Completed NRP 73 research project: Sustainable trade relations for diversified food systems

The project " Sustainable trade relations for diversified food systems " investigated how governments can use sustainable trade relations to promote diversified food systems that are particularly valuable from a sustainability perspective.

Such food systems are more sustainable than specialised ones, which are primarily geared to quantity production. They are ecologically and economically more valuable, and the social benefits are also more equitably distributed. They also contribute to a diverse food supply. The project investigated the role of the state and how trade measures can be differentiated to promote particularly valuable systems and eliminate disincentives. To this end, the researchers combined comprehensive legal research with the analysis of best practice examples. They also looked at the opportunities and shortcomings of existing private approaches such as certification, captured farmers' perspectives, and explored new approaches to product differentiation such as trust-based value chains.

Using the example of the fish sector, the researchers were able to show that private-sector sustainability labels are often not sufficient to promote the import of sustainable goods. Sectoral agreements are also only partially effective. Based on Art. 104 a lit. d of the Swiss Federal Constitution, the state sector has a constitutional mandate to regulate trade in a quality-assuring and complementary manner. In doing so, it must provide inclusive procedures that accommodate vulnerable market participants in poorer partner countries. If it finds well-balanced solutions, it will also remain within the existing WTO requirement scope.

With an innovative synthesis approach (the hypothetical "Federal Act on Sustainable Trade in Agriculture"), the project offers decision-makers a concrete, formulated proposal for a solution.

 

More information:

More information on the research project

Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

 

Selected publications:

Jacobi, J. et al. (2022) “‘First we eat and then we sell’: Participatory Guarantee Systems for alternative sustainability certification of Bolivian agri-food products,” Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 47(1), pp. 72–99.

Belser, E., Mazidi, S., "Executive Summary: The Swiss Constitution and Its Contribution to Sustainable Trade in the Agri-Food Sector.", Working Paper NRP73, Bern, Switzerland: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern.

Mann, S. (2022) “Why governments should tax animal production: A system approach to internalise the externalities of Agriculture,” International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 14(3), p. 294.

Musselli, I. et al. (2022) Livestock farming act and WTO compliance. preferential tariff treatment based on PPMS: A case study, BORIS. Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern.

 

Contact:

Dr. Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi
+41 31 631 39 40
elisabeth.buergi@unibe.ch