Cost-Benefit Analysis of HACCP Implementation in the Chinese Slaughtering and Meat Productprocessing Industry

The paper reports the results of a study of the costs and benefits associated with the implementation and operation of HACCP in the Chinese slaughtering and meat product processing industry. The research results suggest that although some kinds of intangible costs are more regularly referred to, the major costs of implementing and operating HACCP in the industry are still relatively tangible, such as investment in new equipments and product testing. And although most respondents indicated that the costs of implementing and operating HACCP were approximately in accordance with their prior expectations, still a significant majority indicated that some costs exceeded their expectations. The results also suggest that the slaughtering and meat product processing enterprises do derive benefits from implementing and operating HACCP, and some of them have derived distinct benefits. The results have implications for the further adoption of HACCP not only in the industry itself but also in the Chinese food industry as a whole. Policy makers should take account of these research results and make more quantitative researches to offer more comprehensive and classified information to help food enterprises make decisions on HACCP implementation and operation.