The government could reduce the risk of another major UK food fraud scandal by clamping down on unfair contractual practices in the supply chain, a University of Manchester study has suggested.
The study, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council and the FSA, is set to be published in the online Sage Criminology & Criminal Justice journal.
It argues food fraud is a ‘situational’ crime, committed by businesses and people with a legitimate role in the industry, who are motivated to commit fraudulent acts by specific situational drivers.
By understanding the conditions that give rise to fraud – as well as thinking about what fraudsters need to do – regulators could intervene, it claims.
However, regulators should also consider how ‘embedded’ fraudulent behaviours and the ‘proliferation of imbalanced contractual practices’ in the food system are creating ‘provocations’ for businesses, the study warns. Government interventions to ensure ‘fair contractual practices’ would remove some of these provocations, it suggests.
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