International Rules and their Impact on EU Food Law

This essay outlines the main achievements of the world trade law concerning foodstuffs, and the related problems (such as, e.g., the risk assessment, the SPS measures, the protection of IP rights, and the commitments of WTO member States). An outlook is dedicated to how international rules have influenced, and sometimes have affected, the creation of the EU food law system, and the legislative choices by EU lawmakers. Some finale considerations are made about emerging signals that the multilateral perspective could be at its sunset, perhaps overcome by returning to a bi-, tri- or plurilateral approach.