Import Safety

On World Food Day in October 2008, former president Bill Clinton finally accepted decade-old criticism directed at his administration's pursuit of free-trade deals with little regard for food safety, child labor, or workers' rights. "We all blew it, including me when I was president. We blew it. We were wrong to believe that food was like some other product in international trade." Clinton's public admission came at a time when consumers in the United States were hearing unsettling stories about contaminated food, toys, and medical products from China, and the first real calls were being made for more regulation of imported products. Import Safety comes at a moment when public interest is engaged with the subject and the government is receptive to the idea of consumer protections that were not instituted when many of the Clinton era's free-trade pacts were drafted.Written by leading scholars and analysts, the chapters in Import Safety provide background and policy guidance on improving consumer safety in imported food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and toys and other products aimed at children. Together, they consider whether policymakers should approach import safety issues through better funding of traditional interventions-such as regulatory oversight and product liability-or whether this problem poses a different kind of governance challenge, requiring wholly new methods.

On World Food Day in October 2008, former president Bill Clinton finally accepted decade-old criticism directed at his administration's pursuit of free-trade deals with little regard for food safety, child labor, or workers' rights. "e;We all blew it, including me when I was president. We blew it. We were wrong to believe that food was like some other product in international trade."e; Clinton's public admission came at a time when consumers in the United States were hearing unsettling stories about contaminated food, toys, and medical products from China, and the first real calls were being made for more regulation of imported products. Import Safety comes at a moment when public interest is engaged with the subject and the government is receptive to the idea of consumer protections that were not instituted when many of the Clinton era's free-trade pacts were drafted.Written by leading scholars and analysts, the chapters in Import Safety provide background and policy guidance on improving consumer safety in imported food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and toys and other products aimed at children. Together, they consider whether policymakers should approach import safety issues through better funding of traditional interventionssuch as regulatory oversight and product liabilityor whether this problem poses a different kind of governance challenge, requiring wholly new methods.

PrefacePART I: PERSPECTIVES ON THE PROBLEM1. Consumer Protection in an Era of GlobalizationCary Coglianese, Adam M. Finkel, and David Zaring2. The Other China Trade Deficit: Export Safety Problems and ResponsesJacques deLisle3. Parochialism About the Safety of ImportsJonathan BaronPART II: INTERNATIONAL TRADE INSTITUTIONS4. Import Safety Regulation and International TradeTracey Epps and Michael J. Trebilcock5. The Politics of Food Safety in the Age of Global Trade: The Codex Alimentarius Commission in the SPS Agreement of the WTOTim Büthe6. Import Safety Rules and Generic Drug MarketsKevin OuttersonPART III: TOWARD SMARTER REGULATION7. Forecasting Consumer Safety Violations and ViolatorsRichard Berk8. Risk-Based Regulation for Import SafetyLorna Zach and Vicki Bier9. Solving the Problem of Scale: The European Approach to Import Safety and Security ConcernsAlberto AlemannoPART IV: LEVERAGING THE PRIVATE SECTOR10. Importers as Regulators: Product Safety in a Globalized WorldKenneth A. Bamberger and Andrew T. Guzman11. Bonded Import Safety WarrantiesTom Baker12. Private Import Safety Regulation and Transnational New GovernanceErrol MeidingerPART V: THE WAY FORWARD13. Delegated Governance: Consumer Safety in the Global MarketplaceDavid Zaring and Cary CoglianeseList of ContributorsIndexAcknowledgments