British and European food recall processes still too lengthy and costly

There was a 16 per cent increase (an additional 40 incidents) in food recall and notification occurrences across Europe during the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.

Food recall processes can be costly and lengthy for globalised supply chains. The United Kingdom and Europe need effective product recall capability to reduce recall costs and improving timeliness. Such improvements cannot be achieved with general food law alone.

Common, cloud-based, standards recently developed and adopted in North America and Australasia could help increase recall speeds and decrease costs.

Read the full article at TIFSIP Food Safety & Hygiene Analysis.

Email me at alastair.t.marke@gmail.com

Traceability in food chains badly needs a ‘common’ digital platform

Following the “horse-gate” scandal that rocked Europe in 2013, we have just seen another “radiation-gate” incident emerging in Japan and Taiwan last week. Taiwan seized 283 Japanese food products with counterfeit Chinese-language labels, possibly altered in Japan, originally from radiation-stricken Fukushima areas, and ordered them taken off the shelves in local supermarkets. This kind of food fraud incidents on both hemispheres suggests that existing regulations governing food labelling and routine inspection to ensure provenance and traceability, no matter how strict they are, have their own limitations. To avoid food fraudsters turning multi-country food chains into a massive scam that severely undermines consumers’ trust, a preventive measure to consider is the roll-out of a ‘common’ digital platform monitoring all stages of food production and supply chain visibility. 

Climate pledges of China and the US just ‘show-hand’ of carefully calibrated numbers

Rising global temperatures may have already molten frozen soil and caused methane gas to erupt from underground. More giant craters have appeared in Siberian permafrost in Russia – a country that believes it would somewhat benefit from climate change! More climate unknown unknowns like this would become known and fearful even before our state leaders make meaningful pledges. On 12 November 2014, at the APEC Summit, many hailed the US-China climate agreement as something “highly significant” and “adding impetus” into the Paris negotiations later this year, but will it be the case? The US-China emissions-cutting pledges have not changed much my views on the likely COP21 outcome when I was commenting the EU’s 2030 package  last year. It is because neither the US’ nor China’s pledges are ambitious enough while India refuses to follow their lead, worse still, these so called “pledges” are not always the same thing by its name.

EU 2030 targets a ‘good’ step forward, but Brussels premature to get overly narcissistic

On 23 October, member states sealed a deal that commits the EU two binding targets: (1) To cut carbon emissions by at least 40% at 1990’s level; (2) To drive renewables in its energy mix up to at least 27%; and  a non-binding target to curb its energy use by at least 27% by 2030. The EU 2030 package is hailed as a ‘good’ step forward, but not yet a ‘great’ step towards the UN climate negotiations in Paris (COP 21) next year. Amid late night applause of state leaders at Brussels, French President François Hollande said the deal would “send a clear message to big polluters such as China and the United States…to agree on a global legally binding agreement.” His remark could be a motion of debate.

Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Food Security: New Network Capabilities to Solve Global Problems

The digital revolution is creating new capabilities to solve an old problem. Four case studies of global solution networks—two networking platforms, a standards network and a knowledge network—demonstrate how an emerging problem-solving approach can fundamentally transform global food governance.

Download my white paper here.

A third party - Global Food Safety Resource Centre - has given a review of this policy paper. Read it here.

EU’s energy security is about self-help, not seek-out

Amid escalating tension with Russia over Ukraine, Brussels centres on shale gas and non-Russian gas imports in its new energy security strategy unveiled in May this year. However, I cast great doubt that either the crisis is being used as a pretext to re-carbonise Europe’s energy sector, or the strategy document deplorably reflects how Brussels still pits emissions target and energy security goals against each other but favouring the latter. In the green and digital age, the key to accomplishing both missions, which should not be mutually exclusive, is empowering the people to empower themselves – proliferating “community-owned renewable energy schemes” in the EU, rather than revisiting the outmoded, high-carbon formula to secure energy supplies.

Stimulating green growth through donor-business partnerships in developing countries

This scoping report discusses different models of partnership between donors and businesses to promote green growth, and presents a number of examples of different kinds of approaches that have been adopted.

The paper reviews a series of case studies drawn from developing countries around the world, showcasing different partnerships adopted between business and donors.

Download my report here.

Email me at alastair.t.marke@gmail.com  

Risk Waiver: Closing the protection gap and easing the flow of credit

Lending to UK consumers and businesses has stagnated over the last five years. The credit our businesses and households rely upon to prosper is simply not as available as it needs to be.

Recent polls illustrate that consumer confidence has been running at low levels since the recession and have remained stubbornly low since. This lack of confidence ultimately bears out in consumer spending levels, which are currently still 3.9 per cent down on pre-recession levels. Also, taken as an average, workers are in real terms earning no more than they were ten years ago. Given that consumer spending in total comprises 65 per cent of UK GDP, a relaxation of credit constrains would have a substantial impact on economic growth and household earnings.