TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Dec15/10)
17 December 2015
Third World Network
www.twn.my
Dear friends and colleagues,
We are pleased to share with you a preliminary analysis by Third World Network on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and concerns over the possible contamination of Malaysia’s food supply with unapproved and illegal genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The analysis, entitled ‘The TPPA provides for illegal GMO contamination of our food’, shows that the intention of Article 2.29 on ‘Trade of Products of Modern Biotechnology’ is to ensure market access and uninterrupted trade for GMOs. The procedural actions set out within, particularly when ‘low level presence’ (LLP) occurs, are of lower standard than international norms, including the legally-binding Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. How Malaysia will implement these at the national level is now an open question, especially in the face of continued pressure by GMO-exporting TPPA countries. LLP is not quantified, leaving open as to how much contamination could be permissible in each shipment. This, linked with the appropriateness of the action taken by an importing country when faced with contaminated shipments, would be subject to the TPPA’s dispute settlement procedures. The importing country’s right to reject GMOs that they have not approved, and to subject those GMOs to a prior risk assessment, could be thus effectively undermined by the TPPA.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
131 Jalan Macalister
10400 Penang
Malaysia
Email: twnet@twnetwork.org
Websites: www.twn.my
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