Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

International trade of GMO-related agricultural products

  • Published:
Quality & Quantity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines the international trade of a variety of genetically modified (GM) food products over a 27-year period (1984–2011) with data from the United Nations using the tools of social network analysis. The results indicate that each of the different crops have a distinctive pattern of trade that has changed over time due to a number of different factors. Also, trade in agricultural commodities became more diversified over time, dominated less by the United States and other nations central in the trade networks and trade in the individual GM crops was stable over time. Countries maintained their trading partners for specific crops, despite the adoption of the genetically modified varieties. The economic implications of these results are discussed for specific countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aksoy, M.A.: The evolution of agricultural trade flows. In: Aksoy, M.A., Beghin, J.C. (eds.) Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries, pp. 17–35. World Bank, Washington, DC (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ameden, H., Qaim, M., Zilberman, D.: Adoption of biotechnology in developing countries. In: Cooper, J., Lipper, L., Zilberman, D. (eds.) Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development, vol. 27. Springer, Berlin (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • ARD, E.: Economic impact of unapproved GMOs on EU feed imports and livestock production. European Directorate General of Agriculture and Rural Development (EU DG ARD), Brussels, Belgium (2007)

  • Ayele, S.: The legitimation of GMO governance in Africa. Sci. Public Policy 34(4), 239–249 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balmford, A., Green, R.E., Scharlemann, J.P.W.: Sparing land for nature: exploring the potential impact of changes in agricultural yield on the area needed for crop production. Glob. Change Biol. 11, 1594–1605 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBC: Could ‘Resurrection Plants’ be the Future of Food? (2015). http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151220-could-resurrection-plants-be-the-future-of-food

  • Borgatti, S.P., Everett, M.G., Freeman, L.C.: Ucinet for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Analytic Technologies, Harvard (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandt, P.: What’s Gene Technology to Us?. Berliner Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, Berlin (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carré, P., Pouzet, A.: Rapeseed Market, Worldwide and in Europe. OCL 21(1), D102 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coyle, W., Hall, W., Ballenger, N.: Transportation technology and the rising share of US perishable food trade. In: Regmi, A. (ed.) Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade. Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Trade Report. WRS-01-1 (2001)

  • Dekker, D., Krackhardt, D., Snijders, T.A.: Sensitivity of MRQAP tests to collinearity and autocorrelation conditions. Psychometrika 72(4), 563–581 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Trade Outlook. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Disdier, A.C., Head, K.: The puzzling persistence of the distance effect on bilateral trade. Rev. Econ. Stat. 90(1), 37–48 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dittrich, M., Bringezu, S., Schütz, H.: The physical dimension of international trade, part 2: indirect global resource flows between 1962 and 2005. Ecol. Econ. 79, 32–43 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dries, L., Swinnen, J.F.: Foreign direct investment, vertical integration, and local suppliers: evidence from the Polish dairy sector. World Dev. 32(9), 1525–1544 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dummu, T.R.: Commodity futures markets in India: its impact on production and prices. Indian J. Agric. Econ. 64(3), 333 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • Feenstra, R., Romalis, J.: International prices and endogenous quality. Q. J. Econ. 129(2), 477–527 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felettigh, A., Lecat, R., Pluyaud, B., Tedeschi, R.: Market shares and trade specialisation of France, Germany and Italy. Convergence or Divergence in Europe?, pp. 291–323. Springer, Berlin (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Finucane, M.L., Holup, J.L.: Psychosocial and cultural factors affecting the perceived risk of genetically modified food: an overview of the literature. Soc. Sci. Med. 60(7), 1603–1612 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, J.A., Monfreda, C., Ramankutty, N., Zaks, D.: Our share of the planetary pie. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104(31), 12585–12586 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2009). http://www.planttreaty.org

  • Golan, E., Kuchler, F., Mitchell, L., Greene, C., Jessup, A.: Economics of food labeling. J. Consum. Policy 24(2), 117–184 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golzarand, M., Mirmiran, P., Jessri, M., Toolabi, K., Mojarrad, M., Azizi, F.: Dietary trends in the Middle East and North Africa: an ecological study (1961 to 2007). Public Health Nutr. 15(10), 1835–1844 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graff, G.D., Cullen, S.E., Bradford, K.J., Zilberman, D., Bennett, A.B.: The public-private structure of intellectual property ownership in agricultural biotechnology. Nat. Niotechnol. 21(9), 989–995 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graff, G., Zilberman, D.: Towards an intellectual clearinghouse for agricultural biotechnology. In: Cooper, J., Lipper, L., Zilberman, D. (eds.) Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development, vol. 27. Springer, Berlin (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Grau, H.R., Aide, M.: Globalization and land-use transitions in Latin America. Ecol. Soc. 13(2), 16 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruère, G.P., Bouët, A., Mevel, S.: International trade and welfare effects of biotechnology innovations: GM food crops in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. In: Carter, C.A., Moschini, G.C., Sheldon, I. (eds.) Genetically Modified Food and Global Welfare, pp. 283–308. (2011)

  • Gunstone, F.D.: Rapeseed and Canola Oil: Production, Processing, Properties and Uses. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunstone, F. D. (ed.): Vegetable Oils in Food Technology: Composition, Properties and Uses. Wiley, Hoboken (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J., Qiao, F., Pray, C., Rozelle, S.: Biotechnology as an Alternative to Chemical Pesticide Use: Lessons from Bt Cotton in China. Paper Presented at the 5th ICABR International Conference on Biotechnology, Science and Modern Agriculture: A New Industry at the Dawn of the Century, Ravello, Italy (2001)

  • Huang, J., Rozelle, S., Pray, C., Wang, Q.: Plant biotechnology in China. Science 295(5555), 674–676 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech applications: GM Approval Database (2016). http://www.isaaa.org/gmapprovaldatabase/default.asp

  • James, C.: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2014. ISAAA Brief No. 49. ISAAA: Ithaca, NY (2014). http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/executivesummary/pdf/B49-ExecSum-English.pdf

  • James, C., Krattiger, A.F.: Global Review of the Field Testing and Commercialization of Transgenic Plants: 1986 to 1995. ISAAA Briefs, p. 1 (1996)

  • Johnston, D.V.: Where is the Fraud, Mr. President? Reuters (2011). http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2011/12/13/wheres-the-fraud-mr-president/

  • Kane, G.C., Alavi, M., Labianca, G.J., Borgatti, S.: What’s Different About Social Media Networks? A Framework and Research Agenda. MIS Quarterly, 38(1), 274–304 (2014)

  • Kantor, L.S., Variyam, J.N., Allshouse, J.E., Putnam, J.J., Lin, B.-W.: Choose a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains: a challenge for consumers. J. Nutr. 131(2), 473S–486S (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klumper, W., Qaim, M.: A meta-analysis of the impacts of genetically modified crops. PLoS ONE 9(11), e111629 (2014). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindhout, P., Danial, D.: Participatory genomics in quinoa. Tailor Biotechnol. 2, 31–50 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mozaffarian, D., Ludwig, D.S.: Dietary guidelines in the 21st century—a time for food. JAMA 304(6), 681–682 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North, D.C.: Location theory and regional economic growth. J. Polit. Econ. 63, 243–258 (1955)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obenchain, J., Spark, A.: Food Policy: Looking Forward from the Past. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2015)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, P.W.: The economic impact of herbicide tolerant canola in Canada. In: The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Agbiotech, pp. 119–139. Springer, Berlin (2003)

  • Qaim, M.: The economics of genetically modified crops. Ann. Rev. Resour. Econ. 1(1), 665–694 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0 (2008). http://www.R-project.org

  • Regmi, A., Deepak, M.S., Seale Jr., J.L., Bernstein, J.: Cross-country analysis of food consumption patterns. In: Regmi, A. (ed.) Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade. Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Trade Report. WRS-01-1 (2001)

  • Rosen, E.I.: Making Sweatshops: The Globalization of the US. Apparel Industry. University of California Press, Berkeley (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Santaniello, V., Evenson, R.E., Zilberman, D., Carlson, G.A. (eds.): Agriculture and Intellectual Property Rights: Economic, Institutional and Implementation Issues in Biotechnology. CABI Publ, Oxfordshire (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • Silalertruksa, T., Bonnet, S., Gheewala, S.H.: Life cycle costing and externalities of palm oil biodiesel in Thailand. J. Clean. Prod. 28, 225–232 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, A.J., Rodríguez-Cerezo, E.: International trade and the global pipeline of new GM crops. Nat. Biotechnol. 28(1), 23–25 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stringam, G.R., Ripley, V.L., Love, H.K., Mitchell, A.: Transgenic herbicide tolerant canola—the Canadian experience. Crop Sci. 43(5), 1590–1593 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Economist: Gene-policy transfer. Beijing (2016). http://www.economist.com/news/china/21697272-china-may-relax-its-almost-total-ban-growing-gm-food-gene-policy-transfer

  • Traxler, G., Godoy-Avila, S., Falck-Zepeda, J., de Espinoza-Arellano, J.: Transgenic Cotton in Mexico: Economic and Environmental Impacts. Paper presented at the 5Ih ICABR International Conference on Biotechnology, Ravello, Italy (2001)

  • Vargas-Meza, X.: An analysis of cultural differences and similarities in Twitter communication using webometrics method: the case of organic products in Mexico and South Korea (2014). http://yu.dcollection.net/jsp/common/DcLoOrgPer.jsp?sItemId=00000176400

  • Vargas-Meza, X., Park, H.W.: Organic products in Mexico and South Korea on Twitter. J. Bus. Ethics 135, 1–17 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winders, B.: The Politics of Food Supply, p. 83. U.S. Agricultural Policy in the World Economy, Yale (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann, M., Porceddu, E.: Agricultural biotechnology: concepts, evolution and applications. In: Cooper, J., Lipper, L., Zilberman, D. (eds.) Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development, vol. 27. Springer, Berlin (2006)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The corresponding author acknowleges that this work was supported by the 2017 Yeungnam University Research Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Vargas Meza Xanat

  2. University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Ke Jiang & George A. Barnett

  3. Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Korea

    Han Woo Park

Authors
  1. Vargas Meza Xanat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ke Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. George A. Barnett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Han Woo Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Han Woo Park.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xanat, V.M., Jiang, K., Barnett, G.A. et al. International trade of GMO-related agricultural products. Qual Quant 52, 565–587 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0521-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0521-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation