ABSTRACT
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically modified (GM) food are at the centre of a new global trade conflict. Within less than a decade since the first GM crops were commercially planted, North American and European governments have become locked into a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute; powerful economic interests are pitted against consumer and environmental organisations; and North-South tensions have emerged over the use of agri-biotechnology. At the centre of this conflict is the European Union's (EU's) 1998 de facto moratorium on GMO authorisations, as well as the growing spread of GMO regulations worldwide, which have created new barriers for agricultural trade. The global GMO dispute is but the latest, and potentially most complex, case of conflict between environmental regulations and international trade rules.
