The reliability of third-party certification in the food chain: From checklists to risk-oriented auditing

In recent years, certification has become increasingly relevant for agribusiness. In Europe, substantial parts of the value chain are already being certified by standards such as the International Food Standard (IFS) or GLOBALGAP (the former EurepGap). It is not known, however, whether these approaches can de facto ensure high quality control. This article is based on a database analysis of the German certification system Quality and Safety (QS) and a workshop with the QS-certification bodies conducting 85% of all agricultural audits. It seeks to deduce the first empirical hypotheses concerned with the connection between the reliability of third-party certification and the institutional framing of standards. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.