The Effects of International Transportation Process on Food Safety and Quality in Export of Agricultural Products: Sample Application in an Export Oriented Organisation

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the international transportation process on food safety and quality, especially in agricultural products. One of the main ideas of the current research is to provide information and improvement areas on the general issues (without the risks of food safety) through international transport of agricultural products.. Theoretical Framework: Today, access to safe food, sustainability and traceability, contain great importance. Particularly, the control points to be carried out in the processes related to loading, transporting, transporting to the points of sale, unloading and storing, when necessary, from the collection of fields, greenhouses and similar production areas of crops covered by crop production should be determined correctly. It is necessary to carry out these controls according to the relevant food safety legislation and standards applied within the scope of food safety and customer demands, and to evaluate the results obtained for prevention and improvement purposes. Method: The methodology of the research is selected as a sample application on a specific case study. The selected company is an import-export company based in Hungary. During the identification and classification of process data, process parameters, process objectives and results, which come from Kropy Fruit Hungary Kft, for all control points in these processes, were evaluated. Results and Discussion: The results of this study are examined by analyzing the common requirements of the management system standards used for food safety purposes. As results, the used data in this study is the analysis results and the application of the relevant food safety standard requirements, the implementation of the legal requirements within the scope of the transportation processes, the identification and elimination of the elements threatening the food safety in the international transportation and storage processes. As an improvement, reduction of the losses at these stages and recommendations for similar organizations for safe food transport were discussed. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of the research are discussed and how the results can be practiced in real life organizations are indicated as recommendations. The risks and non-compliances arising from the employees of the organization were also examined and the effects of human factors on food safety in these processes and recommendations for improvement were developed. Originality/Value: The originality of the research comes from the fact that even though food safety and quality are popular topics in the specific research field; the effects of transportation process specifically in agricultural products and how the related regulations and standards can influence it positively were still questionnable. Therefore, the value of the current research is bringing a new questionnable area and its solution to the academic field, while touching to real life, practical examples and considering new improvement and innovative solutions.