POST, Dihanna L. <br/><br/>
Standards and regulatory capitalism :  the diffusion of food safety standards in developing countries 

 - Thousand Oaks :  SAGE,  March 2005 
<br/><br/> Public health is a major area of social regulation, tied closely to the rise of the regulatory state. Among public health standards, ffod safety standards were some of the first to be globalized, through the Codex Alimentarius Commission established in 1963. With the establishment of the World Ttrade Organization (WTO), these international food safety standards have taken on even greater importance, serving as a reference point for the WTO in resolving disputes between countries over trade barriers. Have these international food safety standards influenced domestic policies and, if so, in wich directions and why? This article considers how the Codex food additive standard has influenced policy in Argentina and the Dominican Republic. It looks at the role and interaction of international, regional, and domestic actors and top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal directions of policy diffusion. It also examines the role played by powerful states in shaping international standards.