Title: External and internal trade barriers to GMOs in Brazil

Authors: Victor Pelaez, Leide Albergoni

Addresses: Departamento de Economia, Universidade Federal do Parana, Av. Pref. Lothario Meissner, 3400, Campus III, Jardim Botanico, 80210-170 Curitiba, PR, Brazil. ' Departamento de Economia, Universidade Federal do Parana, Av. Pref. Lothario Meissner, 3400, Campus III, Jardim Botanico, 80210-170 Curitiba, PR, Brazil

Abstract: Since 1998, a judicial decision has suspended the commercialisation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Brazil. Following this decision, several Federation States have created laws or resolutions banning GMOs on their territory. The main economic motivation for such decisions has been the defence of Brazilian soybean exports (the second highest in the world) to the European and Japanese markets, which favour non-GMO products. However, many farmers produce and commercialise GMOs illegally, justifying their actions on the supposedly better economic results of these products. The aim of this paper is to compare the regulatory policies of GMOs in the Brazilian Southern States (Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul) in terms of their political and economic characteristics and their vulnerability towards the control of GMO smuggling from over the external borders (i.e. Argentina and Paraguay) and internal borders (i.e. among Brazilian States).

Keywords: GMOs; regulation; technical barriers; Brazil; GMO-free zone; genetically-modified organisms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBT.2004.004811

International Journal of Biotechnology, 2004 Vol.6 No.2/3, pp.219 - 242

Published online: 07 Jul 2004 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article