Scientification of Politics or Politicization of Science: Reassessing the Limits of International Food Safety Lawmaking

40 Pages Posted: 17 Mar 2013 Last revised: 4 Dec 2013

See all articles by Ching-Fu Lin

Ching-Fu Lin

National Tsing Hua University

Date Written: March 1, 2013

Abstract

The proliferating food safety regulatory initiatives at domestic, international, and transnational levels by various actors with different perspectives have raised concerns for their important public health, international trade, and other implications. Standing as the hub of international food safety lawmaking, the Codex faces serious criticisms of its scientific soundness, legitimacy, transparency, and accountability. This paper explores the limits of Codex lawmaking structure and processes by examining whether its institutional design is adequate in terms of producing good governance.

Food safety is an area of international law where political and cultural fragmentation collides with deep market integration and trade liberalization. Through a thorough analysis of the recent ractopamine dispute in the context of multilateral cooperation failure and the debates between technocracy and democracy models of legitimacy, this paper however emphasizes the forgotten role of procedural legitimacy in the current discourse, particularly mechanisms for avoiding conflicts of interest and fostering transparency.

Keywords: Codex Alimentarius Commission, food safety, international law, global governance

Suggested Citation

Lin, Ching-Fu, Scientification of Politics or Politicization of Science: Reassessing the Limits of International Food Safety Lawmaking (March 1, 2013). 15 Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 1, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2227539 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2227539

Ching-Fu Lin (Contact Author)

National Tsing Hua University ( email )

Taiwan

HOME PAGE: http://chingfulin.net/

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