Fearmongering over food safety is one way free trade opponents advance their cause.
Marian Tupy writes:
About a decade ago, I flew to Oslo at the invitation of Norway’s center-right party called Høyre. Back then, Høyre was in opposition, although today it forms a part of Norway’s governing coalition. Its head, Erna Solberg, whom I met on the trip, is the country’s prime minister. During my stay in the country I gave a couple of talks on trade protectionism, advising the Norwegians to keep the millions of krone they send to Africa as foreign aid (where it gets promptly stolen by local cleptocrats) and open their borders to African agricultural exports instead.
“Norway,” some people objected, “has stringent food safety standards and Norwegians are used to high quality products.” This, I pointed out, does not necessarily amount to much. At the time of my trip, the country was suffering from a domestic E. coli outbreak, and infections “have left several children with kidney failure.” Moreover, like people elsewhere, many Norwegians shop with an eye on the price, not the national origin of the food they eat (i.e., irrespective of food safety standards). Thus, Norwegians shop in cheaper Sweden; Swedes shop in Denmark and Danes shop in Germany. In pursuit of a bargain, Germans do some of their shopping in Poland.
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