The EU-US Controversy on Trade with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) - Implications for the Transatlantic Trade Relations -

Abstract

The commercial relations between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) have been characterized by constant disputes concerning the creation of trade barriers. One recent controversy concerns Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) that are included in food products. The US claims that the EU is creating barriers to trade by applying a moratorium on the approval of GMOs. The moratorium has already caused economic losses to the US and a decline in exports of food products to the EU.

This document presents the importance of agriculture in trade and provides a picture of the trade relations in food products between the US and the EU. A description of the different regulatory frameworks for food products is included as a tool to understanding the different institutional perspectives on the same issue. An emphasis is made on importers of fruit and vegetables since these products appear to be the largest group of products dominating imports of food products from the US to the EU. The viewpoints of the importers towards GMOs are presented.

This research concludes that the GMO controversy may lead to the creation of new trade barriers, non-tariff barriers and technical barriers to trade in particular. It has been demonstrated that the process behind the creation of trade barriers between two blocks have the effect that one barrier of trade may lead to the creation of another, either within the same area of dispute or in a different field.