GMOs and the Developing World: A Precautionary Interpretation of Biotechnology Sarah Lieberman and Tim Gray The subject of genetically modified (GM) products has raised considerable controversy in recent years, especially in developed countries, where it has led to tension over regulatory differences between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). One aspect of this tension is its impact on developing countries, especially in Africa. The aim of this article is to explore this impact, paying particular attention to GM food aid policy and GM crop growing promotion. We use the theoretical framework of the precautionary principle (PP) to evaluate the issues involved. Our conclusion is that the EU’s strong interpretation of the PP in relation to GMOs (‘potential difference’) currently prevails over the US’s weak interpretation of the PP in relation to GMOs (‘substantial equivalence’) in developing countries, but that this could change as a result of non-GM crop failure and improved performance of GM crops. Keywords: regulation; biotechnology; precautionary principle; development 1. Introduction On paper, advances in agricultural biotechnology have great potential for the development of the world’s poorest countries. Drought-resistant crops, salinity- resistant crops and crops resistant to specific pests that have blighted the developing world for centuries are all promised outcomes of the agri-biotech revolution. However many countries, developed and developing, have remained unconvinced by the arguments promoting GM technology. Opposition scientists have voiced doubts about the safety of agricultural biotechnology, both in terms of human health and environmental safety; consumers in Europe and Japan are unwilling to purchase GM products; and many governments around the globe remain sceptical about the usefulness, safety and need for GM crops and foods. As a result, very few countries have adopted the technology. The US produces by far the lion’s share of GM crops, followed by Canada and Argentina—its co-complainants in the biotech products World Trade Organisation (WTO) case against the EU moratorium on GM products. China is the largest market for US GM crops (GAIN 2005a, 3), and has an expanding biotech acreage due to the popularity of Bt cotton, though it lies behind Brazil in terms of GM crop acreage, where an estimated 40–45 per cent of its soybean harvest this year is biotech. However, GM cotton is not yet grown in Brazil, and currently all its GM cotton imports have been suspended, significantly, ‘to avoid problems with their exports to the European Union’ (GAIN 2005b, 6). In Europe, agri-biotechnology has not been enthusiastically adopted, most GM harvests being doi: 10.1111/j.1467-856x.2007.00304.x BJPIR: 2008 VOL 10, 395–411 © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Political Studies Association