我国食品安全监管的现状与问题

俗话说:"国以民为本,民以食为天,食以安为先",课件食品安全问题不仅关系到人民群众的切身利益,而且关系到社会稳定与经济发展。本文立足我国食品安全监管的现状分析监管过程中存在的问题,通过阐述先进国家对食品安全进行有效监管的措施能为完善我国安监体制提供可参考的价值。     

完善我国电力监管体制之我见

我国电力行业统一的监管体制，离社会各界的期望和政策目标存在一定差距。改革弊端，健全和完善我国电力监管体制，建立独立、专业的监管机构，应从三个方面推进和深化改革。[编者按]     

透析《食品安全法（草案）》蕴含保健食品监管变局

针对当前我国食品安全监管中的薄弱环节,2008年4月20日《食品安全法（草案）》公开征求社会各界意见。该《草案》从我国实际情况需要出发,提出了对食品安全监管的具体措施和要求,并对食品卫生安全制度作了重要的补充和完善,是我国食品安全监管发展过程中的里程碑。但对作为一类特殊食品进行管理的“保健食品”在本《草案》中却没有明确的规定,而《草案》中明确指出《食品安全法》一旦颁布实施将替代1995年颁布的《食品卫生法》,这将意味着如果本法实施,“保健食品”有可能失去食品属性和法律地位,从而将引发保健食品监管体制的“变局”和行业的“动荡”,进而带来新的食品安全隐患。     

美国天然气产业监管及其启示

目前，中国天然气生产与传输一体化垄断和分销的区域垄断体制，与处于大变革、大发展关键时期的天然气产业的要求之间的矛盾日趋突出，天然气产业正面临结构重组、引入竞争机制、保护用户利益以及建立与市场化改革相适应的监管体制等棘手问题。解决这些问题。可借鉴美国天然气产业从自由竞争到严格管制再到放松管制的经验。第一，加强以健康、安全、环境为核心内容的社会管制。第二，坚决而稳妥地完成从行政控制价格向市场竞争定价的转变。第三，设立独立的监管机构，强化和完善油气产业监管职能。第四，科学配置中央和地方管制机构之间的职能，避免重复和交叉。     

建立和完善我国食品安全保障体系研究

食品安全问题举国关注，世界各国政府大多将食品安全视为国家公共安全，并纷纷加大监管力度。从当前来看，应尽快建立健全：食品安全法律体系；统一协调、权责明晰的监管体系；食品安全应急处理机制；完整统一的食品安全标准和检验检测体系；食品安全风险评估评价体系；食品安全信用体系；食品安全信息监测、通报、发布的网络体系；中介及研究单位的推动体系等九大体系，促进食品安全水平的全面提高。     

电力监管亟待走出困境

以政监分离的独立的电力监管机构进行电力监管，在我国还是一件新生事物，针对当前电力改革和监管工作中存在的一些问题，文章从规制经济学和产业组织理论的角度分析了导致当前监管困境的原因，及改革迟缓造成的负面影响，希望从源头上和深层次上分析认识电力监管的困境和发展方向，并提出对策。[编者按]     

水利建设事中事后监管框架研究

随着“放管服”改革和政府职能的进一步转变，政府管理逐步由事前审批转变为事中事后监管。以水利建设市场事中事后监管为研究对象，在明确其内涵的基础上，通过梳理历史变革、政策背景和关键节点，明确了改革进程。通过分析监管目标、原则、体制和制度，遵循“构建标准体系的一般方法”,提出了水利建设市场监管框架与标准体系。研究结果可为优化水利建设市场营商环境、推动水利建设高质量发展提供技术支撑。     

电力监管尚待全面深化

实施电力监管，目的在于改革政府对电力行业的管建体制。由原来依靠政府行政管理转化为主要依据法律法规实施专业化的行业监管．最终形成政府宏观调控、监管机构独立监管、企业自主经营、中介机构自律服务的电力管理新体制。[编者按]     

从欧盟天然气监管发展趋势看我国的天然气行业监管

欧盟各国天然气(和电力)行业长期实行政府制定政策和实施监管合一的管理体制。1990以来，它们借鉴加拿大、美国和英国的监管模式，对天然气监管体制进行了改革，组建相对独立的政府监管机构，逐步形成竞争开放的天然气市场。欧盟各国监管机构的职能差异很大，主要是监管长输和配输管道公司的执业许可、管输费率、第三方准入、售气价格、争议处理等。多数监管机构的经费来源于其收取的营业执照费和向行业运营公司收取的费用。中国建立天然气监管机构势在必行。有三种方案可供选择：一是天然气和电力监管机构合设；二是单设天然气监管机构；三是天然气与石油合建监管机构。目前我国的天然气监管宜实行中央和省(市、自治区)两级监管。国家应抓紧研究组建方案。     

关于电力监管环境、体制和能力建设的思考

电力监管的环境、体制和能力是决定电力监管水平和效率的关键因素。只有在宽松的监管环境、完善的监管体制和较高的监管能力条件下，电力监管的作用才能有效发挥。基于这种认识。郑州电监办结合学习实践科学发展观活动，围绕电力监管的环境、体制和能力进行了相关调研。     

Configurations of social media-enabled strategies for open innovation,firm performance,and their barriers to adoption

The use of social media offers tremendous innovation potential. Yet, while current research emphasizes success stories, little is known about how firms can leverage the full potential of their social media use for open innovation. In this paper, the authors address this gap by conducting a configurational analysis to develop an integrative taxonomy of social media-enabled strategies for open innovation. This analysis stems from the integration of internal and external variables such as social media communication activities, organizational innovation seekers, potential innovation providers, the stages of the open innovation process, and their relationship with different performance outcomes and barriers to social media adoption for open innovation. Through an empirical study of 337 firms based in eight countries, four clusters have been identified that are characterized as distinct strategies: “marketing semi-open innovators,” “cross-department semi-open innovators,” “cross-department full process semi-open innovators” and “broad adopters open innovators.” The findings reveal the trade-offs associated with different strategies for implementing social media for open innovation and provide insights of the use of these strategies. By doing so, they suggest a more nuanced approach that contrasts with the traditionally positive (or even rosy) depiction of the effects of social media on open innovation. Accordingly, managers are encouraged to contemplate their organizational competencies, capabilities, and their strategic intent when drafting social media strategies for open innovation. Selective approaches, along with greater adoption leading to greater benefits, are shown to be more rewarding than a middle way that spreads things too thin. Avenues for further research include qualitative explorations of the trajectories unfolding through implementing social media strategies for innovation activities and the use of objective performance measures rather than subjective perceptions from informants to understand the complex relationships between social media adoption and performance.     

The framing of innovation among European research funding actors: Assessing the potential for ‘responsible research and innovation’ in the food and health domain

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently emerged as a new framework for science and technology governance. The concept articulates the need for mutual exchange by which societal actors become responsive to each other early on in the process of innovation, with a view to facilitate ethically acceptable and sustainable innovation. There is relatively limited evidence to explore the extent to which the process of research and innovation under the terms of RRI is realised in practice, particularly in the context of food and health research. Although research to date has been examining innovation from the point of view of inputs and outputs—R&D funding and patents—we propose to examine the cognitive framing of innovation that shapes decisions of those who constitute a part of the innovation chain. This paper explores how the concept of innovation is understood and used in policy implementation, with a particular focus upon ‘food and health’ science and research policy and funding. Our analysis is based on 55 interviews of various actors engaged in research funding decision-making across eight European countries. Three themes emerged from the analysis: concept of innovation; conditions for innovation; and drivers of innovation; through these themes, the cognitive framing was drawn out. The cognitive framing suggests that innovation in the food and health domain is perceived to be focused on biosciences and marketable applications to the neglect of social sciences and broader public interest; that the “innovation network” is primarily viewed as centred around scientific/technical and industrial actors; and that the demand-pull dynamic is relevant to innovation in the area of food and health, despite having been relegated in contemporary thinking and policies around innovation. These findings point to the inadequate consideration of the normative issues—how problems are to be defined and addressed—among national research funders in the food and health domain, and indicate a gap between the ideas of innovation under the terms of RRI and innovation as conceptualised by those involved in its governance.     

浅析现阶段我国食品安全问题

民以食为天,食以安为先。然而现阶段我国食品安全问题比较严重,已经严重影响到了人民群众的健康和生命安全乃至我国经济的发展。本文概述了食品安全的内涵,分析了现阶段我国食品安全存在的主要问题,旨在通过对该问题的研究说明此问题的严重性和紧迫性,从而引起社会各界的广泛关注和思考,促进该问题的逐步解决。     

From mutual recognition to mutual scientific opinion? Constitutional framework for risk analysis in EU food safety law

Regulation 178/2002 (the so-called General Food Law – GFL) codifies risk analysis as the core principle of the modern food safety policy. This article places the GFL in EU multi-level food safety governance and analyses the impact of risk analysis, the precautionary principle and mechanisms of scientific governance introduced by the GFL on both national and Community legislation. It discusses the case law of the European Courts dealing with scientific evidence and the precautionary principle applied to both European and national food safety measures. The article concludes with some observations on the role of the risk analysis methodology in the Community internal market.     

Print news coverage of the 2010 Iowa egg recall: Addressing bad eggs and poor oversight

This paper examines the print news coverage of the 2010 Iowa egg recall, the largest in the United States, in order to determine how the news media conveyed messages regarding the recall and its causes, as well as what consumers might do in response to the recall. The news media has long been both a primary source of consumer information relating to food safety and a notable contributor to the policy agenda. A content analysis of 160 articles from four national US newspapers, the largest regional paper in Iowa, and the Associated Press revealed that the recall was framed both as a failure of government oversight and as an instance of poor production practices by the farmers in question. Proposed responses to the recall similarly fell into two distinct categories: changing consumer purchasing and food preparation habits in order to minimize the immediate risk of infection, and supporting legislative and regulatory food safety reforms that would minimize the risk of future outbreaks. Particular media focus was given to both the US Food Safety Modernization Act and the FDA Egg Rule. Relatively little media attention was given to industrial agriculture as a causal frame or the purchasing of “alternative” eggs as a potential response. Overall, coverage conveyed the policy relevance of the recall but failed both to fully contextualize the outbreak within the history of previous outbreaks and food safety concerns and to convey the relationship of the outbreak to the current system of industrial agriculture.     

Research priority setting in food and health domain: European stakeholder beliefs about legitimacy criteria and processes

Dietary factors are the most important risk factors affecting health and well-being of population in every Member State of the European Region. Finding sustainable solutions to the food and health challenges is one of the key issues that today’s society urgently needs to address. Research prioritisation thus has an essential role in directing public resources to addressing these challenges. However, the processes of prioritisation among the food and health funders are rarely subject to scrutiny and the calls for democratizing science continue, as a means of enhancing both input legitimacy (with its focus on the processes of decision-making) and output legitimacy (the utility and impact of such decisions). The current study examines what conceptualisations of legitimacy (input and output) are held by the European stakeholders of the food and health research and innovation (R&I) process such as business organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public sector organisations. We analyse stakeholder views from a series of European Awareness Scenario Workshops across nine EU countries (N = 295). The content and thematic analysis of the outputs identified six criteria determining conceptualisations of legitimacy: Influence; Representation; Procedural issues; Epistemic focus; Strategic vision; and Impact. The statistical analysis of the coded data highlighted stakeholder differences with business sector organisations being significantly less concerned about influence and representation than either NGO or public sector organisations. The results indicate that input legitimacy is of major concern to civil society and public sector actors. They reflect the wider debate about the way in which food and health R&I should be funded and policy decisions conducted, suggesting a need for better delineation of stakeholder roles and power differentials in this process. The findings are discussed with reference to the current discussions about Responsible Research and Innovation.     

Social imaginary and dilemmas of policy practice: The food safety arena in Japan

Through the string of food safety scares that has rocked Japanese society since the early 2000s, conflicts between the traditional notion of socially acceptable risk and the idea of a science-based risk analysis approach have surfaced in the food safety arena. Elites, including government officials and those members of scientific communities who support the science-based risk analysis approach, have become responsible for communicating seemingly contradictory ideas such as “food in Japan is safe” and “there is no such thing as zero risk with food.” This communication logjam has resulted in confusion and created public distrust of both government and scientific experts. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine the struggles and challenges faced by government officials in explaining and practicing policies that pertain to highly controversial food safety issues. The primary data used for illuminating the discourses is the official minutes of governmental committees including the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Committee and the Consumer Commission.     

中国区域科技创新效率影响因素及提升路径研究

为了提高区域创新质量、改善区域创新环境、实现区域创新能力的提升,以中国27省为研究对象,构建了包含创新资源要素(知识基础与人力资本)、创新经济要素(地区经济水平与对外开放度)与创新政策要素(政府支持与政府竞争)3个维度、6个条件变量的创新要素群落,应用模糊定性比较分析法,探索了区域科技创新高绩效组态。研究发现：1)区域科技创新高效率路径归结为独立开放型和全面驱动型;2)对外开放、无政府间竞争是实现区域创新高效率的关键要素,区域科技高创新效率一定离不开高对外开放度;3)组态视角下政府支持对实现区域科技创新高效率的作用相对较低。研究成果在一定程度上丰富并扩展了区域科技创新效率的研究情境,对各地区开展区域创新活动具有借鉴意义。     

The impact of food safety standards on processed food exports from developing countries

This paper examines the impact of food safety standards on processed food exports in developing countries. A panel data econometric analysis of processed food exports in developing countries was undertaken. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standard (SPS) is incorporated into the model to capture the impact of food safety standards. The empirical model shows that food safety standards imposed by developed countries could impede processed food exports from developing countries. This could emerge because practically, SPS is less transparent than tariffs or quotas. There is an ample room for developed countries to tweak the standards stronger than necessary to achieve optimal levels of social protection, and to twist the related testing and certification procedures to make their competing imports more competitive. In addition, limited supply-side capacity of developing countries, especially in terms of resources, manpower as well as institution, constrains the countries to overcome food safety standards. Because of the potential benefits that could emerge from imposing food safety standards such as a reduction in transaction costs and trade friction, developing countries should view SPS not just as a trade barrier but also as an opportunity to upgrade quality standard and market sophistication. Supply-side capacity in developing countries needed to be improved, especially upgrading agriculture sector. Multilateral efforts are also needed to mobilize additional financial and technical assistance to help redress constraints in developing countries in meeting the required food safety standards imposed by developed countries.     

Food safety regulation: an overview of contemporary issues

This article discusses a number of issues that are influencing the evolution of food safety regulation in developed and, to a lesser extent, developing countries. Whilst not definitive, it aims to highlight those factors which are considered crucial to an understanding of contemporary food safety controls in both the public and private spheres. These issues include criteria applied to assess the need/justification for food safety regulation, relationships between public and private food safety control systems, alternative forms that public food safety regulation can take, strategic responses to food safety regulation, and the trade implications of national food safety controls. The article serves as an introduction to these issues, which are discussed at greater length in the other papers that make up this special issue of Food Policy.