TSPN (Trade Standards Practitioners Network)

Cereals

New demands for biofuels and fodder compete with badly needed food to supply a growing world population. Cereal production has to comply with more stringent quality and food safety standards. Read more

Cocoa

Consumer awareness of the impact of cocoa production from a social and environmental perspective at the small farmer level are requiring actors across the entire cocoa supply chain to change their business practices. These changes are being embraced by all actors in the supply chain and are being led by the World Cocoa Federation. Read more

Coffee

Nearly 25 million farm families in more than 50 developing countries depend on coffee for a significant part of their livelihoods. Read more

Cotton

Worldwide cotton is grown on about 80 million acres in approximately 80 countries, and provides about half of all global fibre requirements. Read more

Flowers

Flower export associations in developing countries are crafting their own standards as they begin to make headway into the international market. However, Dutch and European standards regulating environmental management, farming methods, and fertilizer use still rule the day. Read more

Forest Products

While most forest certification has occured in developed countries there are numerous iniatives underway to certify tropical forests and provide governments with internal capacity to sustainably manage their forest resources. Read more

Fruits and Vegetables

Trade in fruits and vegetables continues to rise at a time when the public's awareness of health and environmental issues is significantly elevated. Food safety standards initiatives are changing the the way fruits and vegetables are produced, sold, and approved for import. Read more

Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Oils

The rapidly expanding middle classes of India and China are causing producers world wide to scramble to cultivate more spices and medicinial oils while consumers in Europe and North America are willing pay high premiums for products of superior quality. Read more

Non-Timber Forest Products

600 million people in the developing world depend upon forests for their livelihoods Read more

Oil Palm

Production of oil palm occurs in some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. Given the rapid expansion of oil palm production key drivers of the sector are working to meet the increased demand through certified sustainable production practices. Read more

Oilseed

Biofuel production spurs 7% growth in annual vegetable oil consumption. Read more

Sugar

Subsidies and preferential market access made sugar one of the most distorted food sectors. Now these regulations are changing. The new push for ethanol production and changing consumption habits will continue to ensure a high demand for sugar in the future. The potential negative environmental and social impacts of sugar production will remain a contentious issue. Read more

Tea

Improving the quality standards for international trade and increasing the public's awarenes off its health benefits may be the right solutions for tea's persistent oversupply and low price problem. Read more

Tree Nuts and Groundnuts

Developing countries continue to dominate the nut trade, but must work to overcome the obstacles of lowered world demand and stricter European food safety standards. Read more

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