Do food quality assurance systems demand complex governance structures

In recent years, several agrifood crises broke out in various countries of Europe, in the US, Japan, Canada and also in Argentina. Consumers are consequently much more concerned now about what they eat. In view of such events, consumers in wealthy industrialized countries began to demand food origin and quality assurance. In order to respond to the new situation, companies have designed certifications to assure food quality and safety. As quality certifications are incorporated to foods, the specificity of the assets rises, and market is not the best option to govern the transactions. Based on this theory, it is possible to ask, ?Do food quality assurance systems demand complex governance structures?? This paper describes three certifications ?Organics, GAP and Hereford Beef? in Argentina, identifying institutional, organizational, technological and market aspects and the main governance structures in these systems. The conclusion is that, although the theory indicates that more complex governance structures ?such as hybrid forms? are required, of the three certifications studied, only Hereford Beef develops contracts or netchains with producers and stakeholders, while the others do not generate these complex and formal forms of governance structures