A focus on EU-US trade relations : the genetically modified organisms controversy

Abstract

Public attitudes concerning genetically modified foods vary considerably across the globe. In the midst of mounting concern, there remains more resistance to GMOs in Europe than in North America. These differences in the level of acceptance of GMOs, have deep implications for international trade. In fact, these differences contributed to the rise of trade disputes between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). Europe adopted the precautionary principle in order to protect the health of the consumer and the environment. By contrast, the US claims that the EU has creating barriers to trade by imposing certification on approved GM varieties and by imposing labelling laws on GM Foods. The moratorium, although lifted in May 2004, caused economic losses to the US and a decline in agricultural and food exports to the EU. This has caused a dent in world trade and prompted the US to file suit against the EU at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for banning imports of GMOs. The US is using the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards Measures (SPS) agreement to accuse the EU for not following the WTO rules. However, the battleground now switches to the Biosafety Protocol (BSP), which contradicts the SPS agreement on scientific evidence. The BSP agreement states that a country can ban GMOs imports without scientific evidence. The BSP agreement has not been ratified by the US, hence making international trade agreements more difficult. This dissertation presents the importance of trade in agriculture, even though it represents only a small fraction of transatlantic bilateral trade. Moreover, it explains different regulatory approaches for food products. This helps to understand different political perspectives on GMOs. Furthermore, it explains how key actors of the food system, such as producers, retailers, traders and consumers can influence each other and the policy making of a country. This dissertation focuses on the how creation of trade barriers and non-tariff barriers play an important role in the GMOs controversy. It tries to show that although technical barriers to trade maybe proclaimed as irrational by certain countries, they may also include ethical issues. This dissertation concludes how these barriers to trade have actually affected transatlantic bilateral relations between the EU and the US, and how GMOs producers have been relatively silent in the GMOs dispute. Finally, it also provides a Maltese perspective on the GMOs controversy gathered from a number of interviews.