Strengthening the food safety control scheme in Indonesia through WTO law and food safety science

Summary

There are shortcomings in the centralized food regulatory system in Indonesia, such as poor regulatory practices, lack of engagement between regulation and the actual socioeconomic factors, the lack of quantitative and empirical analysis of available academic papers in the decision-making of regulation, the absence of public consultation in the regulatory formulation, and the absence of legal basis and strategy for regulatory review and simplification. The centralized food regulatory system in Indonesia can be categorized as a center-state regulation. Thus, the shortcomings could largely be attributed to the generally perceived failures developed in regulatory theory of state-centered regulation. In developed countries, the solution for the shortcomings is mainly attributed to forms of decentered regulation. To extrapolate those solutions to the Indonesian context might, however, be too simplistic since the socioeconomic setting and the magnitude of food safety problems might substantially differ. This thesis seeks to contribute to food safety policy decision-making, via the design of a more appropriate framework for developing food laws and regulations that can be used by developing countries such as Indonesia to strengthen their national food control system. The FSO/ALOP framework for developing countries can instead be used to align food safety control systems and the socioeconomic prerequisites of Indonesia with decentered regulation. the development of the FSO/ALOP framework as an effective management tool in developing food laws and regulations in Indonesia.