Enforcement of private food standards: A role for self-reporting of non-compliance?

Objective: to discuss the importance and effectiveness of private standards for the food industry. Private food stan-dards are important, given they are set by private bodies, adopted and implemented by private firms, with enforce-ment conducted by third-parties. This leads to a key question: are there efficient mechanisms ensuring compliance with and enforcement of private standards? Methodology: application of law enforcement analysis to certification of private food standards, focusing on dete-rrence of non-compliance and incentives for self-reporting. Results: self-reporting lowers enforcement costs, encourages remediation if standards are not met, and reduces costly effort associated with avoidance of auditing. Limitations: private certification is well-documented, but empirical analysis of compliance is lacking. Originality: extension of analysis of self-reporting of non-compliance with standards to the threat of boycott. Conclusions: analysis of private certification of food stan-dards needs to account for optimal auditing and enforcement strategies, and their associated costs.