Publication Number: 3571

Report Title: International Economic Review: The Andean Trade Preference Act: An Update; Trade in Biotechnology Food Products

Author's name(s): Joanne Guth, Magda Kornis, James Stamps

Date Published: December 2002

Report Description/Introductory Text: In “The Andean Trade Preference Act: An Update,” the Act (ATPA) expired on December 4, 2001, and was renewed retroactively on August 6, 2002 under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which also amended ATPA to cover additional products. During the first 7 months of 2002, the loss of duty-free status under ATPA apparently contributed to the decline of U.S. imports from the four beneficiaries. The economic slowdown in the United States also was a major cause.

“Trade in Biotechnology Food Products” talks about the United States as the world’s largest producer and exporter of modern biotechnology food products. Without generally accepted standards for evaluating the safety of biotechnology food products, sharply different views have emerged—as between the United States and the European Union–on the need to trace biotechnology components used in the food production chain as well as on the need for mandatory labels designating biotechnology food products. Many countries are aligning their biotechnology policies either with those of the United States or the European Union. This article highlights key recent developments in global trade in biotechnology food products, and discusses trade-related biotechnology policy developments in a number of key trading countries, as the Codex Alimentarius, the United Nations-based food standards setting body, is set to consider in June 2003 the first global guidelines for biotechnology food products.

Topics Covered: USITC, Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), normal trade relations (NTR), Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), biotechnology food products, Codex Alimentarius

Countries: United States, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

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