gmos and the wto rules mark halle minsk, 24 october 2008
TRANSCRIPT
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GMOs and the WTO Rules
Mark HalleMinsk, 24 October 2008
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Scientific Organizations
• Codex Alimentarius: developing general principles for risk analysis for GM foods, and specific guidance on risk assessment
• Also examining analytical methods to detect GMOs in foods
• A joint FAO/WHO expert consultation is underway on safety aspects of GM foods
• Similar efforts in OIE and IPCC
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What are GMOs?
• GMOs are created by transferring genetic material from one organism to the other.
• Although there is a general agreement that GMOs must not pose a threat to human health or the environment, countries do not agree on the acceptable level of risk.
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Trade issues linked to GMOs• Trade problems arise when countries have
different regulations on testing and approval procedures for traded GM products…
• Or when they disagree on labelling and identification requirements
• Some countries ban the import and sales of GMOs and their products
• Others consider that separating GM from non-GM products is unnecessary and costly and that labelling requirements are an unnecessary trade barrier
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GMO-related WTO Agreements
• Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS)
• Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
• Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
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SPS Provisions• SPS measures are aimed to protect human or
animal life from risks arising from additives, contaminants, toxins or disease-causing organisms in their food, beverages or feedstuffs.
• Or to protect a country from damage caused by the entry, establishment or spread of pests
• First probably applies to GMOs; second is more doubtful
• If either applies, the measure would have to conform to SPS requirements for risk assessment and least trade-restrictive measures
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SPS Article 5.7
• GMO-related trade restrictions can be taken under 5.7 as “provisional measures” applied for a “reasonable time”
• Example of EU moratorium: dispute over state of scientific knowledge, but also about how long an interim arrangement could apply and still be considered “reasonable”.
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TBT Provisions
• TBT allows governments to take measures to protect health or environment, provided they are not more trade-restrictive than necessary…
• … and that they do not discriminate among “like products”. But are GMOs “like” products?
• Most TBT concern revolves around labelling requirements
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TRIPS Provisions
• TRIPS allows governments to exclude from patentability plants and animals and essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals
• It also allows temporary exclusion from patentability when necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid prejudice to the environment
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GATT Provisions
• Article XX exceptions for measures necessary to protect human, animal and plant life or health
• But “like product” distinctions would likely arise. And it would have to demonstrate that it could pass the “necessity test”.
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Cartagena Protocol
• Rules for international trade in Living Modified Organisms (GMOs that have not been processed)
• LMOs exported “for international introduction into the environment” requires advance informed agreement
• LMOs for food, feed or processing require prior information through a “biosafety clearing house”
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Disputes over GMOs
• Can the EC and other WTO members install a regulatory system for GMOs that allows precautionary measures?
• How will the Cartagena protocol be used since the US is not a signatory?
• How will expert opinion be used?• Will SPS or TBT be invoked – i.e. will the cases
be on food safety or labelling requirements?
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