29232 - Food Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have a knowledge of fundamental legal concepts,especially regarding sources of law, and key institutions related to food law. The student will be able to develop independent learning skills for additional knowledge and updates.

Course contents

Fundamental legal concepts: law and rights; the concept of the state; fundamental elements of community and national legal systems (general characteristics and main bodies); the legal sources system (types, production, governing principles). Food Law: sources of food law at the national, community, and international level; fundamental legal principles and concepts in food law; businesses operating in the agri-food sector; the market for agricultural and agri-food products (common agricultural policy and competition regime; designations of food products, PDO, IGP, and TSG; organic production methods); production rules and marketing of food products (food product quality; general and specific aspects of labelling; product names and the principle of mutual recognition; GMOs; food products’ traceability; producer liability for defective products and the sanction system in the food sector); rules on food product hygiene (the "hygiene package" HACCP
system; traditional food products; main hygiene rules for animal feed).

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students, the study can be conducted based on lecture notes.
For non-attending students, the study should include the following texts:
- P. Di Martino, A. Di Pascale, A. Sorgato, D. Viti, Lineamenti dell'ordinamento giuridico internazionale, europeo e nazionale, Milano, 2013, except for the following parts: chapter 2 (pp. 33- 45); paragraph 3.7 of chapter 3 (pp. 52-54); chapter 4 (pp. 57-61); chapter 6 (pp. 66-78); paragraphs 7.15, 7.16, 7.17, and 7.18 of chapter 7 (pp. 120-132); paragraphs 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5 of chapter 10 (pp. 214-222); chapter 13 (pp. 257-270).
- Luigi Costato, Paolo Borghi, Sebastiano Rizzioli, Valeria Paganizza, Laura Salvi, Compendio di Diritto alimentare, tenth edition, Milan, 2022.

Teaching methods

The course consists of classroom lectures in which the program topics will be addressed. These topics will be analyzed institutionally, starting from the relevant legal data, and, where possible, through the analysis and commentary of the main doctrinal and jurisprudential positions on the subject.

Assessment methods

Learning assessment is done through the final examination, exclusively oral, which verifies the acquisition of knowledge related to the course topics, as well as the terminology and methods used.
The oral exam will take approximately 25 minutes and will consist of three questions related to the topics covered in the program.

Teaching tools

Regarding the topics covered during the course, the main normative sources and jurisprudential judgments related to some of the topics discussed will be indicated and made available to students, also in digital form on the teacher's website.

Office hours

See the website of Emiliano Porri