"Agricultural biotechnology: trade and development dimensions" - Peter Chase, US State Department special negotiator for biotechnology - (April 5, 2004)

On April 5, Peter Chase, US State Department special negotiator for biotechnology, addressed AmCham’s Trade & Commerce Committee at a breakfast briefing. Chase works with US agencies, embassies and non-governmental stakeholders to help build international support for the regulation of agricultural biotechnology.

He began his speech by outlining how biotechnology can help improve crop yields, and how the development of agricultural productivity in developing markets is crucial.
According to Chase, developing countries’ agricultural yields grew dramatically between 1980 and 2000. Half of that growth, he explained, can be attributed to improvements in the agricultural sciences.

Chase argued that agricultural biotechnology can help meet the demands of consumers, illustrating how economic forces and technology interact to create new markets. He said that future challenges include the need to regulate the use of agricultural biotechnology and the control of diseases that harm crops.

Chase added that biotechnology wasn’t a tool available only to wealthy countries, but that developing countries, too, can reap its benefits.

Pointing to developing countries’ fears that their produce can be blocked from entering Europe if they use biotechnology, Chase said that an essential condition for the adoption of biotechnology is confidence that just that scenario won’t happen. It is thus the obligation of developed countries to establish science-based regulations that won’t be used as trade barriers.

At a time when food security is an issue of global concern, it’s important to consider the opportunities presented by agricultural biotechnology, Chase asserted. Considerable potential is found in drought-resistant crop varieties for Africa, for example, while other technologies can boost health and nutrition. Agricultural biotechnology can also help to foster economic self-sufficiency for subsistence farmers in developing countries.

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