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This study aimed to measure the effects of the Russian–Ukrainian war on the value of imports and the food trade balance in Saudi Arabia.

Estimating the suggested model using econometric analysis for the years 1990–2021.

The amount of deficit increased in the food trade balance from 11.58 billion riyals in 1990 to 72.98 billion riyals in 2021. As for the increase in the index of food production by 10%, it leads to a decrease in the value of food imports for Saudi Arabia by 1.88%. Also, the value of the deficit in Saudi Arabia's food trade balance decreases by 5.24% as a result of a 10% rise in food exports to the country.

In light of the increase in the food price index to 145.8, the value of food imports and the deficit in the food trade balance exceed their counterparts in the current situation for the year 2021, at a rate of 37.1% and 44.5% for each respectively. In view of achieving huge financial surpluses as a result of the rise in oil prices, the Saudi Arabia is able to bear the high import bill and the amount of food trade balance deficit. Finally, the Russian–Ukrainian war leads to an increase in the cost of obtaining food commodities and their unavailability in the markets and thus affects the food security environment. Therefore, this study recommends the necessity of conducting more studies on the impact of the war on the food security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of accessibility, quality perception, and price perception on consumer satisfaction with imported fruit, specifically imported Asian pears. The moderating role of the country image was also assessed.

A total of 413 Americans aged over 19 years who had purchased imported Asian pears were surveyed through an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and multiple group analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Accessibility, quality perception, and price perception exhibited a significant impact on consumer satisfaction with imported Asian pears and influenced behavioral intention through satisfaction. Multiple group analysis results revealed a moderating effect of the country image on these relationships. Accessibility had a significant impact on consumer satisfaction of consumers with a high country image of Korea, whereas prices had no significant impact on them. In contrast, price was determined as a key satisfaction factor for consumers with a low country image of Korea, whereas accessibility did not have a significant impact.

This study contributes to the literature on imported fruits and provides practical implications for promoting the consumption of imported Asian pears in the US.

The fresh food supply chain industry faces significant challenges in risk management because of the complexity, immature development and unpredictable external environment of imported fresh food supply chains (IFFSCs). This study aims to identify specific risk factors in IFFSCs, demonstrate how these risks are transmitted within the system and provide an analytical framework for managing these risks.

A total of 15 risk factors for IFFSCs through extensive literature review and expert consultation are identified and classified into seven levels using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) to demonstrate the risk transmission path. Fuzzy Matrice d’Impacts Croises-Multiplication Appliance Classement (MICMAC) analysis is then used to analyze the role of each factor.

The interactions of the 15 identified risk factors of IFFSCs, classified into seven levels, are visualized using ISM. The fuzzy MICMAC analysis classifies the factors into four groups, namely, dependent, independent, linkage and autonomous factors, and identifies the relatively critical risk factors in the system.

The findings of this research provide a clear framework for enterprises operating in IFFSCs to understand the specific risks they may face and how these risks interact within the system. The fuzzy MICMAC analysis also classifies and highlights critical risk factors in the system to facilitate the formulation of appropriate mitigation measures.

This study provides enterprises in IFFSCs with a comprehensive understanding of how the risks can be effectively managed and a basis for further exploration. The theoretical model constructed is also a new effort to address the issues of risk in IFFSCs. The ISM and the fuzzy MICMAC analysis offer clear insights for researchers and enterprises to grasp complex concepts.

This study aims to determine the extent to which consumers perceive food-related information to be tied to the intrinsic characteristics of food, particularly safety.

The authors examined Japanese consumers’ preferences regarding domestic or foreign perishables, as well as how they interpret origin information, focusing on their perceptions of safety using descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression analysis.

The results indicated that a high proportion of Japanese consumers considered domestic foods to be safer; in particular, people affected by food safety information obtained through personal communication, books and magazines tended to choose domestically produced perishables rather than imported ones.

The belief that domestic foods are safer than imported ones was highly universal among Japanese consumers, although this belief is not necessarily grounded in scientific evidence. When considering strategies to improve consumers’ information literacy, factors that have fostered this belief must be discussed. For consumers to make logical food choices, both food businesses and consumers require scientific and informational literacy and policy support.

The present experimental study aims to investigate when a food safety incident occurs, how country image influences consumers' trust and purchase intention, as well as the relationship between trust and purchase intention.

Participants (N = 1,590) were randomly allocated into one of the eight conditions [(country competence: high vs low) × (country warmth: high vs low) × (clean green image: high vs low)], read the corresponding country image descriptions, and rated measures on trust in food safety and quality, and purchase intention of fruit imported from this exporting country before and after reading a fictional food safety incident scenario.

Results showed that the food safety incident led to a significant decrease in trust and purchase intention across all conditions. However, trust in food safety and quality, and purchase intention were still higher in high competence, warmth or clean green image conditions. The decreased magnitude of trust in food safety was larger when country competence and clean green image was high, and when country warmth was low. Food safety incident caused purchase intention to become more dependent on trust in food safety than food quality.

This study provides a novel insight into the impacts of food safety incidents on consumers' responses in different country image contexts including the human-related and environment-related dimensions.

This study aims to explore the grain chain in Kosovo. This study also aims to analyse the role of actors involved in the supply, production, processing, marketing and distribution of the grain value chain.

The study uses qualitative methods. A total of 60 semi-structured interviews are conducted with actors involved in the entire grain value chain.

Findings reveal that the country depends on grain imports and lacks an organised grain market, which is often distorted by the present political situation. Stakeholders are partly integrated in the grain value chain, and they are not very efficient in production. The existence of an informal market influences the decision-making of actors involved in the grain chain. The grain value chain displays mixed governance types, and the relationships among actors are based on the trust mechanism.

The research draws the importance of agriculture’s public policies to sustain domestic grain production. Public–private partnerships should be created to restore the grain market. Trading policies should be revised because they play a crucial role in enhancing fair competition between domestic and foreign traders.

Despite the world’s effort in grappling with the coronavirus disease that has affected many sectors globally, knowledge and research on the COVID-19 pandemic as well as on the halal food and beverage industry remain limited, particularly in Brunei Darussalam. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the halal food processing industry face amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the sultanate.

A qualitative approach based on four semi-structured interviews was employed using a purposive sampling of managers and business owners of the manufacturing SMEs. Several government agencies were also interviewed to further supplement the findings. This paper also uses the support from a review of relevant academic journal articles, and other secondary data including newspapers and websites, to uncover the hindering factors surrounding the phenomenon.

Four themes emerged, covering four overarching and inter-related challenges including limited production; closure of retail stores; delay in exporting; and less sales to cover overheads.

This study positively contributes to the understanding of the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the country as well as adds and enriches the halal research sphere. Several implications for the SMEs, policymakers, as well as academic scholars, and limitations are also discussed.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to investigate the halal food processing industry in Brunei Darussalam especially, during the time of uncertainties such as the COVID-19 era. The paper’s value also lies in addressing the gap that there is a need to study on the impact of this outbreak on SMEs in the developing countries, inclusive of Brunei Darussalam.

Money laundering (ML) is a major criminal offence stemming from unethical practices by personnel on the ground at Chattogram Port, an important import and export facility in Bangladesh. Because money can be more easily laundered through imports, it is necessary to investigate the dubious process in this sector. This study aims to identify the items most regularly used for easy ML and the factors contributing to their vulnerability.

This research uses a qualitative approach and analyses information from primary sources. Data is obtained from customs officials, port authority personnel, importers and customs brokers through semi-structured questionnaires. Although there are many techniques for ML, this study only found three most overwhelming: under-invoicing, over-invoicing and misdeclaration. A few case studies have been used based on newspaper reports and the internet to triangulate the qualitative data.

Four import items – food products, garments, capital machinery and chemicals – have a higher risk of ML. This study also revealed that money launderers prefer under-invoicing food and garment items. Misdeclaration is more commonly associated with capital machinery and chemical items. Over-invoicing, on the other hand, is only prevalent in government purchases. The port authorities need to pay particular attention to these issues.

As ML is an ongoing activity that changes over time, the findings of this research are circumscribed by the data collected at a single point in time. Additionally, this research did not consider alternative laundering methods.

The research results can provide a basis for creating effective anti-money laundering (AML) strategies to assist with sustainable economic growth.

Developing effective AML measures can help combat corruption and establish good governance in the country and support human well-being.

This paper presents original research findings based on technical analysis. The Chattogram Port Authority and the National Board of Revenue have accepted and used the main findings in a collaborative action plan to tackle ML. The Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, has also incorporated the necessary guidelines and regulations into the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.

Natural disasters profoundly influence agricultural trade sustainability. This study investigates the effects of natural disasters on agricultural production imports in China within 2002 and 2018. This exploration estimates the mediating role of transportation infrastructure and agriculture value-added and the moderating role of government effectiveness and diplomatic relations.

This investigation uses Probit, Logit, Cloglog and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models.

The results confirm the mediating role of transportation infrastructure and agriculture value-added and the moderating role of government effectiveness and diplomatic relations in China. According to the findings, natural disasters in trading partners heighten the risk to the agricultural imports. This risk raises, if disasters damage overall agricultural yield or transportation infrastructure. Moreover, governments’ effective response or diplomatic ties with China mitigate the risk. Finally, the effect of disasters varies by the developmental status of the country involved, with events in developed nations posing a greater risk to China’s imports than those in developing nations.

China should devise an early warning system to protect its agricultural imports by using advanced technologies such as data analytics, remote sensing and artificial intelligence. In addition, it can leverage this system by improving its collaboration with trading partners, involvement in international forums and agreement for mutual support in crisis.