Seed wars and farmers’ rights: comparative perspectives from Brazil and India

Drawing on interviews with Indian and Brazilian farmers’ rights activists, lawyers, agronomists and plant breeders, this article aims at better understanding how farmers’ rights are protected on paper and implemented on the ground in these two countries. Brazil and India offer important case studies because they are biologically megadiverse countries, and because small farmers represent an important segment of the rural economy. In this article, I show that India has adopted an ownership approach to farmers’ rights, while Brazil leans towards a stewardship approach. Based on an examination of the progress made in enforcing these rights, I further argue that the stewardship model adopted by Brazil is more conducive to the realization of farmers’ rights, and I explore why this is the case. Finally, I show how farmers’ rights provisions in the Brazilian and Indian legislations represent fragile gains that could be curtailed by several bills currently under discussion in the field of seed and plant variety protection.     

Corporate power in the agro-food system and the consumer food environment in South Africa

This contribution maps the South African agro-food system with a focus on corporate ownership and power, inspired by value chain work applied to the food system as a a whole. Corporations tend to dominate some nodes, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots. Other nodes have a corporate core but with a wide number of smaller economic actors, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and consumer food service. This wide number of actors points to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting their economic activities. The paper considers the influence of corporations in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system. The paper concludes with some recommendations for further work.     

网络餐饮服务第三方平台资质审核义务“履行难”困境及大数据实施对策

网络餐饮服务第三方平台资质审核义务"履行难"困境在法理上源于将食品经营许可等资质资格简单等同于食品安全的理论误解;制度设计上源于立法配套缺乏、立法衔接不到位以及立法规定模糊等问题;技术难题源于大数据运用不足。网络餐饮服务第三方平台资质审核相关案例实证分析表明我国立法科予平台的法定义务并没有得到较好履行,立法设计与法的实效相去甚远。破解审核义务困境需要将此公法义务进行技术上形式审核的定位,并构建基于大数据网络订餐食品安全预警系统、食品监管部门与平台联动治理模式以及基于区块链技术的智能监管系统等。     

A Song of Policy Incongruence: The Missing Choir of Consumer Preferences in GMO‐Labeling Policy Outcomes

This article focuses on the degree of policy congruence, and by extension policy responsiveness, of U.S. federal‐ and state‐level GMO labeling laws from 2011–2016. Utilizing consumer survey data, evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates consumers prefer clear text‐based indication if food products contain genetically modified ingredients. However, the federal law adopted in 2016 mandates GMO labeling but with exceptions permitted to clear on‐package text labeling. The results of this study demonstrate that consumer preferences were not adequately represented at the federal level and were misaligned with state policy activities as captured in the aggregate outcome. State legislatures were actively proposing mandatory legislation with only a few cases of success, which did not adequately represent the wishes of the people. Given the misalignment and overall policy incongruence, the consequences of pending federal law are discussed in light of why the voices of the consumer choir were not heard by lawmakers.     

The Catholic Lobby: Structures,Policy Styles and Religious Networks

This article is about the place of lobbying by the Catholic Church in contemporary Australian federal politics. It builds on some previous attention by political scientists to Catholic political campaigning (eg, Hogan 1978, 1993 ; see also Byrnes 1993 ), but it is more comprehensive. Discussion of such lobbying uses various terminology and, like much lobbying, it can be viewed in a normative sense either favourably or unfavourably, as democratic or undemocratic. During the parliamentary debate in December 1996 on the anti‐euthanasia private members bill introduced by Kevin Andrews, for instance, Nick Dondas (Country Liberal, Northern Territory) alleged that ‘the debate has been driven by the Catholic community of this country’. To which his Catholic colleague Tony Abbott (Liberal, New South Wales), alleging that Dondas had blamed the bill on the ‘Catholic lobby’, responded that ‘those comments were beneath him’. ¹     

我国合同法买受人再履行请求权的不足与完善

在瑕疵履行的情形，买受入享有修理或者更换的再履行请求权。再履行请求权是原级履行请求权的延伸和继续，其费用由出卖人承担，地点为标的物的现实所在地，选择权应由出卖人享有，不同方式之间为择一竞合关系，而非选择之债。修理不仅要求除去原本存在的瑕疵，而且也应除去恶化形态的瑕疵以及延伸损害；更换也适用于特定买卖，但在用益补偿问题上应采取目的限缩。在给付不能或者不可以苛求的情形，排除再履行的请求权。如再履行本身有瑕疵，则买受人享有二次的再履行请求权。     

初探"控制下交付"

"控制下交付"是目前国际社会普遍认同的,对打击跨国、跨地区毒品犯罪十分有效的侦查措施,在实战中发挥着重要作用,但必须在当事各方的通力合作和严密监探下进行.     

承运人在无单放货索赔中的抗辩

无单放货频频发生 ,导致对承运人提起的索赔案件不断发生。本文从承运人角度出发 ,对其所可能采取的事前防范措施和事后抗辩理由进行了一定的分析建议。     

The Measurement of Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios of Eight Methamidophos Samples

Between December 2007 and January 2008, people suffered from food poisoning in the Japanese prefectures of Chiba and Hyogo after eating frozen dumplings (gyoza) produced in China, which had very high concentrations (1490–19,290 ppm) of methamidophos (O,S‐dimethyl phosphoramidothioate). Thus, we measured the stable carbon isotope ratio of methamidophos using GC/C/IRMS to identify the source. We analyzed seven methamidophos reagents and one Chinese agricultural methamidophos chemical (MTD600) that contained many impurities. The δ¹³C values of the seven methamidophos reagents and MTD600 ranged from ?49.23‰ to ?31.90‰, with an average SD of 0.20‰, very high precision. This difference (17.33‰) was very large compared with that in previous reports and may be attributable to the material itself and the chemical processing of methamidophos. Criminals can easily obtain pesticides such as methamidophos; therefore, it is very important to identify the pesticide source and distribution route using stable isotopic science in the future.