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Article
Traceability Adoption at the Farm Level: An Empirical Analysis of the Portuguese Pear Industry
Food Policy (2009)
  • Julie Caswell, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract

Traceability is becoming a condition to operate in European food markets. Retailers impose more stringent standards than what is mandatory. An example is EurepGAP, a quality standard for good agricultural practices that imposes traceability as a main obligation. This research investigates the choice of traceability at the farm level in the Portuguese pear industry. Results suggest that in this industry farm-level adoption of EurepGAP traceability is best explained by the choice to sell to the United Kingdom (UK). For farmers selling to the UK, the odds of choosing the EurepGAP traceability level are significantly linked to membership in particular producer organizations, farm productivity, producing products under a protected designation of origin (PDO), and farmer's age. While retailers and farmer organizations seem to drive traceability, policy adjustments may be required to reduce adoption costs upstream and extend compliance among producers that sell directly to consumers and market independently.

Disciplines
Publication Date
2009
Citation Information
Julie Caswell. "Traceability Adoption at the Farm Level: An Empirical Analysis of the Portuguese Pear Industry" Food Policy Vol. 34 Iss. 1 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/julie_caswell/3/