• Trade and MEAs

Trade and MEAs

This paper, based on analysis by Professor N. Kalaitzandonakes and with input from the International Policy Council (ICP), identifies potential issues that will arise as the Biosafety Protocol (BSP) is implemented. It also outlines the likely effects on farmers, consumers, and traders in developed and developing countries. Before the parties to the BSP take further decisions on implementation, the IPC believes that the costs and implications for the global agricultural system, for food importers and for farmers must be understood.

The paper notes that it should be clear that the broad scope of the BSP will influence the level and distribution of the compliance costs borne by the global food system. In particular:

• compliance costs will be significant and will be spread across the global food system
• compliance costs will increase with lower thresholds
• compliance costs are unevenly distributed across the supply chain
• compliance costs are unevenly distributed across commodities
• compliance costs will be unequally distributed among various importers and also among different exporters.

The scope of the BSP will influence the amount of incremental risks borne by various actors in the system, more specifically:

• test-based enforcement creates incremental risks
• incremental risks are difficult to estimate and hence cannot be easily priced and insured
• incremental risks expand disproportionately when AP thresholds become lower
• the uncertainty of the approval status of events in countries that lack an ongoing regulatory process amplify incremental risks
• incremental risks and compliance costs resulting from BSP implementation are not static.

[adapted from author]

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