Genetically Modified Food Regulations: Who is more Afraid of FrankenFood?
- Tree of Knowledge Research
- Feb 3, 2014
- 2 min read
<< This post is a continuation from previous posts, to read the first post of this series, click here.>>
As if food regulations were not complicated enough, the introduction of GMOs into the global economy has now added a new concern for countries to consider when creating food legislations. In particular, on May 14th, the Bush Administration criticized the European Union’s strict policy regarding the segregation and labeling of GMOs.[1] The criticism claimed the five-year European freeze on GMOs directly contributed to hunger in Africa because it undermined Africa’s investment in GMOs.[2] The United States also claimed that the EU’s freeze on GMOs was disguised trade protectionism and thus, the World Trade Organization should bar such behavior.[3] This is a direct portrayal of how food safety laws can create political and social conflicts between varying countries. No direct threat to health from genetically modified foods has been found; however, because GMOs are a very new commodity, countries are wavering between being extremely risk-adverse (the EU) and barring all GMOs from their citizen’s dinner tables or being risk-benefiting (the US) and accepting all GMOs until studies find they are unsafe. The next few blog post will briefly describe how the EU, the US, and China have reacted to GMOs being added to the market and how finding a happy medium might be the best approach for all countries.
To read about what policies exists in the United States for genetically modified organizms, click here.
[1] Lori Wallach, The GMO Dispute: Bush Administration Attack on European Food Safety Policy Latest Challenge to WTO’s Legitimacy, International Forum on Globalization (2003).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
