|
The recent surge in agricultural biotechnology has affected food
and feed markets both domestically and internationally. Some genetically
engineered (GE) commodities and foods are marketed as identical
to their conventional counterparts. In these cases, the market impact
of the GE product occurs through the technology's impact on input
markets, returns to labor and capital, international and national
cropping patterns, the amount of production, and prices.
Some GE commodities and foods are differentiated from their conventional
counterparts and marketed
as distinct products. The next
wave of biotechnology products will be crops modified to target
the needs of the end user or consumer, such as food with altered
nutritional qualities (canola with high beta-carotene (antioxidant)
content), crops with improved processing characteristics (colored
cotton), or plants that produce specialty chemicals or pharmaceuticals
(rabies vaccine in corn). In these cases, genetics, production practices,
harvesting, handling, storage, and processing may need to be more
closely coordinated to preserve desired traits. The present system
of grades and standards—which can measure for moisture, protein,
oil, and such in grains—will have to evolve to keep pace with
and to document GE attributes.
In other cases, producers seek to differentiate conventional products
from biotech products in order to supply markets for non-GE foods.
Testing for the presence of genetic content in grains and oilseeds
becomes crucial given emerging
regulations to address the presence of GE commodities in the
supply chain and shifting consumer preferences in some export markets.
At present, the United States requires labeling only if GE versions
are substantially different, whereas the EU requires that all foods
containing biotech commodities be labeled. Consequently, because
some GE varieties had not been approved for sale in the EU, U.S.
corn exports to the EU fell.
ERS has conducted research on a number of biotech issues, including
the costs of market
segregation for biotech and nonbiotech soybeans and corn, the
ramifications of differing consumer preferences and national biotech
policies on trade flows, the
role of the Government in facilitating market differentiation,
and the economics of food labeling.
ERS has also examined consumer
attitudes toward biotechnology and the role of consumer preferences
in shaping market trends.
|
