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The literature about gravity models stresses that bilateral trade flows among countries are influenced by size of the economy and transaction costs. If compared with the previous literature our article shows a twofold novelty. First, to the best of our knowledge it is the first attempt to analyze the bilateral trade of agricultural goods for Italy by a cross-country and panel analysis in a gravity model, and second, it provides an original specification for transaction costs. In particular, we assume that the level of organic certification standards equivalence between Italy and extra-European countries could represent a good “proxy” for affinity in bilateral trading relationships concerning the agricultural sector both for organic and nonorganic products. Interestingly we find that the absence of specific import equivalence rules between Italy and other extra-European countries decreases the level of bilateral trade. The policy agenda about equivalence of the organic agricultural standards should be tackled in the context of a more complex agenda concerning the affinity of political, cultural, and social practices among different regions in the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About three-quarters of food exports from European Union (EU) countries goes to the common market in which the free movement of products is ensured. Therefore, it is important to examine from which EU countries the food is exported, what food products they are, and what hazards may be present in these products. The data for research were obtained for 1999-2018 from the Eurostat database (according to the Standard International Trade Classification-SITC) and the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database. Then, cluster analysis was performed using joining (tree clustering) and two-way joining methods. The main food exporters were the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They exported: cereals, fruits and vegetables, beverages and feeding stuff (in quantitative terms) and fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy products, and cereals (in terms of value). In turn, the most frequently notified hazards in food originating from these countries were: pathogenic micro-organisms, microbial contaminants, metals, composition, foreign bodies, allergens, and pesticide residues. The increase in the number of alert notifications in the RASFF is particularly noticeable in recent years. The results of the research may be useful for activities related to food traceability, changes in the European law, and encouraging the use of extensive methods in agriculture.