The past 30 years has seen a tenfold increase in the global export of agricultural products. Increased reliance of consumers on agricultural products grown in other countries and of producers on markets in other countries presents a host of new challenges and opportunities for the supply chains that link producers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, regulators and consumers.
Improved global communications and transport facilities make these supply chains possible and enable more and more agribusinesses to participate. The improved global communications also lead to greater expression of social and environmental concerns over product quality and production processes, concerns that raise important new issues of business responsibility and consumer safety.
NGOs, buyers, consumers, governments of importing countries, and the media all scrutinize agribusinesses for their adherence to standards for environmental and food safety in processing facilities and on farms where unsanitary practices and uncontrolled chemical usage were perceived as common-place.
More recently, concerns over human rights, worker welfare, and biodiversity loss have become determinants of success or failure for products, companies, and countries in the global marketplace.
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