It is expected that an effective regulatory system should be sensitive to the needs of the industry and the consumer by adopting and implementing policies that reduce regulations – meaning effective regulation rather than over-regulation.

However, in a complex food market, a balance among stakeholders’ various needs is difficult to achieve which explains why it takes a long time to amend regulations – regulations that are issued in terms of different laws, of which the enforcement thereof lies within the various government departments.

The complexities facing the dairy industry, and the power of relationships – or diverging interests among government departments, dairy processors, distributors, and food retailers – are often the cause of over-regulation.

The question is how we as stakeholders should navigate through the processes of regulation in a multi-dimensional, fragmented regulatory environment that is very demanding on the dairy industry.