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Abstract
The identification of the most relevant
agri-food trade streams serves as the foundation and
shows the trading volume in selected countries on which
the later research of project e-Trust is based, with
particular consideration of the specific role of trust in
these transactions and its transfer in e-commerce
afterwards.
For the elaboration of the data collection, mainly the
international statistical database of Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAOSTAT) is used as a common basis of the
comparison. The procedure has been applied to six
European traders in agricultural products (Germany,
Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Greece and Spain) and three
non-European countries (USA, Brazil and Turkey).
According to the statistical sources mentioned above,
primary commodities are grouped into four categories:
cereals, meat, fruit and vegetables, and olive oil.
The findings of the trade streams analysis shows that
the trade structures in the selected countries are diverse,
and there is a complex picture. Wheat and maize are
major primary cereal commodities which are imported
as well as exported. Most imports and exports of meat
are of cattle, pigs or chickens. Overlapping trade
streams could be identified between some countries,
such as Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain.
The outcome of the trade streams analysis derives
industry measures to enhance sustainable introduction
of e-commerce.
The identification of the most relevant agri-food trade
streams serves as the foundation and shows the trading
volume in selected countries on which the later research
of project e-Trust is based, with particular consideration
of the specific role of trust in these transactions and its
transfer in e-commerce afterwards. In this chapter, the
focus is on the size of trade streams regarding agri-food
products in selected countries on a yearly basis and
shows the potential for the introduction of e-commerce.