Understanding Grades and Standards and How to Apply Them

by Daniele Giovannucci and Thomas Reardon for the World Bank

Quality and safety are both categories of grades and standards (G&S). Although in current debate they are often discussed as separate issues, in practice G&S that relate to safety are often difficult to disassociate from those related to quality, especially when dealing with 'process' G&S. This paper or 'learning tool' deals with G&S in more general terms. While both product standards and food safety standards are normative (implying or requiring that producers or processors meet certain norms) and they certainly go hand-in-hand, the former is more a descriptive measure that permits greater specificity and facilitates trade while the latter is more prescriptive and regulates what is and what is not permissible in the context of consumer health and welfare.

Available here