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This article sets the scene for the contributions in this special edition of Community Safety Journal. It examines the political contexts of community safety initiatives, compares transatlantic and European traditions and discusses convergent and divergent themes.

This article traces the development of ideas and policies linked to the shifting definitions of crime reduction, prevention and community safety. The conceptual changes are often difficult to define due to imprecision and breadth. Community safety is sufficiently broad to be concerned with a range of harms and hazards beyond crime and disorder, which may become the focus of the emerging new forms of government.

The role of the community safety practitioner is a newly emerging expertise in local government. A survey conducted with local authorities reveals a relatively fluid and unstructured profession of highly educated or experienced individuals with heavy workloads. Practitioners inhabit a contested policy terrain in which they express a preference for a social regeneration agenda rather than narrower crime specific strategies.

This paper explores the potential application of public value management theory to the practice of UK healthcare procurement. By conducting a literature review, key elements of public value theory and practice that can be applied to healthcare procurement are identified together with mechanisms that can be used in procurement to protect public values and enhance the creation of public value. These are formed into a Public Value Healthcare Procurement Framework which represents a fresh normative approach to healthcare procurement by focussing on a broader, societal view of value; by providing a blue print for procurement leaders centred around Moore's vision of “exploring” and “moral” public managers; and by promoting a public service ethos amongst all providers including the private sector.

One of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal United States (US)‐European Union (EU) trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies “in‐house” dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair's good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effective in promoting harmonisation between states. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper traces the process that is embedded within the SPS Committee for resolving trade conflict over risk‐based regulations, highlighting a recent case in point of wood‐packing materials.

The paper elucidates a good news story about how American and EU policy makers utilize SPS Committee mechanisms to resolve differences over environmental regulations at the SPS Committee. Specific recommendations are offered on how to strengthen those mechanisms.

If the recommendations offered are followed, trade conflict resolution over risk‐based issues in the SPS context will be strengthened.

The paper is the first utilizing a case study to assess the effectiveness of WTO/SPS mechanisms for trade conflict resolution.