Costs and risks of conforming to EU traceability requirements: the case of hard red spring wheat

European Union (EU) traceability requirements impose added costs and risks on suppliers. A stochastic simulation model is developed to determine optimal testing strategies and marginal costs to conform to EU traceability requirements for exports of non-genetically modified (non-GM) wheat from the United States. The optimal strategy is chosen to maximize an integrator's utility. Cost components include certified seed, certification and auditing, testing, traceability, quality loss, and a premium for the added risk of a dual traceability system over a single non-traceability system. Adventitious commingling risks are defined stochastically. Results indicate that traceability requirements can be conformed to with reasonable buyer and seller risk at a total cost of $18|non-GM mt. [EconLit Subject Descriptors: C150, C610, D810] © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.