Food chain certification and the social pluralism of competition law

Food, more than any other commodity, is surrounded by a vibrant debate concerning competing modes of production, ranging from the preferability of industrial farming as against small-scale farming, to genetically modified production as against organic production and to global production as against local production. The resulting demand for food with specific material and immaterial attributes has contributed to the rise of certification schemes along the value chain. Beyond being mere information intermediaries, such certification schemes can best be understood as ‘polycentric’ governance tools that give voice to non-economic rationalities in governing global production. Put this way, certification e.g. for sustainable food production holds a mirror up to competition law theory. In dealing with such private governance initiatives, competition law finds a pertinent terrain to conceptualize and implement its own ‘polycentric’ objective of constitutionalizing markets. In particular, competition law can and should formulate guidelines to meaningfully distinguish between different private governance initiatives to critically engage with the known flaws in the incentive structure of certification.