With increasingly weak scientific support, governments now more frequently justify labeling requirements of foods produced from genetically engineered plants based on the consumer's "right to know." This policy evolution, coupled with recent WTO case law, calls into question whether existing international trade rules provide the biotechnology industry with the tools needd to advance its trade interests.



Objectives:

Discuss what the scope is of a consumer's "right to know," and whether existing international trade agreements recognize and protect this right.

Consider how labeling regimes are disciplined under international trade rules. What does the WTO's decision on the EU's de facto moratorium on biotechnology-derived crops mean for labeling rules?