GMO

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GMOs, Biotech Food and Trade Policy

• Lecture 16 AHEED International Agricultural
  Trade and Policy
• Taught by Alex F. McCalla, Professor Emeritus, UC
  Davis.
• April 8, 2010, University of Tirana, Albania
• Lecture Courtesy of Professor Colin A. Carter, UC
  -Davis
• Readings
• FAO Agric Biotechnology
• Jonathan Rauch Will Frankenfood Save the
  Planet?
• Economist Monsanto

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Genetically Modified Crops

• "Biotech" is genetic modification the selective
  transfer of genes from one organism to another.
  Ordinary breeding can cross related varieties,
  but it cannot take a gene from a bacterium, for
  instance, and transfer it to a wheat plant.
• e.g., golden rice developed by inserting a
  daffodil gene into rice GM rice contains
  betacarotene, which humans convert to vitamin A.
  (WTO vitamin A deficiency causes 250-500
  thousand children to go blind each year).

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Rauch

• UN estimates the population will grow by 40,
  from 6.3B to 8.9B in 2050.
• Feeding those people, their pets providing
  increasingly protein-rich diets that an
  increasingly wealthy world will expectwill
  require food output to at least double,
  possibly triple.

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Qaim, AJAE, 2005

• GM technologies differ from previous crop
  innovations because
• GM crop development commercialization are
  driven by the private sectormostly rich country
  multinationals.
• Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have gained
  in importance (e.g.,)
• GM crops are associated with new environmental
  health risks, entailing new regulatory
  procedures.
• Uncertainty risk aversion have also led to
  limited public acceptance precautious policy
  approaches.
• Modern biotechnology separates developing a
  specific crop trait the breeding of locally
  adapted germplasm.

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Strong Views on All Sides

• The campaign of fear now being waged against
  genetic modification is based largely on fantasy
  a complete lack of respect for science logic.
  Genetic modification can reduce the chemical load
  in the environment, reduce the amount of land
  required for food crops.
• Dr. Patrick Moore, ecologist co-founder of
  Greenpeace, March 2001.

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More

• California is the state with the highest
  potential economic impact associated with
  adoption of GM crops.
• National Center for Food and Agricultural
  Policy

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Policy Issues

• Starlink Corn contamination in US (2000)
• Zambia rejected food aid (GM corn). It is better
  for Zambians to starve than eating harmful food.
  (2002)
• Oregon vote on mandatory GMO labeling (2002)
• GM Wheat shelved in N. America (2004)
• Ventrias pharma rice (2004)
• Brazil legalized GM soy/cotton in 2005
• County GM crop bans (e.g. Sonoma) in Calif. 2005
  defeated 57 to 43
• WTO ruled EUs de facto ban on GMO approval was
  not based on scientific concerns (2006).
• Liberty Link Rice contamination in US (2006)
• US Judge halts sale of GM alfalfa seeds (2007)
• Bt cotton accused of being main reason for a
  resurgence of farmer suicides in India (2008).
• US Judge overturned USDA approval of GM sugar
  beets (09)

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US Regulatory Approach

• US FDA deals with pre-market approval of GMOs
  foods containing GM ingredients
• USDAs APHIS regulates small-scale field testing
  of GM plants before commercialization.
• US EPA regulates GM plants that express
  pesticides such as Bt corn.

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C Carter
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Food Labeling US Regulatory Approach

• FDAs 92 position was very clear labeling of GM
  foods is not required.
• FDA approach is based on scientific risk based
  assessment of GMOs concept of substantial
  equivalence objective of such an approach is not
  to establish absolute safety, but to consider
  whether/not GM foods are as safe as conventional
  foods.
• Alternatively, EU follows the precautionary
  principle

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C Carter
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Source USDA, ERS
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Source Fernandez Cornejo Caswell USDA, ERS,
April 2006
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GMO Importance in Developing Countries
e.g.China

• gt 75 of China's cotton now biotech.
• Bollworm resistance to pesticides was a big
  problem in China before Bt.
• Cotton fields were sprayed up to 40 times.
• With Bt cotton, Chinas farmers have saved 20 in
  production costs.
• Chinas pesticide use has fallen sharply with Bt
  cotton (C. Pray).
• Bt cotton has potential to eliminate the need for
  40 of global pesticide use (Clive James, ISAAA).

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Technology vs Chemicals

• Organic farming, uses no artificial fertilizer,
  but it does use manure, which can pollute water
  and contaminate food.
• Traditional farmers may use less herbicide, but
  they also do more ploughing, with environmental
  complications.
• Low-input agriculture uses fewer chemicals but
  more land.

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Are Transgenic Rice/Wheat Different from other
GMOs?

• GM rice wheat are not commercially grown.
• Rice/wheat are food grains, whereas corn,
  soybeans are mainly used for feed.
• Soybean, corn, canola oil largely exempt from
  labeling regulations in Japan.
• Plenty of GM food now eaten in EU, Japan,
  China.

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EU versus GM Technology

• In WTO case, US alleged violation of Sanitary
  Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement.
• From Oct. 98 no new GMOs authorized in the EU
  until 2006.
• EU response to WTO case lack of consumer demand
  accounts for low sales of GMOs in the EU (EU
  trade directorate).
• EU adopted new rules on labeling traceability.
  EU trade directorate says the EU system is
  science based not driven by economic
  considerations.

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EUs Approach

• Labeling at 0.9 tolerance.
• EU influences other countries (Isaac Paarlberg)
  e.g. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Russia China
• Lowering of adventitious presence of unapproved
  transgenic material to 0.5 from 0.9? Including
  soy corn oil corn gluten (whether or not DNA
  is detectable).

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EU Maize Imports
mt
US
Arg
BZ
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EU Soybean Imports
mt
BZ
US
Arg
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International Rules

• UN food code (Codex Alimentarius) unable to reach
  an agreement on GM labeling.
• Cartagena Biosafety Protocol uses a
  "precautionary approach allows importers to
  block GM imports if they are not satisfied with
  information supplied by exporters.
• Protocol promotes idea of letting each country
  decide on its own labeling policy.
• US has opposed the Cartagena Protocol.

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Labeling

• Mandatory labeling encourages food processors to
  switch away from GM ingredients avoid labels,
  especially for highly processed products.
• In the EU, tolerant consumers suffer economic
  loss due to lack of choice at retail level.
• US food industry asked US govt to file a WTO
  complaint against the EU's new biotech
  traceability and labeling rules, from Apr. 2004.

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Harmonization of Labeling Policies

• Kirchoff Zago (2001) Jackson (2002) find that
  harmonization is not a good idea for the US EU.
  
• Labeling policies may not have a large effect on
  soybeans corn (Gruère Carter) animal feed is
  (currently) exempt from labeling.
• Transgenic food crops (wheat rice) is a
  different story labeling will have significant
  economic effect.

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Starlink Corn

• Sep. 18, 2000, Washington Post reported genetic
  material from StarLink corn was found in taco
  shells.
• StarLink was approved by US EPA for animal feed
  but not for human consumption (i.e., a split
  license).
• StarLink was co-mingled with non-StarLink corn
  this led to recalls of hundreds of food products
  domestically and overseas.
• StarLink corn was not approved for food or feed
  use in Japan or S. Korea.
• Aventis settled a class action lawsuit for 112 m.

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LL601 Rice Contamination

• GM rice not commercially grown in US or
  elsewhere.
• Bayer trials on LL Rice contaminated seed supply
  of US Long Grain rice reported in 2006.
• US produces 160 million cwt of long grain rice
  each year exports 50
• EU stopped importing US long grain following the
  Aug 18th 2006 contamination announcement.
• Resulted in a 10 to 20 drop in US long grain
  exports in 2006/07 subsequent years.
• Another lawsuit is underway farmers v. Bayer.

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Liberty Link Rice Contamination Impact on
November rice futures
/cwt
LL601 Contamination announcement
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U.S. Long-Grain Rice Exports to European Union
(million cwt)
Note August-July crop year figures are rough
equivalent. Compiled from U.S. Department of
Commerce and USDA FAS trade data.