Biosafety Decisions and Perceived Commercial Risks

What are the effects of genetically modified (GM)-free private standards set up by food companies on biotechnology and biosafety policy decisions in food-exporting developing countries? Food companies are indirectly influential via their local traders who face the possibility of exclusion if they do not comply with the standards. Organic producers and anti-GM organizations spread perceptions of commercial risks that are not always justified. These findings were observed in a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute on "Biosafety Decisions and Perceived Commercial Risks: The Role of GM-Free Private Standards" by Guillaume Gruère and Debdatta Sengupta.

Among the misleading presumptions by interest groups that cause concern are the infeasibility of non-GM product segregation and the lack of alternative buyers. Risk-averse behaviors related to perceived market power also cause unfounded export concerns into biosafety or biotechnology policy decisions. The study forwards a framework to help decision makers when they face pressures to reject GM crop testing, application, consumption, or use for fear of alleged export losses.

Download the full paper at http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/dp/IFPRIDP00847.pdf