[CTC] TPP Biotech Provisions Push 'Science-Based' Approvals

[Arthur Stamoulis]

TPP Biotech Provisions Push 'Science-Based' Approvals, LLP Discussions
Inside US Trade
Posted: October 08, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement contains a provision pushing countries to take a "science-based" approach to biotechnology regulations in addition to the general obligation that sanitary and phytosanitary measures are risk and science-based, according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

In a Oct. 6 teleconference on TPP, Vilsack said these provisions are part of an annex "discussing the acknowledgment by member countries that they'll use science-based determinations relative to biotechnology and to promote greater transparency in the regulatory process involving biotechnology.”

He did not elaborate on the transparency provisions, but a fact sheet released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that biotechnology provisions in TPP will provide for "information sharing, including on when the low-level presence of [unauthorized] biotech material is detected in a shipment of agricultural commodities or food products.”

Low-level presence, or LLP, refers to incidents in which traces of a biotechnology trait -- such as drought-resistant corn, for example -- that are not yet authorized in a given export market wind up in a larger shipment of an approved or non-biotech crop.

Some TPP countries, such as Peru, maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward unauthorized traits, meaning such shipments are turned away. The provisions in TPP would not prohibit such strict policies, but would offer a forum for major agricultural commodity exporters like Canada to pressure countries to adopt a more lenient approach, according to an industry source.

The annex would also establish a dialogue on the issue of LLP, Vilsack said. He said under the deal, countries "will engage in discussions about the appropriate levels of biotechnology," and be "willing to discuss and look at low-level presence.”

A Canadian government fact sheet says it "has secured provisions on products of modern biotechnology which emphasizes the importance of transparency in each Parties' science-based approval processes for biotechnology products.”

It also says the text addresses LLP "in a way that minimizes adverse trade impacts of current regulatory practices. It also includes the establishment of a working group to address issues related to biotechnology.”

The industry predicted the provisions would likely fall short of firm obligations. This source said the language is contained in an annex to the Trade in Goods chapter, one of the 30 chapters in the TPP agreement.

The TPP's biotechnology provisions were championed by Canada but backed by other farm exporters like the United States and Australia, the source said. The language appears to fall far short of what the Canadian grain, oilseed and pulse producers had pressed since for as far back as 2013.

They had sought a commitment for TPP countries to put in place LLP policies that allow for trace amounts of unapproved biotech traits in other shipments; for countries to work to synchronize their approvals of new traits; and to commit to mutually recognize each other's risk assessment in order to hasten the approval process (Inside U.S. Trade, May 24, 2013).

But the provisions also appear to go beyond what Canada agreed with the European Union in their bilateral free trade deal, which was only a dialogue on a range of issues related to agricultural biotechnology, including LLP. The EU also maintains a formal zero-tolerance policy, but defines "technical zero" as 0.1 percent contamination.

The International Grain Trade Coalition, which includes grains and oilseeds processors and traders in North America, Europe, Brazil, Australia and China, has called for an LLP threshold of no less than 5 percent.

The U.S. does not have a bright-line LLP policy, and instead responds to incidents on a case-by-case basis depending on assessed risk.

Vilsack also said that TPP includes "a significant nod" to organic agriculture by encouraging countries to enter into talks toward recognizing the equivalence of each other's organic certifications. The U.S. has organic equivalency agreements with the EU and South Korea, among other countries.

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