ICTSD Outputs and Activities on Biotechnology, Trade and Sustainable Development

Recent years have witnessed a rapid expansion in the global area of biotech crops, with production largely concentrated in a few countries and crops. This substantial growth has been accompanied by entrenched opinions on biotechnology's risks and benefits that have divided the supporters and opponents of the technology. International trade is increasingly bringing these differences into contact at a multilateral level, adding important economic interests to an already charged debate. While some countries want to see trade in biotech products flow as freely as possible, others are virtually closing off their markets by putting in place stringent import regulations. These differences are also played out in related multilateral processes, notably the negotiations on documentation requirements for biotech commodities trade under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the ongoing dispute between the US/Argentina/Canada and the EU at the World Trade Organization.

In many developing countries, the need to respond and adapt to these developments threatens to dominate national agendas in the absence of effective policy-making to identify biotechnology-related policy objectives and translate them into national and regional approaches and multilateral negotiating positions. Many countries lag behind in the formulation of such policies owing to the lack of analysis, process and space to take informed decisions on how to balance their sustainable development objectives with their various trade interests, obligations and pressures. Moreover, there is a need to foster a better understanding of the obligations and constraints posed by the multilateral trading system and how these impact on countries' decision to import, release or develop GMOs and on the formulation of their domestic biosafety regulations.

The ICTSD project on Building Capacity On Trade and Biotechnology Policy-making aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to better formulate their biotechnology strategies and priorities as they relate to trade and sustainable development, and integrate them into national, regional and international policy-making processes. Specifically, the project works towards building countries' capabilities in the immediate and long-term to:

Improve understanding of the flexibilities provided by the multilateral trade system for designing biotechnology-related policies and regulations;
Effectively participate in international negotiations on biotechnology, trade and sustainable development in the various relevant negotiating forums; and
Develop domestic and/or regional policies that adequately address countries' biosafety concerns, as well as prospects for biotechnology development and potential benefits, while balancing them with international trade obligations.

The first phase of the project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

For further information, contact ICTSD's Trade, Environment and Natural Ressources Team at ictsd@ictsd.ch