Food, Agriculture, Animal Law
This section includes literature on food security, the right to food and trade in wildlife. Ab Rahman, Nurul Hidayat, ‘Legal Rights and Challenges to Execute “Zero Hunger” Within the Vulnerable Children in The Era Of COVID-19’ (Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Gender, Culture and Society, ICGCS 2021, 30-31 August 2021, Padang, Indonesia, 2022) Abstract: Zero hunger’ is a world’s pledge to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has hijacked the mission, whereby many economic activities ceased due to the virus’s outbreak. The situation has severely affected people’s living standards and enhanced extreme poverty, starvation, malnutrition and other health problems, especially among vulnerable children. The primary purpose of this paper is to explain ‘zero hunger’ as a fundamental legal right and identify challenges in executing this goal during the pandemic era. By using a traditional methodology of legal research, this paper finds that the epidemic has established few challenges that decelerated the progress to achieve the SDGs 2030, specifically ‘zero hunger’. This paper concludes that SDG 2 is an important goal to be fulfilled within vulnerable children to ensure their survival. Thus, the paper proposes that food assistance and humanitarian relief need to be provided by all means. Similarly, prompt measures to ensure food supply chains also need to be maintained as the pandemic has caused a massive impact on food and agricultural production. Ultimately, every government must adhere to the SDGs 2030, especially during this challenging time.
‘Adapting Agricultural and Primary Production Operations during COVID-19’ (2020) 277 Farm Law 10–13 Abstract: Sets out UK Government guidance on working safely in the agricultural sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and Food Standards Agency guidance, which focuses on the hygiene processes and requirements that must be followed to safely operate food or feed businesses.
Akram-Lodhi, AHaroon, ‘COVID-19 and the World Food System’ [2020] (85) Journal of Australian Political Economy 11–16 Extract: COVID-19 may not have emerged in industrial agriculture; but the market imperatives of industrial agriculture were imposed on small-scale farms, who responded by producing commodities with which industrial agriculture could not compete: non-traditional farmed animals for niche markets. The central issue at the source of the COVID-19 pandemic is not some people’s taste for seemingly strange or exotic food, which in any event is culturally constructed, but rather the market imperatives of the world food system. Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that there is a critical need in contemporary agriculture to manage the interactions between animal and human. However, these interactions are central to the production process of the world food system, which is itself a principal cause of the crisis. Industrial agriculture and the survival strategies of marginalised small-scale petty commodity-producing farmers lay the groundwork from which new, virulent pathogens can emerge. Clearly, the terms and conditions by which the world food system operates serves to deepen threats to global health. In other words, there is a co-morbidity between COVID-19 and the world food system.
Ballard, Bonnie M, ‘COVID and CAFOs: How a Federal Livestock Welfare Statute May Prevent the Next Pandemic’ (2021) 100(1) North Carolina Law Review 281–308 Abstract: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten lives across most of the globe, experts and the public at large are looking ahead for ways to prevent another deadly disease outbreak from wreaking further havoc on the world. While much of the criticism regarding the risk of disease outbreaks has been reserved for Chinese wet markets, many do not realize that the United States’ own intensive farming practices are also a pandemic risk. The majority of American meat is raised on factory farms, which house livestock in tightly packed and unsanitary conditions. These conditions cripple animal immune systems, which increases the risk that the farmed animals will contract diseases that can spread to humans. Despite this risk, living conditions on factory farms in the United States are entirely unregulated by the federal government. This Comment argues that the United States must enact comprehensive livestock welfare legislation to prevent the next pandemic from emerging in our own backyard. This Comment also explains how factory farm conditions exacerbate the likelihood of emerging disease outbreaks and illustrates the failures of the current legal framework in the United States in preventing new outbreaks. Despite the failed attempts and current barriers to passing livestock welfare legislation, this Comment proposes a federal livestock welfare statute based on foreign law and Ohio’s innovative Livestock Care Standards Board.
Beirne, Piers, ‘Covid-19 as an Anthroponosis: Toward a Nonspeciesist Criminology of Human-to-Animal Pathogen Transmission’ (2022) 11(3) International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 139–152 Abstract: This paper examines a potentially fatal type of pathogen transmission, namely, the spillover of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from COVID-19-positive humans to nonhuman animals. This neglected direction of pathogen transmission (‘anthroponosis’) was first publicized in March 2020, when eight large felids at a zoo in New York City were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by a COVID-19-positive employee. The paper gathers and problematizes the as-yet sparse evidence of anthroponotic transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 at sites in the animal-industrial complex where animals are held captive in zoos; appointed as human companions; used in scientific experiments; and raised and slaughtered in industrialized agriculture. The great fear is that animals infected with SARS-CoV-2 by COVID-19-positive humans will develop mutant strains of the virus, that these variants will be transmitted back to humans, and that the variants will be immune to the vaccines currently in use or in development. When we harm animals, we harm ourselves. Never has the need for a nonspeciesist approach to public health and safety been more urgent.
Bello, Lateefat Adeola, ‘Overview of Legal Issues in the Protecton of Indigenous Herbs for the Treatment of Covid -19 and Other Ailments’ (2022) 28(1) Proceedings of the Academic Conference of Sub-Sahara African Academic Research Publications on Knowledge and New Discoveries in the Sustainable Development: Inter-disciplinary Approach 1-9 Abstract: Medicine is as old as man; the consensus is that nature has a cure for every ailment. In time past life-threatening diseases that defied orthodox medicine were successfully treated in many parts of the world with traditional herbs some of which have now been converted to drugs and supplements used by patients. Nature in itself is replete in the environment around us. Nigeria is richly blessed with abundance of herbs. The infusion from some of these herbs, have been traditionally and successfully used in the treatments of ailments that have defied orthodox medical treatment. While the Covid -19 pandemic engulfs the world creating confusion in treatment and applicable remedies in its wake, many countries have attempted the application of alternative medicine for the management of this widespread disease. The use of indigenous herbs in this instance should ordinarily be a welcome development, but the possible use of herbs in the instance case has been trailed with lots of bad publicity that created fear even amongst Nigerians many of whom may have in the past used these remedies for one ailment or another. This has raised multitude of questions on the effectiveness and reliability of herbs, what impedes the use(s) of herbs ? Are there requisite legal and institutional framework to address the possible use of herbs for the treatment of Covid -19 and other related illnesses? and what are the measures that must be put in place to protect this age long indigenous method for treatment of illnesses as a stop gap treatment in future occurrences. To address these questions, this paper adopts a doctrinal approach in its analysis of existing position on herbal cure, gave overview of attempts to protect the indigenous knowledge of herbs and concludes with recommendations on providing an enabling legal environment to encourage, research and use of herbs as alternative to orthodox medicine as immediate and preparatory strategies in the fight against pandemics where orthodox treatment may fail to yield the desired results.
Berger Richardson, Sarah, ‘Worked to the Bone: COVID-19, the Agrifood Labour Force, and the Need for More Compassionate Post-Pandemic Food Systems’ in Colleen M Flood et al (eds), Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19 (University of Ottawa Press, 2020) 501 Abstract: The coronavirus pandemic has rendered visible the previously invisible labour that gets our food from farm to fork for minimal pay and at great personal risk to workers’ health. From grocery clerks working on the front lines without protective equipment, to truckers denied entry to restrooms, to temporary foreign workers forced to sign liability release waivers, to disease transmission at meat processing facilities, the virus is revealing the frailties and the inequities of our food system. Although the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented, the ways the global food supply chain has responded to the crisis were, in fact, predictable. For years, scientists and food policy experts have been warning that our food system is broken, and that policies geared towards efficiency and cheap food are exploitative of the agri-food labour force, the animals we raise and slaughter for food, and the ecosystems we inhabit. This chapter focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on labour, with particular emphasis on the meat processing industry. It also seeks to illustrate the interconnectedness of all actors across the supply chain and the need for greater compassion as we rebuild postpandemic food systems.
Bevilacqua, Dario, ‘Food Safety, Coronavirus and Risk Prevention: Future Perspectives in Four Proposals’ (2022) 13(1) European Journal of Risk Regulation 56–77 Abstract: COVID-19 is a zoonosis, a disease transmitted by an animal to humans. The diffusion of the outbreak is therefore born of an unsuitable, insufficient, excessively permissive food safety system. Hence, the regulation of food safety plays a central role in the protection of health and has done so on a global scale. The overall regulation of food safety therefore requires an increase in the level of health protection, even at the expense of commercial prerogatives. For these purposes, four reform measures are suggested: to transform the Codex Alimentarius Commission into an organisation that adopts international standards with the sole purpose of protecting health; to apply the precautionary principle on a global scale and in international organisations; to strengthen the mandatory labelling tool; and to create a worldwide system of controls.
Bian, Yongmin and Boyang Wang, ‘Wildlife Conservation v. Utilization: Considerations and Trends for China’s Regulatory Position in the Age of Covid’ (2020) 1(1) Opinio Juris in Comparatione 163–195 Abstract: Wildlife Conservation and Utilization has been the main theme of China’s first Wild Animal Conservation Law of 1988 and its amendments. From the early 1950s to the late 1980s, only rare and precious animals enjoyed protection to a certain degree, and the rest of the animals were subject to utilizations or various ‘rational utilizations.’ The 1988 Wild Animal Conservation Law mercifully extended protection to beneficial, economically important or scientifically valuable terrestrial wildlife. The protection of wildlife was defined as a priority over utilization only in the amendment of 2016, 13 years later after the 2003 SARs which was caused by a virus passed to human beings from a species of wild animal. China adopted very efficiently a ban on hunting and eating all terrestrial wild animals after the outbreak of Covid-19. The wild animals finally won the debate between conservation and utilization. This is not only a welcomed improvement for conservation of wild animals in China, but also a great contribution to the conservation of wild animals globally since the trade in wild animals is under strict enforcement now.
Borzée, Amaël et al, ‘COVID-19 Highlights the Need for More Effective Wildlife Trade Legislation’ (2020) 35(12) Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1052–1055 Abstract: Zoonosis-based epidemics are inevitable unless we revisit our relationship with the natural world, protect habitats and regulate wildlife trade, including live animals and non-sustenance products. To prevent future zoonoses, governments must establish effective legislation addressing wildlife trade, protection of habitats and reduction of the wildlife-livestock-human interface.
Bradbury, James and Greg Ibach, ‘Texas A&M Law Review Fall 2020 Symposium: Containing Covid Catastrophes: Addressing the Effects of Covid-19 on the Agricultural Industry’ (2021) 8(4) Texas A&M Law Review 661–675
Buchanan, Kelly, ‘Regulation of Wild Animal Wet Markets in Selected Jurisdictions’ (Law Library of Congress, Legal Report, LL File No 2020–019215, August 2020) Summary: Of particular concern in the context of the novel coronavirus and other zoonoses (diseases that can spread from animals to humans) has been the sale of ‘wild’ or ‘exotic’ animals, either alive or the meat of such animals (sometimes called ‘bushmeat’ or ‘game meat’), at wet markets or other types of traditional markets in different countries. This report examines aspects of the regulation of such trade, including wildlife protection laws, hunting laws, food safety laws, and market management and sanitation laws. It covers 28 jurisdictions around the world, including countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South and Central America, and Europe.
‘Business and Planning Act 2020’ (2020) 277 Farm Law 1–4 Abstract: Outlines the effect of the Business and Planning Act 2020, including provisions which may have relevance for farmers who serve food in farm shops with seated tables and similar arrangements.
Chen, Ying, ‘Protecting the Right to Food in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond’ (2021) 49(1) Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law 1–43 Abstract: The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman, and child, alone or in community with others, have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement. The United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comment No. 12.
‘China Bans Wildlife Trade’ (2020) 367(6481) Science 960–960 Abstract: The article offers information on the enforcement of laws governing trade in wild animals, which is believed to be linked to the COVID-19 outbreak as reported by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Chuma-Okoro, Helen and Ifeoma Ann Oluwasemilore, ‘Intellectual Property Rights, Agricultural Biotechnology and Food Sufficiency: Strengthening the Nigerian Intellectual Property Legal Framework for Food Self-Sufficiency in the Aftermath of a Global Pandemic’ (2022) 36(1) International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 48–67 Abstract: This article focuses on the imperatives of self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria from the experience of the COVID 19 pandemic, and examines the role of intellectual property rights (IPRS) in boosting productive capacity. While the different types of IPR protection standards remain relevant to the overall goal of food self-sufficiency in respect of the different activities and outputs along the food value chain, the main emphasis of the article is on patent and plant varieties protection (PVP) in connection with agricultural biotechnology. The article is library-based and explains the meaning and import of food self-sufficiency, the factors responsible for the weak capacity for food self-sufficiency in Nigeria in particular, and other African countries vis-à-vis potentially enabling factors. It also examines the strength and weaknesses of the current IP laws in Nigeria, and how Nigeria could repurpose or improve her laws to achieve the objective of food self-sufficiency. The article found that IPRs are relevant in boosting greater efficiency and productivity of Nigerian agriculture to strengthen food self-sufficiency, but the current IPR framework are not designed to circumvent the perils and leverage the benefits of IPRs that would help unlock the potential of the sector for food self-sufficiency.
Cicchiello, Gianluca, ‘The European Agri-Food Legislation and Trade Agreements in the Context of the Covid-19 Crisis: Reshaped Priorities into a New Scenario under a Complex Legal Framework’ (2022) 9(4) European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance 385–408 Abstract: Abstract This article performs an assessment of the EU Agri-food legislation in the context of the covid-19 crisis: new priorities into a new scenario. Taking the General Food Law as a focal point, this article analyses and explains the institutional, substantive, and procedural elements of EU food law and his intersection with International Trade Law. Principles are discussed as well as specific rules addressing food as a product, the processes related to food and communication about food to consumers. In fact, it is interesting to retrace the points of contact that food legislation shares with other legal disciplines since it is well known that the matter has a cross-cutting scope, i.e., from Agricultural Law to IP Law, from Criminal Law to International Trade Law. Although, the importance of food and related trade issues have always been regulated in times of emergency, as the BSE crisis (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’) or during a worldwide pandemic (covid-19). However, until the publication of the Reg. 178/2002, it would have been impossible any given attempt to attribute the requisites of a coherent legal framework to the disordered, episodic, and often dictated by hot reactions of Food Law, understood as a system of rules ordered based on its own principles. Progress made by regulatory interventions that allows today to observe the matter under a different angle. In fact, attention is given to the international context (WTO, Codex Alimentarius) as well as to the relationship with food trade policies and the current legal framework and regulatory provisions (such as those contained in Chapter i and ii) of Reg. 178/2002, the latter titled General Food Law.
‘Coronavirus: Advice to Land Managers and Landowners’ (2020) 275 Farm Law 6–8 Abstract: Reproduces UK government coronavirus guidance for land managers and landowners on managing access to land in the countryside, and refers to separate guidance on working safely outdoors.
Ezirigwe, Jane et al, ‘“COVID-19/Food Insecurity Syndemic”: Navigating the Realities of Food Security Imperatives of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa’ (2021) 14(1) Law & Development Review 129–162 Abstract: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is impacting on food systems and has exposed the poor state of food security and lack of food system infrastructures. Consequently, sub-Saharan Africa countries face the compounded risk of COVID-19 and hunger. The syndemic will pose serious challenges for achieving food security imperatives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This article discusses the dynamics of food security imperatives brought about by COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the mitigating efforts of sub-Saharan African governments in addressing COVID-19 and how this effort impacts the attainment of SDGs One, Two, Three and 12. It finds that while the pandemic provides an opportunity for governments to strengthen their commitments, it raises questions on the ambitious global efforts to deliver SDGs by 2030. It recommends that African governments need to maximize intra-African trade with investments in agricultural biotechnological infrastructure in order to close the gap between the targets and the realities, in the efforts towards achieving the SDGs.
De Sadeleer, Nicolas and Jacques Godfroid, ‘The Story behind COVID-19: Animal Diseases at the Crossroads of Wildlife, Livestock and Human Health’ (2020) 11(2) European Journal of Risk Regulation Special Issue-‘Taming COVID-19 by Regulation’ 210-227 Abstract: A number of virological, epidemiological and ethnographic arguments suggest that COVID-19 has a zoonotic origin. The pangolin, a species threatened with extinction due to poaching for both culinary purposes and traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia, is now suspected of being the ‘missing link’ in the transmission to humans of a virus that probably originated in a species of bat. Our predation of wild fauna and the reduction in their habitats have thus ended up creating new interfaces that favour the transmission of pathogens (mainly viruses) to humans. Domesticated animals and wild fauna thus constitute a reservoir for almost 80% of emerging human diseases (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Ebola). These diseases are all zoonotic in origin. As if out of a Chinese fairy tale, the bat and the pangolin have taught us a lesson: within an increasingly interdependent world, environmental crises will become ever more intertwined with health crises. Questions relating to public health will no longer be confined to the secrecy of the physician’s consulting room or the sanitised environment of the hospital. They are now being played out in the arena of international trade, ports and airports and distribution networks. Simply put, all human activity creates new interfaces that facilitate the transmission of pathogens from an animal reservoir to humans. This pluri-disciplinary article highlights that environmental changes, such as the reduction in habitats for wild fauna and the intemperate trade in fauna, are the biggest causes of the emergence of new diseases. Against this background, it reviews the different measures taken to control, eradicate and prevent the emergence of animal diseases in a globalised world.
Estrada, Ruiz and Mario Arturo, ‘The Role of National Food Security in a Massive Pandemic: The Case of COVID-19’ (2021) 22(1) International Journal of Business and Society 119–130 Abstract: This paper proposes the national pandemics contingency plan for any country based on the application of the minimum food, water & medication storage for a massive pandemic quota (ψ-Quota). Consequently, the main objective of the ψ-Quota is to calculate the approximate amount of food, water, and medicines storage amount annually in case of a possible massive pandemic crisis. Finally, this paper is divided into three sections: (i) the minimum food, water, and medicine quota storage calculation in case of a massive pandemic; (ii) the food,water, and medicine storage quota for a massive pandemic; (iii) the geographical distribution and mapping of the emergency aid supplier’s modules in case of a massive pandemic for any country. Finally, the ψ-Quota was applied on the case of Malaysia.
Fleischhacker, Sheila and Sara Bleich, ‘Addressing Food Insecurity in the United States During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of the Federal Nutrition Safety Net’ (2021) 17(1) Journal of Food Law & Policy 98–129 Abstract: Food insecurity has been a direct and almost immediate consequence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated ramifications on unemployment, poverty and food supply disruptions. As a social determinant of health, food insecurity is associated with poor health outcomes including diet related chronic diseases, which are associated with worst COVID-19 outcomes (e.g., COVID-19 patients of all ages with obesity face higher risk of complications, death). In the United States (US), the federal nutrition safety net is predominantly made up of the suite of 15 federal nutrition assistance programs that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers and the Older American Act Nutrition Program that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers (See Table 1). Both made significant adaptations to help ensure Americans have safe, secureand healthy foods and beverages during this national emergency. This essay briefly discusses the successes and shortcomings of these adaptations by critical life stages and puts forth recommendations for strengthening the public health impacts of our federal nutrition safety net in the near- and longterm.
Friedmann, Danny, ‘Innovative Foods with Transparent Labels That Will Have the Next Pandemic for Breakfast’ in Klaus Mathis and Avishalom Tor (eds), Law and Economics of the Coronavirus Crisis (Springer, 2022) 315–370 Abstract: Continued factory farming makes a new viral pandemic ineluctable. Plant-based and cell-cultured food (together ‘innovative food’) producers use animal-based food names to signal a similar function, use, and taste, but without the negative externalities of the animal-based foods in regard to health, sustainability and ethicality. In the US and EU, the market share of animal-based products is shrinking. The animal-based food producers in the US have insisted on ‘Truth in Labeling’ measures to exclude innovative foods from using animal-based food names, even though empirical research demonstrates that it does not lead to consumer confusion. The European Parliament has approved Amendment 171 to Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 to extend the dairy ban, even though it conflicts with the policy goals in the Farm to Fork Strategy to transition to a system of health, sustainability, clear information, and the implied goal of ethicality. Only after a massive public outcry, the European Parliament, European Council and European Commission rejected Amendment 171.
Ganesh, Sheela, ‘Novel Drug Discovery Including Pandemic Crisis: Legal & Ethical Implications on Scientific Experimentation on Animals’ (2020) 8(4) Bharati Law Review 29–36 Abstract: As and when different spectrum of diseases emerges there a need for developing new, better and effective medicine. On an average it takes around ten to fifteen years to develop new medicine and the animal study involves only a small portion of it. However, insignificant it is, the scientific experimentation on animals is critical in determining safety, quality and efficacy of new medicines before its use on the subjects. In such a case regard for animal welfare is a top priority. While conducting the invitro studies, the stakeholders involved in discovery of new drug shall have to comply and confirm to the regulation and rules. The paper aims to analyze the animal welfare aspect, relevant international and national regulations pertaining to scientific experimentation on animals in novel drug discovery including pandemic crisis, legal and ethical issues in prevention of cruelty to animals in nutshell.
Gilbert-Wood, Chris et al, ‘Determining the Capabilities of Food Businesses to Produce Safe and Legal Food in a Pandemic’ (2021) Food Science and Technology (forthcoming) Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the role of third party certification in determining how business capability is assessed. Public health controls implemented to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 abruptly halted physical audits and regulatory inspection verification mechanisms. This left many brand owners and manufacturers being faced with a ‘no-visitor’ policy from their suppliers. Concerns were expressed about the capability of food businesses to produce safe and legal food in a pandemic with its consequential disruption to supply chains, staffing, service provisions and the consequences of reduced surveillance and verification on food standards and food safety. As a result, the food industry had to reassess the processes used to ensure the production of safe and authentic food; and to reconsider whether alternate approaches to assuring food safety and legal compliance of food products could be used. This article takes a look at the historical development of the third party audit and the role it plays in Food Safety and Quality Management Systems. It serves as a reminder of the principles that underpin a competent food business and highlights some options for monitoring and verification of a food business in the absence of 3rd party audits. Whilst these measures were introduced as a short term solution, it is likely that some elements will continue.
Goeringer, Paul and Julie Walker, ‘Crops, Livestock, and COVID-19, Oh My: An Overview of Potential Covid-19 Liability in Agricultural Operations’ (2021) 8(4) Texas A&M Law Review 677–684 Abstract: The year 2020 presented a new potential risk of which many business owners, including agricultural operators, were unaware: a global pandemic related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, also known as COVID-19. Starting in March 2020, the United States worked to contain this virus, while businesses sought to protect their workers (who had to continue working to work) as well as their customers. At the same time, a number of businesses had concerns about how to limit liability from customers arguing later that the business had spread the virus. This Article explores the potential liability agricultural operations face and ways to manage the risks associated with COVID-19. Part II looks at what the virus is. Part III explores potential liability, and Part IV details potential methods to manage and limit that liability. Part V concludes.
Gómez, Jorge Freddy Milian and Yanelys Delgado Triana, ‘Sustainable Management of Environmental Risks in Agricultural Production: Ensuring the Right to Food’ (2022) 22(3) Global Jurist 517–535 Abstract: The current research is about the sustainable management of environmental risks in agricultural production to ensure the right to food. In a globalized world, agricultural production is determined by external economic, environmental, social, legal, and political factors, as well as internal factors depending on each State’s conditions. Environmental risk factors, particularly, the growing climate change and its negative effects or the occurrence of a global pandemic, restrict agricultural industry development and create uncertainty in guaranteeing people’s right to food. Agricultural production is the first right to food material guarantee. Ensuring agricultural production is ensuring people’s right to food, their food security or at least the minimum necessary to avoid hunger. The aim is to systematize environmental risks sustainable management concepts and characteristics applied in agricultural production to guarantee the right to food. The environmental risk’s sustainable management entails an efficient use of financial and economic resources in agricultural production to prevent or reduce the environmental risk identified impact. The research establishes some general points of environmental risks sustainable management in agricultural production to guarantee the right to adequate food. The following research methods and techniques were selected: the theoretical-legal and document analysis.
Greene, Hillary, ‘The Next Pandemic Might Be a Petdemic’ (2022) 98(1) Indiana Law Journal 1–73 Abstract: A new scientific study shows that COVID-19 can be transmitted from cats to humans. Luckily, this channel of transmission seems extremely rare, at least thus far. But next time-and there will be a next time-we may not be so fortunate. This Article addresses this underappreciated risk of what I term a ‘petdemic’-a pandemic or epidemic that involves significant disease transmission between pets and humans. With nearly 70% of U.S. households owning pets, a petdemic could be catastrophic. One of our go-to responses for even perceived petdemics, honed over the last century, is to slaughter our pets. This pioneering Article proposes a way to break that cycle. Would existing legal restrictions curb the excess reactions of individuals and governments? Unfortunately, they would not. In the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, we have a chance to prepare for this problem. We must seize this opportunity to craft proactive legal and other policy solutions that emphasize creating options for pet owners to retain their animals, as well as removing knowledge gaps likely to characterize a novel infectious disease and potential bottlenecks exacerbated by legal restrictions or infrastructure shortfalls. The survival of our animals and our very humanity may depend on these endeavors.
Heled, Yaniv, Ana Santos Rutschman and Liza Vertinsky, ‘Regulatory Reactivity: FDA and the Response to COVID-19’ Food and Drug Law Journal (forthcoming 2021) Abstract: Public health-oriented agencies play a critical role to play in pandemic preparedness and response. Yet, the current pandemic has exposed significant shortcomings in these agencies’ preparedness and response efforts. Using FDA’s response to COVID-19 as a case study, this article introduces the concept of ‘regulatory reactivity’ to describe and analyze regulatory agency response to external pressures that rely on the adoption of tailored-to-the-moment measures. The article delineates the conceptual and practical differences between the application of standard agency procedures and agency response under what we term ‘reactive modes,’ which often result in the setting-aside of agency procedures, expertise and priorities to the detriment of public health standards. We further explain how these ex post, narrowly construed modifications to the regulatory modus operandi contrast with goals of pandemic preparedness, which require ex ante, forward-looking regulatory interventions.While we utilize COVID-19 as a lens through which to examine reactive regulatory responses to public health crises, the article anchors its analysis in broader trends displayed by the FDA in previous large-scale crises, as well as within the regulatory apparatus as a whole. We conclude with some suggestions for how the FDA might avoid slipping into reactivity mode in response to future pandemics.
Heyvaert, Veerle, ‘Governing Intersystemic Systemic Risks: Lessons from Covid and Climate Change’ (2022) 85(4) The Modern Law Review 938–967 Abstract: This article argues that contemporary regulation of climate change risks and zoonotic disease risks – two seminal risks of our era – is deficient because it fails to account for the most distinctive characteristics of their risk profiles. These risks are part of a special category of intersystemic systemic risks, which are ‘compound’ in nature: they possess the potential to cascade across different systems and entail a liability to exponential growth across numbers of linked systems. Moreover, climate change and zoonotic disease risks are globalised, ubiquitous and entrenched. Effective governance of intersystemic systemic risks demands proactive regulatory intervention at the early stages of risk creation, and reliance on a more balanced basket of regulatory measures than is currently available. For climate change as well as zoonotic disease risk control, this calls for greater investment in assessment requirements, a less permissive approach to planning and development consent, and a commitment to phase out unsustainable production processes.
Holland, Kerri, ‘Canada’s Food Security During the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (University of Calgary School of Public Policy Research Paper No 13:13, 9 June 2020) Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn public attention to Canada’s food security. Access to a safe, stable and high-quality food supply is often taken for granted by many citizens, but providing it is one of the key roles that our agricultural industry serves and underlines why it is designated an essential service.Despite the federal government’s assurance that our nation’s food supply remains stable, concerns have been mounting from both consumers and the agricultural industry that disruptions in the food supply chain will cause food insecurity and severe economic distress. As a whole, Canada’s agri-food industry is well-positioned to adapt to the present crisis and continue supplying domestic and export markets. However, this does not mean that our food system is impermeable to disruption. In fact, challenges caused by COVID-19 have highlighted vulnerabilities in the food supply chain. Labour shortages, major shifts in consumer demand, and the slowdowns/closures at processing plants have already exacerbated food insecurity among Canadians and increased financial pressure on primary producers. As the foundation of the food supply chain, Canadian farmers are key to its stability. As many farms were experiencing severe economic hardship prior to the pandemic, the challenges of market uncertainty and increased production costs put these operations at greater financial risk. Policy action will be key to ensure the short and long-term viability of our primary industry and maintain the capacity to meet domestic and export market demands. Canada is still in the early stages of crisis management but government support of Canadian agriculture has so far been largely inadequate in alleviating the financial impact on farmers. The Canadian government should take additional steps to alleviate the financial burden on primary producers, ensure export markets remain open and free from trade barriers, and commit to establishing a long-term agri-food strategy and action plan.
Hurn, Samantha et al, ‘A Preliminary Assessment of the Impacts of C-19 on Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions in the UK and Beyond’ (SSRN Scholarly Paper No ID 3608580, 27 May 2020) Abstract: One leading theory as to the origins of the current 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, henceforth C-19) suggests emergence from a seafood and exotic animal ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China and through the trade, slaughter and consumption of bats or even pangolin. Attributing the origin of this latest pandemic only to the illicit and unsanitary conditions of wet markets would miss the bigger picture. This pandemic, and other zoonotic outbreaks, invite us to carefully question the ways we think about, interact with and consume other animals more generally. This paper has drawn from recent publicly available news and online data sources to conduct a qualitative, cross disciplinary thematic analysis of the diverse impacts of C-19 to date on animal welfare and human-animal interactions in the UK but with global relevance. The diverse examples reviewed highlight areas where welfare might be compromised and allow for recommendations for mitigating such circumstances in the future.
Juan, San and David Michael, ‘Reviewing Rice Tariffication in the Time of COVID-19: Rationale and Road to Rice Self-Sufficiency in the Philippines’ (SSRN Scholarly Paper No ID 3582210, 19 April 2020) Abstract: This paper presents a literature-informed and data-driven critique of the Rice Tariffication policy in the Philippines, in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic that has already disrupted rice supplies and hiked rice prices globally. Gaps in the surveyed literature are complemented by discussing the rationale of rice self-sufficiency in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex & ambiguous (VUCA) world, and outlining a roadmap to rice self-sufficiency bolstered by practical policy recommendations to bring the law closer to the Philippine State’s declared policy, which is ‘…to ensure food security and to make the country’s agricultural sector viable, efficient and globally competitive.’
Kim, Yi Seul, ‘The Need to Reconceptualize Wild Animals Post-COVID 19: Miscoordination of Wildlife Regulations in China’s Food Legal Order’ (2023) 40(4) Pace Environmental Law Review 576–622 Abstract: Today, China is one of the largest markets for wild animal trading. Yet, wild animals are in a regulatory grey area. There is an increasing need to revisit how wild animals are simultaneously but differently regulated in the food and wildlife protection regimes. Rarely do attempts to understand these two regimes occur, making this article’s analysis of miscoordination in these bodies of law crucial in addressing the hindrance of nationwide food safety improvement efforts.
Kiragu, Alex and Patricia Ahawo Gwambo, ‘Proposed Solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa for Food and Agriculture in the Context of COVID-19’ (Afronomicslaw COVID-19 Symposium on International Economic Law in the Global South (May 2020), Symposium II: Intellectual Property, Technology and Agriculture) Introduction: The world is facing unprecedented times and with the wake of COVID19. In addition to the already strained economies struggling to stay afloat, the fact that food is made largely available through human contact and the fact that social distancing and stringent measures on food handling has resulted in food supply declines and unmet demand because of food limited availability. A look at the global south with a focus on Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) right now brings to light the fact that most governments are struggling with the decision to call for total lockdown in part because of the impact on making food available for its lowest-income earners or lower-income settlement dwellers who are often the most vulnerable. Agriculture also suffers a double fate with many countries having their agriculture adversely impacted by the latest locust movement across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In addition, the changing weather patterns and in effect lower agriculture performance than expected means that COVID19 will compound these challenges. Some of the challenges that are being faced can be addressed by a review of policies to alleviate food problems in SSA. We also then need to strengthen policy by ensuring greater implementation and support through new laws.
Kjær, Gundula, ‘Denmark: Food Inspections During the Covid-19 Crisis’ (2020) 15(3) European Food & Feed Law Review 260–261 Abstract: The article discusses food inspections during the Covid-19 crisis. Topics include during the Covid-19 crisis, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) has continued its inspection tasks of food business operators, though at a very low scale; the DVFA inspections have been carried out either at the food business operators’ premises, as usual, or virtually, via video calls; and DVFA will start by giving guidance on the new requirements instead of sanctioning potential non-compliance.
Kotzmann, Jane and Morgan Stonebridge, ‘Preventing Another Pandemic: How Changing the Legal Paradigm Governing Intensive Animal Agriculture Will Reduce the Risk of Future Zoonoses’ (2022) 47(2) Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 458–517 Abstract: The public health consequences tied to our relationships with animals are significant. The COVID-19 pandemic and previous instances of zo- onotic disease emergence and re-emergence have demonstrated that human relationships with animals can have a profound impact on our health. In the US, the most prevalent human-animal relationship is the one we have with the animals that we eat. This relationship is defined and facilitated by intensive animal agriculture, a practice at high risk of causing zoonotic disease emergence. This Article explores the current regulatory regime governing intensive animal agriculture and argues that it is deficient in the context of zoonotic disease. It argues that this deficiency is a result of the legal anthropocentrism that manifests in practices inherent to intensive animal agriculture and demonstrates that such an approach is unable to adequately manage the risk of future zoonoses. This Article argues for a regulatory approach that acknowledges the interdependence of humans, animals, and the environment. It proposes Wild Law as the most appropriate framework to address the risk of zoonotic disease and concludes that intensive animal agriculture would not be permitted under a Wild Law approach due to its inherent inability to operate within the context of an interdependent human-an- imal-environment relationship.
Lanphier, Elizabeth and Shannon Fyfe, ‘Pediatric Off-Label Use of Covid-19 Vaccines: Ethical and Legal Considerations’ [2021] Hastings Center Report (advance article, published 8 November 2021) Abstract: When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people sixteen and older, questions arose. Parents, pediatricians, and the media wondered whether Covid-19 vaccines could be used off-label—and whether they should be. The American Academy of Pediatrics cautioned against pediatric off-label use of the vaccine, and the vaccine provider agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appears to prohibit it. After briefly contextualizing ethical and legal precedents regarding off-label use, we offer an analysis of the ethical permissibility of and considerations for pediatric off-label Covid-19 vaccination based on individual benefits, risks, and available alternatives. Our analysis challenges the ethics of a blanket prohibition on off-label pediatric Covid-19 vaccination, as it limits clinician ability to provide care they may determine to be clinically and ethically appropriate. At the same time, our analysis acknowledges that Covid-19 creates population-level ethical considerations that are at times in tension with individual health interests.
Lee, Angela and Adam Houston, ‘Diets, Diseases, and Discourse: Lessons from COVID-19 for Trade in Wildlife, Public Health, and Food Systems Reform’ (2020) 5(1) Food Ethics Article 17 Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light significant failures and fragilities in our food, health, and market systems. Concomitantly, it has emphasized the urgent need for a critical re-evaluation of many of the policies and practices that have created the conditions in which viral pathogens can spread. However, there are many factors that are complicating this process; among others, the uncertain, rapidly evolving, and often poorly reported science surrounding the virus’ origins has contributed to a politically charged and often rancorous public debate, which is concerning insofar as the proliferation of divisive discourse may hinder efforts to address complex and collective concerns in a mutually cooperative manner. In developing ethical and effective responses to the disproportionate risks associated with certain food production and consumption practices, we argue that the focus should be on mitigating such risks wherever they arise, instead of seeking to ascribe blame to specific countries or cultures. To this end, this article is an effort to inject some nuance into contemporary conversations about COVID-19 and its broader implications, particularly when it comes to trade in wildlife, public health, and food systems reform. If COVID-19 is to represent a turning point towards building a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient world for both humans and nonhuman animals alike, the kind of fractioning that is currently being exacerbated by the use of loaded terms such as ‘wet market’ must be eschewed in favour of a greater recognition of our fundamental interconnectedness.
Malnar, Vlatka Butorac, Mihaela Braut Filipović and Antonija Zubović, ‘Rethinking Unfair Trading Practices in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain: The Croatian Perspective’ (2021) 5 EU and Comparative Law Issues and Challenges Series (ECLIC): Special Issue - Competition Law (In Pandemic Times): Challenges and Reforms 2–28 Abstract: In recent years, the need for a systematic and harmonised way of preventing unfair trading practices (hereinafter UTPs) in the food supply chain has intensified at the European level due to many diverging national legislative solutions. These efforts resulted in the Directive 2019/633 on unfair trading practices (UTPs) in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain. Croatian UTPs Act, enacted already in 2017, was just amended to conform with the requirements of the named Directive. Generally speaking, the UTPs Act sets out rules and measures to prevent the imposition of UTPs in the food supply chain, establishes the list of such practices and sets up the enforcement structure and sanctions. Comparing the Directive to the UTPs Act, the authors discuss the outcome of the transposition pointing to the incorrect scope of application of the national legislation, its potential consequences and de lege ferenda solutions. Further, the authors anlyse the legal nature of the adopted UTPs system concluding that it does not fit into the traditional systematisation of laws jeopardising the coherency of the intricate and complex relationship between relating legislative frameworks. New rules are diverging and overlapping with both competition and contract law, leading to possible undesirable spill over effects in contract law, and unresolved concurring competence with competition law. Authors suggest precautionary interpretative measures as a means of solving the identified legal conundrum.
Mashhadi, Ali, ‘Analysis of the Outbreak of Covid-19 Disease from the Perspective of Environmental Law’ (2022) Journal of Law Research (advance article, published online 5 July 2022) Abstract: The outbreak of Covid-19 disease in relation to environmental law can be analysis from different dimensions. Theoretically, it shows the deep roots of the philosophical, moral and legal crisis of man in the face of nature. In practice, the role of environmental law in preventing the spread of “human-animal” diseases is recalled. Environmental effects, showed two positive and negative differences in the natural and human environment. On the positive side, the outbreak of this disease has temporarily improved the quality of the urban environment (air pollution, noise, fuel consumption) and, in proportion to some animals, has led to the prohibition of trade and sale and consumption of wild animal meat. On the other hand, the negative effects of this disease have affected issues such as the accumulation of medical waste, wasteful consumption of water and the suspension of environmental regulations against companies. In this article, some of the above environmental dimensions have been tried to be analyzed and evaluated from the perspective of environmental law. The key question is, given the environmental effects and contexts of the outbreak of the disease, what changes the environmental law system needs and what preventive legal response is necessary. The basic premise of this article is based on the need for human beings in the philosophical-legal field to review their relationship with nature and animals, and in practice, with the outbreak of this disease, it is necessary to take some legal measures.
Masiello, Helena, ‘CAFO’s Are a Public Health Crisis: The Creation of COVID-19’ (2022) 76(3) University of Miami Law Review 900–928 Abstract: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (‘CAFO’s’) are largely unregulated by State or Federal Laws in the United States. As a result of this lack of oversight, they are a breeding ground for deadly infectious diseases. The COVID-19 epidemic has demonstrated the threat that diseases pose to the United State like H1N1, SARS, and Ebola. The USDA needs to regulate CAFOs under the mandate given to them by congress in the AHPA to ensure that they are not the epicenter of the next wave of deadly infectious diseases. Scientists have been warning about the disease potential of CAFOs for the last decade, and it is time for policy makers to listen and take action.
Mohamed, Faiz Asyraf Razali et al, ‘The Relationship Between Non-Halal Animals and Pandemic Diseases According to the Shafie School of Islamic Law’ (2023) 8(2) Journal of Contemporary Islamic Law 53–60 Abstract: Humans have been confused about the type of animal to become a daily consumption. Many research has proven the link between animals and the onset of disease. In recent years, many diseases of animal origin have spread, and some have been classified as pandemics, for example, SARS, MERS, COVID-19, and Ebola. Most of these diseases are caused by zoonotic creatures that are derived from animals. This research aims to find the relationship between the pandemic diseases and animals via analyses based on Islamic law. The study utilised qualitative methodology as the main framework. Secondary data related to the record of disease emergence from animal consumption and Halal principles literature have been collected. Findings show that most animals that spread diseases are illegal or prohibited to consume in Islam, e.g., pigs, bats, and pangolins. In Islam, principles of Halal principles are used to control food choices. These principles are built on the basis that all things consumed in the human body must be allowed by the Quran and hadith, clean, permissible, and safe. Therefore, Islam has laid down some conditions related to animal consumption. Findings also proved the relationship between the cause of the pandemic disease and prohibited animals based on Halal principles. Halal principles can be considered a comprehensive instrument compromising Islamic law in food consumption and recent human necessities. This study suggests more research to be conducted in exploring the impact of Halal principles towards human food consumption in avoiding diseases.
Nian Yang et al, ‘Permanently Ban Wildlife Consumption’ (2020) 367(6485) Science 1434–1435 Abstract: The article discusses the role of China’s wildlife market in the spread of the coronavirus disease and mentions the wildlife protection law which should be revised by the Chinese legislature.
Olajos, Istvan and Szilárd Pálfay, ‘Integration of the Crisis Rules Created by Covid 19 Into the European Common Agricultural Policy and Hungarian Agricultural Legislation’ (2024) 3(1) International Journal of Law in Changing World 105–119 Abstract: After the end of the COVID 19 outbreak, the authors summarise the measures taken by the European Union to ensure the continuity of food supply and the functioning of the food chain during the outbreak. In addition to the EU measures, the specific measures followed by the Member States and their room for manoeuvre are presented using the Hungarian example.
Pajrin, Rani et al, ‘Indonesian Food Law Politics in the Era of Covid-19 Pandemic in Order to Realize Food Security’ (2023) 2586(1) AIP Conference Proceedings Article 070011 Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered food supplies between countries in the world due to massive restrictions on human activity. This can create food shortages and can lead to starvation for the community. Indonesia is obliged to protect the entire Indonesian nation and the entire homeland of Indonesia and to promote public welfare, educate the nation’s life, and participate in carrying out world order based on independence, eternal peace and social justice. The purpose of this study is to examine the politics of Indonesian food law in the Covid-19 Pandemic Era in order to realize food security. Indonesian Food Law Politics must refer to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia which regulates the right to live of the population/community. One form of fulfilling human rights is the sector of food sufficiency or food security. Policies must lead to food security and food sovereignty that give priority to stimulus or subsidies to farmers producing food agricultural products.
Peters, Anne, ‘COVID-19 Shows the Need for a Global Animal Law’ (2020) 11(4) dA Derecho Animal : Forum of Animal Law Studies 86–97 Abstract: The pandemic COVID-19 ─ which is a zoonosis ─ illustrates how problems of global nature and proportions stem from human use and abuse of animals and therefore underlines the necessity of a global law approach. The social, ecological, and economic consequences of animal exploitation, notably (but not limited to) agriculture, range from human poverty to transnational organised wildlife crime, to global warming, and of course to animal suffering. Not the least, the danger of the outsourcing of animal-processing industries and research facilities to animal cruelty havens and the threat of a regulatory chill on the national level suggest that the regulatory response to animal issues needs to be global. The Office International des Epizooties (OIE) could be transformed into the institutional hub for such an approach. The contribution also addresses and refutes the challenge of cultural and legal imperialism that is mounted against such a global law approach. It suggests to develop further the One Health paradigm for containing the pandemic and for combatting future zoonoses. The paper concludes that a critical global animal law approach will be helpful for overcoming the COVID-crisis and is generally warranted for transforming human─animal interaction.
Petetin, Ludivine, ‘The COVID-19 Crisis: An Opportunity to Integrate Food Democracy into Post-Pandemic Food Systems’ (2020) 11(2) European Journal of Risk Regulation Special Issue -‘Taming COVID-19 by Regulation’ 326-336 Abstract: The world economy is sliding yet into another recession (having arguably barely recovered from the previous economic downturn) due to the worldwide pressures and tensions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 With most countries in the world under lockdown (or in similar situations), almost all food is now consumed in the household. Arguably, agricultural producers and the retail industry appear to be the best placed to weather the storm in order to respond to such a change in demand. However, this is overly simplistic. Recent news of empty shelves in supermarkets whilst dairy farmers have been forced to pour milk down the drain have gone viral.
Ploeg, Jan Douwe van der, ‘From Biomedical to Politico-Economic Crisis: The Food System in Times of COVID-19’ (2020) 47(5) The Journal of Peasant Studies 944–972 Abstract: The Covid-19 disease is quickly developing into a deep, global and enduring politico-economic crisis that involves a rapid disarticulation of the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food. The badly balanced world market and the high degree of financialization of both primary agricultural production and food chains are decisive factors in this. The crisis highlights that the real economy is far too dependent on the financial economy. Financial capital operates as a paralyzing force. In this situation food sovereignty, peasant agriculture, territorial markets and agroecology emerge as indispensable ingredients for a recovery.
Raifman, Julia, Jacob Bor and Atheendar Venkataramani, ‘Unemployment Insurance and Food Insecurity among People Who Lost Employment in the Wake of COVID-19’ (2020) medRxiv (pre-print) Introduction: The impacts of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) extend well beyond morbidity and mortality. In the United States, COVID-19-related business closures and reductions in economic activity have led to a sharp rise in unemployment rates, from 3.5% in February 2020 to 14.7% in April 2020. As of June 2020, the unemployment rate stands at 11.1%. Job losses over this period have been concentrated among people living in low-income households, and resulting drops in income have made many individuals and families vulnerable to food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as ‘household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.’ Food insecurity is associated with worse general health and well-being, physical hunger pangs and fatigue, psychological depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and interpersonal stress and challenges, as well as chronic disease, and worse developmental outcomes for children. Initial evidence suggests that food insecurity has more than doubled among all households and tripled among households with children during the COVID-19 pandemic relative to February 2020.
Razali, Mohamed Faiz Asyraf, ‘The Relationship Between Non-Halal Animals and Pandemic Diseases According to the Shafie School of Islamic Law’ (2023) 8(2) Journal of Contemporary Islamic Law 53–60 Abstract: This paper explores the connection between the consumption of certain animals and the emergence of pandemic diseases, particularly in the context of Islamic law, specifically the Shafie School. Humans have long been uncertain about which animals are suitable for daily consumption. Numerous studies have demonstrated a link between animal sources and the onset of various diseases. In recent years, several animal-origin diseases have become pandemics, such as SARS, MERS, COVID-19, and Ebola. These diseases are predominantly zoonotic, originating from animals. This research aims to investigate the relationship between pandemic diseases and animal consumption through the lens of Islamic law. The study adopts a qualitative methodology, relying on secondary data about the emergence of diseases related to animal consumption and literature on Halal principles. The findings indicate that many animals associated with disease spread are considered haram (prohibited) for consumption in Islam, including pigs, bats, and pangolins. Islamic dietary laws, or Halal principles, govern food choices based on the belief that everything consumed should be permissible according to the Quran and Hadith, as well as clean, permissible, and safe. Consequently, Islam has established specific conditions for animal consumption. The research also confirms the link between pandemic diseases and the consumption of prohibited animals, as defined by Halal principles. Halal principles offer a comprehensive framework that aligns Islamic dietary laws with contemporary human needs. The study recommends further research into the impact of Halal dietary principles on human food consumption and disease prevention.
Razali, Mohamed Faiz Asyraf et al, ‘The Relationship of the Causes of Pandemic Diseases with Animals Consumption: Observation Studies Based on Halal Standards in Islamic Law’ (2023) Abstracts of the International Halal Science Conference 2023 136-139 (published online 22 August 2023) Abstract: Humans have been facing confusion in determining the type of animal to become a daily consumption. Many research has proven the link between animals and the onset of disease. This research aims to find the relationship between the pandemic diseases and animals via analyses based on Islamic law. The study utilised qualitative methodology as the main framework. Secondary data have been collected which are related to the record of disease emergence from animal consumption and halal principles literature. Findings show that mostly animals that spread diseases illegal or prohibited to consume in Islam, e.g., pigs, bats, and pangolins. In Islam, principles of halal principles are used in controlling food choices. These principles are built on the basis that all things consumed in the human body must be allowed by the Quran and hadith, clean, permissible, and safe. Therefore, Islam has laid down some conditions in related to the animal consumption. Findings also proved the relationship between the cause of the pandemic disease and prohibited animals based on halal principles. Halal principles can be concluded as a comprehensive instrument compromising the Islamic law in food consumption and recent human necessities. This study suggests for more research be conducted in exploring the impact of halal principles towards human consumption of food in avoiding diseases.
Reich, Arie, ‘Globalization, the Corona Pandemic and the Need for Joint Action against Illicit Trade in Wildlife’ (2020) 65 Justice: The Legal Magazine of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (forthcoming) Abstract: This article discusses the negative impact that the Corona pandemic has had on global cooperation and on public sentiments towards globalization. It shows that globalization is not only a victim of the pandemic, but is also blamed to be responsible for it. The article, however, argues that globalization, in the sense of global cooperation and joint action to strengthen international law, is also the solution to the problem. The effort to find a vaccine against COVID-19 can only be successful through global cooperation. Moreover, the article notes that the origin of both this virus and the 2002-2004 SARS virus is from wild-animals, and that around 75% of new or emerging infectious diseases that have affected humans over the past three decades originate in animals. Hence, joint action, through the strengthening of the international conventions against illicit trade in wildlife (in particular the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora –CITES) and protection of biodiversity is urgently needed. The article argues that the aftermath of a mega-crisis, such as the Corona pandemic, is a golden opportunity for a major reform of this field of law in order to reduce significantly the trade in wild animals, in particular endangered species, and preserve their natural habitat. If, in the past, these objectives were seen as conflicting with economic interests, with the latter quite clearly having taken the upper hand, we can now see that preserving wildlife and its habitat is also very much in the economic interest of the world.
Rijal, Padma, ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the Right to Food of South Asian People and the Role of Regional Organization Like SAARC for Regional Food Security’ (2021) 1(1) University of Asia Pacific (UAP) Law Review 58–70 Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic, a global health emergency threatening the right to health of people has multifaceted impacts on other human rights as well. This unprecedented event has crippled our food system thereby affecting the right to food of South Asian people. Supply chain disruptions, loss of income, degrading nutrition, unaffordable food prices, unemployment, missed school meals, etc. have a long-term impact on regional food security. All the four pillars of food security namely availability, access, utilisation, and stability have been weakened. Amid this situation, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been organising virtual meetings with a willingness to stand together in solidarity and also to create the emergency fund. This article advocates the need for regional cooperation for resilience and sustainable recovery by making use of mechanisms like SAARC Food Bank, Seed Bank, Agriculture Center to ensure the right to food of South Asian people and address the existing challenges.
Robert, Amanda, ‘Could International Animal Rights Laws Prevent the next Pandemic? Rajesh Reddy Has a Plan’ (2021) 107(3) ABA Journal 1 Abstract: In March 2020, Rajesh Reddy helped organize an ABA webinar featuring David Favre, a law professor in Michigan who has long advocated for an international treaty that ensures the welfare and protection of animals.
Safitri, Myrna Asnawati and Firman Firman, ‘Animal Welfare and Covid-19 in Indonesia: A Neglected Legal Issue’ (2021) 7(1) Hasanuddin Law Review 1-11 Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic currently infecting the world population comes from the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) transmitted initially from animals to humans, then between humans. This disease is referred to as zoonosis. Covid-19 discourse is generally about zoonotic transmission from animals to humans. Not much attention has been given to the potential transmission from humans to animals. In several countries, cases indicating the exposures of animals with the Coronavirus have been found. Thus, a discussion on the vulnerability of exposure to animals with the Coronavirus is significant to scientifically discussed. Unfortunately, concerns about this problem are still voiced by the mass media. Limited studies have been found, especially in Legal Science. In Indonesia, the Covid-19 incidence has hit more than 200 thousand people, one of the highest in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, animal protection policy is not part of the national program of Covid-19 Control. Indonesia has several laws and regulations concerning animal welfare and zoonosis control. This article presents our study's findings investigating how the animal welfare law is applicable to protect the animals from Covid-19. Using the method of normative legal analysis, we found several weaknesses in the legal norms. We also observed how the ethics of anthro-pocentrism and ecocentrism compete in animal welfare laws.
Swinburne, Mathew, ‘Using SNAP to Address Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic’ in Scott Burris et al (eds), Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19 (Public Health Law Watch, 2020) 211–216 Abstract: The United States Department of Agriculture’s most recent food insecurity data indicated that 37.2 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they did not have access to enough food to lead happy and healthy lives. Food insecurity is linked to a plethora of health issues including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, poor mental health, birth defects, and impaired cognitive development in children. Like many public health challenges, there are severe racial disparities. White Americans experience food insecurity at a rate of 8.1%, while Black Americans and Latinx Americans experience it at rates of 21.2% and 16.2%, respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the US economy with over 44 million Americans filing for unemployment by mid-June 2020. This economic devastation is expected to force an additional 17.1 million Americans into food insecurity. Federal and state governments are adapting key food security programs and implementing new interventions to meet these challenges. This Chapter will examine how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest nutrition program, is being leveraged during the pandemic. While key adaptations are being made to increase the effectiveness of these programs, additional measures are needed to protect vulnerable Americans during the pandemic. This Chapter’s recommendations include, but are not limited to: increasing the maximum SNAP allotment; withdrawing or repealing regulations that limit access to SNAP; repealing the national ban that prohibits individuals with drug felonies from accessing SNAP; making online SNAP utilization available in all states; and providing for the delivery of online SNAP orders with no additional cost to the beneficiary.
Toffolutti, Veronica, David Stuckler and Martin McKee, ‘Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Turning into a European Food Crisis?’ (2020) 30(4) European Journal of Public Health 626–627 Extract from Introduction: COVID-19 and the lockdown have placed the global economy under tremendous strain but are also increasing the threat of longer term food insecurity. Notwithstanding problems of cross-national data comparability, it is clear that food insecurity is already widespread in many high-income countries....There are two interlinked threats to food security. The first is food shortage, triggering price rises, and the second is an inequitable distribution of the food that is available. :
Viens, AM, Victoria Cassar and Asma Atique, ‘Carving the Meat at the Joint: The Role of Defining How Animals Are Viewed and Treated in the Governance of (Re-)Emergent Pandemic Zoonoses in International Law’ (2023) 45(3) Law & Policy 392–413 Abstract: Pandemic zoonoses, such as COVID-19, are one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. International governance tasked with attempting to prevent the (re-)emergence of zoonotic disease in the first place, or preparation and actual response once (re-)emergence or spread has occurred, has largely been fragmented among different governance systems, such as health, food, environment, and trade. The international legal instruments that these governance systems use reflect different ways of viewing and treating animals, which has led to a similarly fragmented approach to the regulation of human–animal interactions related to zoonoses. To illustrate this state of affairs, we develop a descriptive conceptual taxonomy to elucidate and map out how the status and evaluative stance taken toward animals can lead to shaping human-animal relationships by structuring the nature of their interactions and disposes us to adopt governance approaches that seek to regulate human–animal relationships in particular ways. This paper concludes by highlighting some implications surrounding the fragmented conceptualization and practice around how animals are viewed and treated for the future of international legal governance of pandemic zoonoses.
Vu-Dinh, Kim, ‘Where’s the Beef? Meat Shortages, Farmer Needs, and Long-Term Recovery Policies in a Pandemic Era’ (2022) 13(2) Journal of Animal and Environmental Law 65–115 Abstract: COVID-19 not only affected every hospital bed in the nation--if not the world; it also affected nearly every dinner table in America and beyond. Supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic highlighted deep-seated problems with how we get our meat, and how difficult we make it for American farmers to sell to the family next door. Within a few months of the first reported case in the US, hundreds of workers from just two meat-processing plants on American shores became infected with COVID-19, and imports from around the world came to a standstill as factories and shipping companies were forced to shut down. Instantaneously, the US supply of meat seemed to contract, flying off supermarket shelves as Americans began to shelter in place. Meanwhile, nationwide closures of restaurants and school cafeterias posed serious problems for farmers who were forced to cull and dispose of their herds, unable to get them processed at commercial butchers that were either closed or backlogged. In a nation that raises more than 94 million heads of cattle alone, we somehow found ourselves in a meat shortage in 2020, with grocery store shelves looking as ‘patchy and unpredictable as those in the former Soviet bloc’. This article analyzes the state of American agriculture as it pertains to the meat industry, using the beef sector as a case study. This article also proposes potential solutions that should be considered in any stimulus package seeking to create long-term, impactful growth in rural America, where one in five Americans live.
Wesseler, Justus and Kai Purnhagen, ‘Is the Covid-19 Pandemic a Game Changer in GMO Regulation?’ (2020) 19(3) EuroChoices 49–52 Abstract: New developments in biology have stimulated a wide range of technological changes in the bioeconomy. They have proven potential to contribute to solving many of the global challenges currently faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article we focus on two key challenges: the contribution of biotechnologies to the creation of a vaccine; and to addressing food shortages induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Whitfort, Amanda, ‘COVID-19 and Wildlife Farming in China: Legislating to Protect Wild Animal Health and Welfare in the Wake of a Global Pandemic’ (2021) Journal of Environmental Law Article eqaa030 (advance article, published 12 January 2021) Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has exposed serious deficiencies in the current legal framework to protect wild animal health, and consequently human health. As noted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), animal health and welfare are inextricably linked. However, there is no international agreement to promote animal welfare and neither the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora nor the Convention on Biological Diversity, adequately address the welfare of the species they seek to conserve. While the OIE provides guidance on animal health and welfare standards for common agricultural species, it has provided limited guidance for the farming of wild species. China’s wildlife farming industry has been linked with the spread of COVID-19 but, to date, China has introduced few national welfare controls to protect the health of wild animals bred for human consumption. In the wake of COVID-19, these omissions must be remedied to provide appropriate safeguards to ensure animal health and welfare and protect public health.
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