Food with a Visible Face

―Food Traceability in Japan and Private Governance of the Food System―

December 3, 2008 6:00 PM (finished)


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Derek Hall, Ph.D.

(Associate Professor, Department of Political Science/Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

Date/Time December 3, 2008 6:00 PM
Location Room 549 5th floor, Akamon Sogo Kenkyuto Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo  [map]
Abstract A seemingly endless series of food crises and scandals over the last 10 years has shaken the confidence of Japanese consumers in the safety and security of their food. "Traceability" has emerged as a key element of state and corporate efforts to restore confidence in Japan’s food system. Traceability systems aim to keep track of the movements of food through the stages of production, processing, and distribution, and to provide information about what goes on at these stages to actors at other locations in the food chain. Efforts to introduce traceability systems in Japan can to some degree be understood as part of a broader move towards the private governance of food. However, a number of elements of the way traceability is being introduced in Japan stand out in the context of this literature. In this talk, I identify and seek to explain some of the key characteristics of Japanese food traceabilty, in part through a comparison with traceability initiatives in the EU. I also explore the extent to which traceability is (or is not) being pursued in Japan’s food imports – a critical question in a country where more than 60% of the food consumed originates overseas, and where imported food is viewed by consumers with particular anxiety
Bio Derek Hall is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His past research has included work on the role of environmental change in Japan-Southeast Asian relations, the international political economy of Japan's shrimp imports, Japan's environmental development aid, and economic nationalism in Japan. His current research on private governance in Japan's seafood imports is part of a larger research project on private environmental governance in the global trade in farmed shrimp and salmon supported by Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He is also currently researching land issues in Southeast Asia. Dr. Hall received his Ph.D. from Cornell University's Department of Government in 2002. He has been a visiting research fellow at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science several times since 1999.