Environmental legislation is one of the biggest challenges facing today's global logistics industry, according a commentary in UK's Transport Intelligence news portal.

Counting food miles to establish a "carbon footprint" may well have a devastating impact on shipping produce from poor to rich countries, says the unsigned editorial commentary.



Environmental campaigners, it noted, are increasingly looking for a carbon footprint to taint imported products as contributors to climate change crisis concerns and pollution.



Yet perishable produce grown in the northern - and colder - developed world, argued the editorial, need high levels of fertiliser or require more energy to maintain warm temperatures in greenhouses.



Thus, produce from warmer countries is often more competitive in terms of energy efficiency. Northern apples, for example, require storage in temperature-controlled warehouses for off-season sales, making them less competitive in energy efficiency against rival produce from developing countries - even when the carbon footprint of airlifting is taken into account, said the editorial.