HACCP体系在水产品冷链物流中的运用

水产品富含优质蛋白和人体所需的矿物质,风味独特,其市场和消费人群不断扩大.但水产品在捕捞、生产加工、冷藏运输到销售过程中易受到损伤,严重时会受到微生物污染导致腐败变质,从而使其鲜度和品质下降.因此,应在水产品冷链物流全过程建立HACCP体系,对其质量进行严格且精密的监督和管理.     

Econometric forecasting of European community policy impacts on the Scottish cereals and dairy sectors

Abstract

This paper presents an econometric model of the Scottish cereals and dairy sectors. The model was used to analyse the effects of the proposed “MacSharry” Reforms on production and prices in the two sectors. This was done by comparing two ex‐ante forecasts, the first of which assumed that the policies of the proposed “MacSharry” Reforms take place and the second that the policy instruments included in the model remained unchanged from their 1992 values. The results suggested that under the “MacSharry” Reforms cereal production would fall by approximately 8%, cerealprices wouldfallby approximately 11.2%, milk production would fall by 2%, while milk prices would increase by just under 2% as compared with a no change policy.     

我国食品安全管理中HACCP应用的现状、瓶颈与路径选择 ——浙江省农产品加工企业的分析

本文在文献回顾的基础上,通过对国内117家食品企业实施HACCP体系决策机理及66家已实施HACCP体系企业的成本—收益的实证研究,得到了影响当前我国食品企业实施HACCP体系的行为动机因素及主要障碍因素。据此,本文提出了以市场激励为主、行政管制为辅的管制方式;先在大型企业,特别是生产具有出口优势产品类别的企业中强制推广HACCP认证的分步推进战略思路及相应的6项具体对策。     

餐饮业发展中食品卫生安全问题的影响与改善措施

近年来,随着社会经济的发展,我国居民的生活水平得到持续提升,对生活质量、食品卫生安全等方面有了更高的要求。但目前我国餐饮业在发展中存在较多问题,对居民的健康生活、社会的稳定发展造成了影响。本文分析了餐饮业发展中食品卫生安全问题所产生的影响,并提出我国餐饮业在发展中存在的食品卫生安全问题和相应的改善措施,希望能改善餐饮业的发展现状,提升餐饮企业的经营管理意识,从而保证食品的卫生安全,推动社会的稳定发展。     

Persistence of firm‐level profitability in the European dairy processing industry

Based on autoregressive (AR) models and Arellano‐Bond dynamic panel estimation, this article analyses profit persistence in the European dairy processing industry. The sample comprises 590 dairy processors from the following five countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The AR models indicate that cooperatives which account for around 20% of all firms in the dairy processing sector are not primarily profit oriented. In addition, the results point toward a high level of competition as profit persistence is rather low even if cooperatives are excluded. The panel model reveals that short‐ as well as long‐run profit persistence is influenced by firm and industry characteristics.     

The competitiveness situation of the EU meat processing and beverage manufacturing sectors

The status of competitiveness for the two most important food and beverage manufacturing sectors (meat processing and beverage manufacturing) in 13 EU countries is analysed empirically, using 1995-2002 Eurostat data. After a review of earlier agribusiness competitiveness studies, an industrial competitiveness index is proposed as a composite measure for multidimensional economic performance, covering profitability, productivity and output growth. The index approach enables relative competitiveness comparisons across industries, countries and over time. The results show that during 1999-2002, as compared to 1995-1998, for both sectors overall competitiveness in real terms slightly increased. At the same time, overall competitiveness also seems to have converged slightly across countries, implying that sector performance has become more similar. However, the two country rankings differ considerably, as do the change patterns during the analysed period.     

Geographical indication regulation and intra‐trade in the European Union

Protection of indications of geographical origin (GIs) can reduce information asymmetry between producers and consumers, and potentially enhance trade. However, GIs can also possibly divert trade. We rely on panel data about agri‐food trade among the 27 countries of the European Union to investigate these issues using variations of estimators proposed by Head and Mayer ( 2000 ) and Santos Silva and Tenreyro ( 2006 ). Our findings suggest that the protection of GIs creates trade when the importing and exporting countries have GI‐protected products. There is also empirical evidence regarding a trade‐diverting effect when the importing country does not have GIs and a border enlargement effect arising from European GI‐protection.     

Estimating the costs and benefits of soil conservation in Europe

Economics is about problems of choice. In erosion control, both public authorities and private land users are faced with such problems. What is the impact of erosion, both on-site and off-site, and to what extent can this impact be quantified? If we conceptualize this impact in terms of sustainability, how can we compare one type of effect against another? The former question can be answered only by natural scientists, the latter by economists and other social scientists. Weighing different aspects of sustainability requires value judgments, and economists are sometimes accused of having a jaundiced view of reality, wrongly supposing that decisions are based on rationality and denying the importance of emotion.However, let us assume that there is some mileage to be gained out of attempting to estimate the cost of erosion in an economic sense—which consists of converting the various effects into a common denominator: euros. If we can predict the impact of erosion control measures on erosion rates, we can know the benefit of these measures. The cost also needs to be calculated, not in terms of money but in terms of resources expended (which could have been used for other purposes) and in terms of possible negative impacts of erosion control (for instance, increased use of herbicides in reduced-tillage systems).There are important other considerations which economists may study. Firstly, there is the comparison of present versus future costs and benefits: how much can we sacrifice today for higher sustainability tomorrow?Secondly, there is the issue of private versus public costs and benefits: how do the goals of private land users differ from (those of?) the public good, how can this help us to predict land users’ behaviour, and what incentives would be appropriate to make them behave in such a way as to maximize the public good? Thirdly, how do we deal with uncertainty and risk?These problems loomed large in a study to support an extended impact assessment for the EU Soil Thematic Strategy, in 2005. Whereas much research has been done on erosion and its impact, much of this is on a small scale. The extent of the problem on a national, let alone a continental or a global scale, is still poorly known. The paper discusses how these problems were faced, which is not the same as saying they were resolved.     

Comparing the environmental impacts of pasture-based and confinement-based dairy systems in Nova Scotia (Canada) using life cycle assessment

A life cycle assessment (LCA) of dairy systems in Nova Scotia was conducted to compare environmental impacts of typical pasture and confinement operations. Data on material and energy inputs and outputs of these systems were obtained from local researchers and industry, and life cycle impacts in 11 categories were quantified. Use of concentrate feeds, N fertilizers, transport fuels and electricity were dominant contributors to environmental impacts. Somewhat surprisingly, grazing cows for five months per year (typical of pasture systems in Nova Scotia) had little effect on overall environmental impact. Scenario modelling suggests, however, that prolonged grazing is potentially beneficial. Compared with total confinement, a seven-month grazing scenario performed better in seven of the environmental impact categories evaluated with greatest potential improvements associated with acidification potential, ozone depletion potential, human toxicity and fresh water ecotoxicity. In contrast, land use was the only category in which an increased reliance on pasture is predicted to result in a marked increase in environmental impact.     

Competition Policy and Food Sector in the European Union

The article reviews the enforcement of the EU competition policy in the food sector in order to evaluate its actual ability to promote a fair and efficient food supply. Competition policy is scrutinized stemming from the different perspectives offered by 3 antitrust schools, namely, the Harvard, the Chicago, and the post-Chicago Schools. The main finding of the article is that with reforms carried out in the 1990s, EU competition policy has followed the shift that occurred in the United States since the late 1970s from the traditionalist Harvard School to the Chicago and post-Chicago Schools of antitrust. The general effect of this shift has been a significant drop in antitrust enforcement and merger control activity. As a consequence, currently competition policy is not able to tackle the wide range of social and economic problems associated with the overwhelming power of large agrofood corporations.     

Impact of farmland characteristics on grain costs and benefits in the North China Plain

Land characteristics in general and socio-economic characteristics in particular are assumed to play important roles in the determination of grain costs and benefits. This study explores the effects of farmland characteristics on grain costs and benefits using a multilevel linear model. The data refer to 1282 grain plots of 566 grain producers in the provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Anhui in the North China Plain. The results show that the coefficients of the variables used to measure plot size and tenure insecurity have different values and signs for households with different grain planted areas. It can be concluded that the effects of plot size and ratio of rented land are closely related to farmers’ total grain planted area, and only farmers with grain areas below 1.33 ha can achieve economies of scale. The effects of tenure insecurity of rented land on grain costs and benefits were negative, but the values became smaller and insignificant when farmers’ total grain area was sufficiently large. Regarding farmland bio-physical characteristics, farmers obtain more profit from plots with water conservancy facilities and have to invest more in poor land, with no output increments.     

Household behavior with respect to meat consumption in the presence of BSE and CWD

In this study, Canadian household meat consumption behavior in exotic (deer and elk meat) and traditional meats (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, bison, and seafood) is examined. This research introduces some differences in public response to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) risks across consumer segments from different sources of meat supply, including hunted meat. The analysis uses a combination of survey and household meat purchase data that include a balanced household panel of 2,393 households per year across time. A two-step estimation procedure is used with a probit model in the first step (consume or not) and a doublelog–translog two-stage demand system in the second step (level of consumption). It is assumed and tested that household sociodemographics, consumers’ risk perceptions/attitudes, and media coverage of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) are underlying demand shifters in consumers’ daily meat purchase decision. The results suggest that households who obtain venison from hunting show the highest confidence in venison safety. Exotic meat preferences negatively affect traditional meat consumption in the daily diets of households who purchase traditional meats from stores and obtain venison from hunting. In response to the media coverage of BSE and CWD, exotic meat eaters are less sensitive to animal disease media information than the general population.     

The costs and benefits of land fragmentation of rice farms in Japan*

Land fragmentation, in which a farm operates multiple, separate plots of land, is a common phenomenon in Japan and many other countries. Usually, land fragmentation is regarded as a harmful phenomenon as it increases production costs and reduces the advantages of scale economies. However, it is also known that fragmentation may have beneficial effects in reducing risk through spatial dispersion of plots. Thus, land fragmentation has both costs and benefits, and whether it is beneficial or harmful is determined by the magnitude of these costs and benefits. This article investigates the costs and benefits of land fragmentation empirically using panel data from Japanese rice farms. The empirical results reveal that fragmentation increases production costs and offsets economies of size, and these impacts strengthen as farm size increases. Moreover, although fragmentation does reduce production risk, its monetary value is far below the cost of land fragmentation. From these findings, we conclude that land fragmentation is an impediment to efficient rice production in Japan.     

The importance of managing the costs and benefits of bird activity for agricultural sustainability

The behaviour of wild animal species in agricultural landscapes may confer benefits to growers through the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. control of agricultural pests) or inflict costs through direct or indirect damage to crops or livestock. The literature on the costs that species inflict or the benefits they provide has evolved largely independently with few attempts to synthesize information across studies. However, managing cost–benefit trade-offs to maximize agricultural productivity while ensuring native species conservation is vital to the future of ecologically sustainable agriculture. Using birds as a case study, we review the two bodies of literature on the costs and benefits attributed to bird activity in agricultural landscapes. In each case, we examine the major types of costs (e.g. consumption of crops) and benefits (e.g. pollination of crops) and assess approaches to quantifying these in terms of changes in crop yield or monetary value. We then synthesize this information to examine options for balancing cost–benefit trade-offs through coordinated and integrated management strategies that consider all aspects of species activity in agricultural landscapes. Employing strategies that successfully balance costs and benefits is fundamental to future food security and agricultural sustainability.     

Forest carbon benefits,costs and leakage effects of carbon reserve scenarios in the United States

This study evaluated the potential effectiveness of future carbon reserve scenarios, where U.S. forest landowners would hypothetically be paid to sequester carbon on their timberland and forego timber harvests for 100 years. Scenarios featured direct payments to landowners of $0 (baseline), $5, $10, or $15 per metric ton of additional forest carbon sequestered on the set aside lands, with maximum annual expenditures of $3 billion. Results indicated that from 1513 to 6837 Tg (Teragrams) of additional carbon (as carbon dioxide equivalent, CO₂e) would be sequestered on U.S. timberlands relative to the baseline case over the next 50 years (30–137 Tg CO₂e annually). These projected amounts of sequestered carbon on timberlands take into account projected increases in timber removal and forest carbon losses on other timberlands (carbon leakage effects). Net effectiveness of carbon reserve scenarios in terms of overall net gain in timberland carbon stocks from 2010 to 2060 ranged from 0.29 tCO₂e net carbon increase for a payment of $5/tCO₂e to the landowner (71% leakage), to 0.15 tCO₂e net carbon increase for a payment of $15/tCO₂e to the landowner (85% leakage). A policy or program to buy carbon credits from landowners would need to discount additions to the carbon reserve by the estimated amount of leakage. In the scenarios evaluated, the timber set-asides reduced timberland area available for harvest up to 35% and available timber inventory up to 55%, relative to the baseline scenario over the next 50 years, resulting in projected changes in timber prices, harvest levels, and forest product revenues for the forest products sector.