Legal Requirements for Preventing Food Insecurity in Light of a Health Impact Assessment Approach; Covid 19 Outbreak Case Study

Abstract

The strongest hypothesis as to the origin of Covid-19 indicates that it is zoonotic. The food use of products from the wild animal market in Wuhan, and its economic impacts and mortalities urged us to explain the relationship between the right to adequate food, food security and safety, and the approach to health impact assessment.In general, creating food security and safety and providing food free from any virus and bacteria is one of the gradual and cross-border obligations branching from the right to sufficient food, and it seems that the integrated and cross-border implementation of the approach in assessing the effects on health is a necessary and positive measure. Fulfilling this due obligation requires the existence of efficient legal tools in related fields, and the spread of Covid-19 lacks the presence of legal gaps in these fields. By detailed explaining of the legal and international dimensions of the above cases, this paper aims to analyze these gaps. Finally, it will come up with suggestions for the total fulfillment of the aforementioned obligations in the international law system.

Keywords

• international environmental law
• covid19
• health impact assessments
• food safety
• zoonotic virus