This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Genetic engineering of crops has spread quickly since the firstproducts of the early nineteen-nineties. Different nations developsuch crops to meet different needs. As a result, the policies ofsome countries conflict with the policies of others.
The International Food Policy Research Institute is a privateorganization in Washington. In January, the group released a reportthat discusses the policies many countries have put in place. Thereport also discusses the problems of international trade ingenetically engineered crops.
It says nine international organizations are currently competingto set rules for different areas of food safety. These groupsinclude agricultural and health agencies of the United Nations. TheWorld Trade Organization is also among them.
Some countries are more likely than others to approve and marketgenetically changed foods. The report says Canada, Japan, Mexico andthe United States approve most newly engineered crops. Australia,the European Union and New Zealand, however, have delayed approvalsin recent years because of concerns among citizens.
One issue is the use of special markings to let people know thata product has been genetically engineered. Some countries permitmanufacturers to decide. Other nations require all products thatcontain more than one to five percent of genetically changedmaterial to say so.
The International Food Policy Research Institute says six nationshave the most established policies. These are Australia, Britain,China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
The differences in policies are a good example of how difficultit is to develop international rules for genetically changed crops.Countries that do not require special markings may suffer in marketswhere the public desires such information. Also, the process forapproving new genetically engineered crops has increased the time ittakes for these products to come to market.
The United States, for example, has lost almost all its marketfor corn exports to the European Union. E-U officials have notapproved new crops of genetically changed corn sincenineteen-ninety-seven. At the same time, Argentina has exported hugeamounts of such corn that already has E-U approval.
Next week, we will continue to examine international trade ingenetically changed crops.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter.