risks are also faced by consumers generally in the form of unexpected fluctuations in food availability or volatile food prices and as real threats are largely limited to developing countries and poor households others such as the occurrence of transboundary livestock diseases or the spreading of pests to other countries could become more important as international trade in agricultural products increases on the other hand a wellfunctioning international trading system is capable of acting as a buffer against regional shocks and hence of reducing the exposure of farmers and consumers within the affected region