems in Korea and the USA

Food security is one of the dimensions in reducing poverty. Food bank governance is a key system for increasing food security. Even if thousands of food banks operate around the world by importing the standard US model, a universal standard of governance cannot always be applied to all countries, because actors, networks, and institutions embedded in unique social, economic, cultural, and political contexts retain endogenous properties. Hence, the governance model must reflect the endogeneity each society has. This article aims to theoretically suggest the endogenous governance model and to empirically demonstrate the validity of this model by comparing the governance of food banks in the USA and Korea. Although Korea introduced the US food bank model, the Korean model has been adapted and changed, evolving its own system. To find the difference in endogenous food bank governance between the two countries, we compared the variety of governance models, the institutional context, mode of network, actors' attributes, and time perspective.     

The value of job safety for railroad workers

The value of reducing job risk is estimated using a hedonic wage model and a risk variable that is matched by occupation and state of residence. This study is the first to use the hedonic wage approach to estimate the value of safety in a single industry. Industry-specific estimates will help researchers and labor policymakers better understand the distribution of compensating wage differentials across industries. Our estimated value of job safety for railroad workers is between $21,000 and $26,000 (1980 dollars) per statistical disabling injury, which is somewhat larger than the average of values estimated in previous studies that use cross-industry or crossoccupation aggregate risk data.