By early 2003, genetically modified (genetically enhanced, as qualified by many scientists in developing countries) crops were already established in the third world: two-thirds of the 5.5 million farmers growing these crops are in developing countries, which demonstrates that small and poor farmers are also involved. In addition to maize, soybeans, rapeseed (canola) and a few horticultural crop varieties, genetically modified cotton is the fastest spreading non-food GM crop. It is currently cultivated in India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina and South Africa, and the prospects are very promising.Illustrative regional examples of GM crops are given in later chapters. From the strategic viewpoint, the adoption of GM crops by an increasing number of developing countries, and particularly by the larger ones (e.g. China, India, Argentina), reflects the need to acquire the relevant technologies before they are completely in the hands of the industrialised countries. It also reflects the will to participate in the so-called biotechnology revolution and even to become formidable competitors in some areas, instead of just purchasing and adapting biotechnologies. China's huge commitment to plant biotechnology, through increasing five-fold the funds devoted to this area of endeavour (US $500 million annually by 2005) is illustrative of this trend.
Another key element in the strategy of developing countries is to improve their competitiveness in international commodity and agricultural product markets. For those who are big exporters and whose agriculture is not subsidised, GM crops and agricultural biotechnology can contribute to decreasing production costs (e.g. through the reduction of use of biocides) and to increasing farmers' incomes. This aspect has been clearly demonstrated for GM soybeans in Argentina and GM cotton in South Africa and China.
This strategy also requires the design and update of biosafety regulations, the establishment or revision of intellectual property legislation and active participation in the negotiations on trade-related issues at the World Trade Organization.
Adopting GM crops is not synonymous with exclusion of other forms of agriculture, particularly the so-called biological or organic agriculture. A number of developing countries, e.g. Argentina and Chile, have an important and prosperous organic agriculture sector, which they wish to preserve and even extend because of its commercial benefits (e.g. Chile exports high volumes of ‘organic’ products to Japan and the European Union). Nevertheless, the advantages offered by GM crops enable developing countries to meet more rapidly the need to establish higher yielding, stress- and pest-resistant crop varieties, particularly when one has to deal with pathogens and pests against which there is no known natural resistance or tolerance.
Naturally, the developing countries are carefully following the controversy on GM crops in the European Union member countries as well as the disaccord between those countries and the USA in this respect. They are vigilant at the World Trade Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Commission on GM organisms and their impact on health and nutrition, in order to safeguard their interests. They generally consider that agricultural biotechnology and GM crops can help them to face the challenges of sustainable agricultural development. In this respect, their position is not far from that of the representatives of farmers in industrialised countries who welcome these technologies and maintain the highest standards of biosafety and biovigilance. They also consider, to a large extent, that the precautionary principle (now called the precautionary approach, since the 2002 Earth Summit in Johannesburg) should not become a dogma that hampers research, trials and large-scale cultivation. They agree on the need for biovigilance as in the case of medicines.
With regard to labelling and traceability of GM or biotechnology-derived products, developing countries tend to refer to substantial equivalence of these products compared to conventional ones, and to adopt labelling when there are substantial differences in composition. Thus, sugar, starch or vegetable oils derived from GM crops should not be labelled as GM. They are pragmatic in discussing the minimum percentage of GMOs in foodstuffs and agricultural products, the threshold of 0.9% (proposed by the European Union's Council of Ministers) being considered as unrealistic.
Finally, developing countries support the strengthening of regulatory institutions and biosafety measures, but they wish to avoid over-regulation, which will hinder their competitiveness. There is also a growing trend of improving public perception and social acceptance of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries, involving the participation of all sectors of society.
Confronted by the urgent need to feed their people and make their agriculture more competitive on international commodity markets, the developing countries, be they food exporters or not, have resisted the adoption of a moratorium on the cultivation of GM crops like that in Europe. In contrast, they wish to draw benefits from modern agricultural biotechnology and seize the opportunities offered to them.
In addition to the competitive edge provided to the commodity-exporting developing countries, agricultural biotechnology must reach resource-poor farmers—a large majority in developing countries. For such a purpose, it is necessary to carry out the social analysis of these technologies, when they are transferred to the farming communities. It is also necessary to pay great attention to the so-called orphan crops such as sorghum, millet, cassava, yams, sweet potato, etc., which do not attract the big seed corporations, but which play a vital role in local and national economies.
While favouring a sustainable diversified agriculture, including agricultural biotechnology, and making special efforts to help the resource-poor farmers, developing countries can protect their biological diversity (e.g. through the conservation of potentially useful varieties), clone crops on a large scale and participate in the selection of new varieties with the appropriate traits. Many projects being carried out in developing countries reflect these goals, while at the same time key issues, such as biosafety regulation, risk assessment and management, intellectual property rights and training of human resources are dealt with.
There are undoubtedly, in this vast area of research and development, opportunities for collaboration among the developing countries but also between them and industrialised countries' public research centres, enterprises and professional associations. In this regard, we are dealing not only with solidarity, but also with mutually beneficial cooperation in important international markets.
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