Risk Management
Risk Management is defined in the Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual, Fourteenth Edition (2004) as “The process, distinct from risk assessment, of weighing policy alternatives, in consultation with all interested parties, considering risk assessment and other factors relevant for the health protection of consumers and for the promotion of fair trade practices, and, if needed, selecting appropriate prevention and control options.” At a more intuitive level we might define risk management as the work required to answer the following questions about the assessed risks:
- What can be done to reduce the impact of the risk described?
- What can be done to reduce the likelihood of the risk described?
- What are the trade-offs of the available options?
- What is the best way to address the described risk?
The first two questions are answered by alternative risk abatement, risk mitigation and risk trade-offs strategies and plans. Answering the last two questions evaluates the relative merits of the alternatives considered. A trade-off analysis can consider a wide and varying range of impacts, but economic trade-offs, i.e., the benefits and costs of the various alternatives, is almost certainly going to be one of them. And although the best plan for addressing a problem will be chosen in a variety of ways, the economic consequences of taking or not taking any action are always going to be important.
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