Chemical contamination of fresh produce through pesticide spraying is considered a minor risk for consumer health. As a result, a high proportion of safety controls may be delegated to the private sector by public agencies. Private control is even greater when fresh produce is sold to safety-conscious consumers, given the high exposure of retailers' commercial reputations. Performed within the framework of the European project Sustainmed, our paper is a case study of public and private management and control of safety risks and the determinants thereof in the fresh produce industry of two contrasting Mediterranean countries: Morocco and Turkey. Based on expert surveys and face-to-face interviews with a high number of tomato growers, it provides an insight into the factors influencing the role of the different players in managing and controlling safety risks. A clear distinction is made between the individual parameters at growing and shipping levels and country-wide parameters at the market and institutional level. Both categories of parameters significantly influence the level of safety management at production level (IPM schemes and GAP certificates) and help understand the respective contributions of public and private operators in the safety risk management of the whole system.