Sustainability is increasingly a priority in the policies of the European Union, especially in the Common Agricultural Policy. This paper focuses on Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, and the Farm to Fork Strategy in an attempt to establish a relationship with the European Union’s trade policy. Three selected components of the agri-food sector—the food supply chain, agri-food quality standards, and global trade—are examined in relation to defined sustainability aspects. The aim is to understand the interrelationship between the three components with specific regard to sustainability, to highlight their high complexity and current relevance, to contribute to systematic analysis in this area, and to present current progress. This qualitative–explorative study is empirically supported by a survey of market experts, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States is used as an example. The results show the complexity between the relationships of the three components with a focus on sustainability and reveal a deep uncertainty. The most notable results are the limited level of knowledge and the insufficient attention from business representatives to sustainability aspects. Finally, the study identifies the state of integrating a sustainable perspective into European Union trade policy and provides suggestions for further research.

Rapid globalization of the agrifood industry has important impacts on international trade and quality management (QM). Likewise, the European Union has negotiated a series of bilateral free trade agreements. Of note was the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States of America, where the debate focused on the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards, especially for agricultural and food products. This topic offered the mainstream media excellent substances for coverage. This paper explores German print media, television, and radio on the importance of international quality standards in the agrifood sectors in light of the TTIP. A quantitative and qualitative empirical content analysis was performed to investigate media reporting regarding (a) it is scientific character, (b) the use of the term “quality standards” of the agrifood industry, and (c) the reporting on the agrifood industry and QM linked with TTIP, focused on harmonization. The results showed that interrelations between QM and global trade were not presented to recipients in-depth. A trend toward information asymmetries in recipient’s knowledge is indicated. The study addresses recommendations for future collaborations between media, policy-makers, and further cooperation in the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards and control procedures within global trade.

Radio broadcasts, TV shows and online media make a significant contribution to day-to-day consumer information and have a great impact on public opinion. The present study provides an overview of the German reporting about the quality standards of the agri-food industry in the context of the negotiations towards a EUUS Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). On the basis of a guided empirical content analysis, 436 publications released via radio, TV or Internet in the period from June 2013 to December 2016 were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The quantitative analysis showed that the agri-food industry was generally of minor relevance in the coverage of TTIP, but focused mainly on quality standards. The term ‘quality and consumer protection standards‘ frequently appeared in the reportings with the topics such as genetic modification, use of hormones, antibiotics or pesticides and the ‘chlorine-washed chicken‘. These are not standards for official definition of the general food law. It was established that all publications lacked information about specific standards. Thus, the quantitative analysis showed a superficial view of quality standards with only symbolic characteristics. The results of the qualitative media analysis indicated a negative picture of the effects of TTIP concerning the agri-food sector and its standards. Due to the complex structure of the globalised agri-food chains, the importance of comprehensive consumer information was highlighted. Overall, German media failed to provide scientifically based information. Unfortunately, they just highlighted the possible negative changes which could be caused by TTIP.