Gains from ISO certification in the UK meat sector

ISO 9000 standards have become normal business practices in the European food sector. The reason is that it meets widely differing objectives in the member states and can meet the needs of widely differing legal systems. It also appears that ISO certification has increased the efficiency of the whole food chain. Such argument is used in this article to show that ISO certification can generate gains to consumers and food processors. The case of beef processing in the United Kingdom is analyzed using the framework of interlinked markets.