With the U.S. and European Union (EU) currently in the midst of free trade talks, a recent move by the union to give member states more authority over the regulation of genetically-modified crops seems aimed at blurring the lines between North American and European farming methods.
Only one genetically-modified crop, MON 810, a type of maize, is known to be grown within the EU. And still, this crop accounts for a mere 1.56 percent of Europe's total maize growing area.
"Years of opposition to genetically-modified crops led to trans-Atlantic trade tensions between two regions that view biotech foods quite differently."
The region, highly distrustful of biotech farming due to health and environmental concerns, has long opposed the altered seeds manufactured by companies such as Monsanto and widely used in the U.S. The years of opposition to genetically-modified crops led to trans-Atlantic trade tensions between two regions that view biotech foods quite differently.
Despite widespread distrust of biotech crops, the European Parliament this month voted to allow member states to decide whether or not they will allow genetically-modified crops to be grown within their borders. Basically, the legislation will give governments the option to drop out of the 28-nation union in a single market – specially regarding genetically-altered crops.
So why were there trade tensions between the biotech-weary EU and its trans-Atlantic trade partners? The U.S., Canada and Mexico all allow genetically-modified crops to be grown within their borders, and the country's populations are generally less distrustful of biotech foods then their European counterparts. All three North American countries have government bodies that regulate the growth and sale of genetically-modified crops. For some time in Europe, the EU has maintained a strict set of rules limiting the use of biotech crops in all sorts of capacities.
Despite the differences between farming methods in North America and Europe, Canada and Mexico already have free trade agreements with the EU and the U.S. is currently working on its own new free trade pact with the union, announced by President Barack Obama in 2013. The agreement in works with the U.S., which is called the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), could prove beneficial for a trade imbalance between America and the EU.
Canada is an important supplier of wheat for EU member nations.Last September, Canada completed its own free trade agreement with the EU. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) covers more ground than NAFTA and will remove plenty of red tape preventing Canadian businesses from open access to the numerous markets within the union. In terms of agricultural trade, Canada is a very important partner for the EU. Europe has consistently maintained a surplus in agricultural trade with Canada, where it sends alcohol, sweets, cheese and cereal preparations. Canada, meanwhile, is the EU's top supplier of wheat, and a significant source of soya beans.
A pact between Mexico and the EU, known as the EU-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, came into force in 2000. Europe is Mexico's second-largest export market. The EU and Mexico are currently in the midst of talks that revolve around updating the trade portion of the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement that they struck in 1997, part of which became the free trade pact three years later.
The EU fosters important trans-Atlantic trade relations with all three North American countries, and a fundamental difference between approaches to farming had grown into a contentious issue. The EU decision to leave biotech regulation to the member states will loosen the trade of genetically-modified crops between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. and Europe.