USDA report: Biotechnology and other new production technologies in EU

Report Highlights:
 

In the European Union (EU), governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, consumers, and industry associations remain conflicted about the use of agricultural biotechnology. Acceptance varies widely across countries. A complex policy framework developed under pressure from anti-biotech activists has limited research, development, and production. The EU produces very few genetically engineered (GE) plants and animals but, with the growing adoption of biotechnology around the globe by leading agricultural producers, it imports millions of tons of GE soybean and corn products every year. Recent developments include a political agreement that allows Member States to ban cultivation of GE crops in their territories for non-scientific reasons, a move that may increase the pace of regulatory approvals, and a legislative proposal on animal cloning.
 

Until the 1990’s, the European Union (EU) was a leader in research and development of biotech plants. Under the pressure from anti-biotech activists, EU and Member State (MS) authorities have developed a complex policy framework that has slowed down and limited research, development, and commercial production of biotech products. Due to repeated destruction of test plots by activists, programs are often limited to basic research inside laboratories and, in the past few years, several private developers have left the EU to conduct experiments in countries, such as the United States, where their work is not in danger of vandalism. Still, in 2014, open-field testing is being performed in 12 MS on a variety of biotech crops, and a new public-private partnership is planning to invest in research and innovation to fulfill the needs of the EU bioeconomy.
 

Commercial cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops is minimal in the EU, as a result of strong regulatory constraints. The only GE plant approved for cultivation, a corn variety, is grown on around 130,000 hectares, mostly in Spain, where it accounts for 30 percent of the corn area. The EU does not export any GE products, but it is a major importer of soybeans (30 million metric tons per year on average, worth around USD 15 billion) and corn products (6 million metric tons per year, worth around USD 2 billion), mainly used as feed in the livestock and poultry sectors. The share of GE products in total imports is estimated at around 90 percent for soybeans and 25 percent for corn. The United States is the EU’s second largest supplier of soybeans and third largest supplier of soybean meal. Imports of U.S. corn vary widely by year. With the growing adoption of biotechnology around the globe by leading agricultural producers, the EU is getting increasingly isolated internationally, and it is more and more difficult and expensive for EU companies to source non-biotech products.
 

The regulatory procedures for approving biotech plants in the EU takes significantly longer than in supplier countries, which has led to situations where some GE plants are produced outside the EU but cannot be commercialized in the EU. As a consequence of the zero-tolerance policy on the adventitious presence of unapproved GE crops, shipments can be stopped at EU border if they contain traces of products that have not been approved in the EU yet. European feed manufacturers have repeatedly criticized the EU policy, as it could result in price increases for feed and a loss of competitiveness for the EU livestock and poultry sectors, which would decline and be replaced by imports of meat.
 

Acceptance of GE crops in the EU varies greatly among countries. MS can be divided into three categories. The Adopters include the countries that produce GE crops and those that would do so, if the scope of plants approved for cultivation in the EU was wider. Governments and industries in this group mostly favor biotechnology. The Conflicted group includes countries where forces willing to adopt the technology (mainly the scientific community and professionals of the agricultural sector) are counterbalanced and usually outmatched by forces rejecting it (consumers and governments, under the influence of activists). The Opposed group consists of MS where most stakeholders reject the technology. In these countries, the government generally supports organic agriculture and geographical indications.
 

In terms of marketing, at EU level, the broad trends could be described as follows: (a) very different forms of agriculture coexist in the EU, but overall, a majority of farmers and the feed supply chain support biotechnology; (b) due to the fact that European consumers are exposed to consistent negative messaging from activists, their perceptions are mostly negative; (c) food retailers adapt their offer to consumer perceptions. However, this description is only a very rough approximation since the situation is very heterogeneous, depending on the country.
 

A political agreement on a new EU regulation was reached in 2014. This regulation allows opposed MS to ban the cultivation of GE crops in their territories for non-scientific reasons. A possible effect would be that opposed MS would be less likely to vote against import files given their ability to prohibit cultivation in legally certain conditions.