The workshop brought together representatives of international organisations, competition authorities’ officials, competition lawyers and economists, trade lawyers and agricultural economics’ experts to discuss the emergence and regulation of global food value chains.
The workshop explored the dynamics of the global food value chains and the strategies developed by the big global players in the various segments of the chain. The speakers focused on the impact of biotech technology (such as CRISP-R Cas 9 and RNA Inhibitors), the emergence of e and m-commerce in groceries, the transformation of consumer preferences with fair trade and organic food, land grabbing, the consolidation/concentration of the various segments of the chain, the development of platform competition and one stop shop strategies from major global players, the rise of transnational food production and distribution, the role of FDI in the food industry, the development of global conglomerates active in many segments of the food value chain (through interlocking shareholding or FDI), the situation of farmers in the Global South and public policy choices in selected jurisdictions, in particular the BRICS.
This is the third international event co-organised by the CLES on the topic of food value chains, the first one being held in St Petersburg in June 2015 and the second one in Cape Town in November 2015. Professor Lianos, the principal investigator of this project, is currently preparing a book on this topic and the research project has been selected as one of the pilot projects for the newly launched BRICS Joint Research Platform in Competition Policy.