Safe trade is a slogan advocated by
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
in its desire to "
greenGreen Movement refers to a series of actions after the Iranian presidential election, 2009, in which protesters demand removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office...
" the World Trade Organisation and the Doha Development Round. It is designed to compete with "
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
" as a concept.
Safe trade is generally seen as a single framework of rules worldwide to drastically inhibit the flow of alien
organismIn biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole...
s (e.g.
Genetically modified organismA genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
s, imported animals) across the borders of
ecoregionAn ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species...
s, to preserve their natural wild
biodiversityBiodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems...
. It seeks to prevent ecological disasters caused by imported organisms or untested
geneticGenetics, , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding...
technologies, and to augment and increase local
natural capitalNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to environmental goods and services. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
by encouraging soil remediation,
precision agriculturePrecision farming or precision agriculture is an agricultural concept relying on the existence of in-field variability. It requires the use of new technologies, such as global positioning , sensors, satellites or aerial images, and information management tools to assess and understand variations...
, and local consumption of the
nativeEndemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat type, nation, or other defined zone. To be endemic to a place or area means that it is found only in that part of the world and nowhere else. For example, many species of lemur...
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
, rather than imported organisms and heavy use of
pesticideA pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest.A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substance intended for:- preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest....
s.
Proposal
An important achievement of safe
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
advocacyAdvocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — that directly affect people’s current lives...
is the Biosafety Protocol agreed in
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
in January 2000. Although it relied on the weaker legal principle of
Informed ConsentInformed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications and future consequences of an action. In order to give informed consent, the individual concerned must have adequate reasoning...
and not the much stronger
Precautionary PrincipleThe precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would...
language sought by advocates, the protocol was considered by most to be a victory that could enhance both
biosafetyBiosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health.Biosafety is related to several fields*in ecology ,...
and
biosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of intentional removal of a valuable biological material. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices usually put into place at a legitimate bioscience laboratory that could be sources of pathogens...
.
Other safe trade reforms seek to advance
sustainabilitySustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time...
by reducing reliance on
energyIn physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law...
subsidies and
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
-based
transportTransport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Transport is performed by modes, such as air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space...
, and (indirectly) improves
equityEquity is the concept or idea of fairness in economics, particularly as to taxation or welfare economics.-Overview:In welfare economics, equity may be distinguished from economic efficiency in overall evaluation of social welfare. Although 'equity' has broader uses, it may be posed as a...
in economic affairs - that is, it promotes a safer
political economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
which is more respectful of
lifeLife is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those that do not—either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as "inanimate."In biology, the science of living organisms, "life"...
in general.
Safe trade is a major goal of systems of Bioregional democracy and is often advocated alongside it, e.g. by
GreensGreen Movement refers to a series of actions after the Iranian presidential election, 2009, in which protesters demand removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office...
. Both are also implicitly related to
Community-Based EconomicsCommunity-based economics or community economics is an economic system that encourages local substitution and a rejection of outside energy subsidy and coercion. It is most familiar from the lifeways of those practicing voluntary simplicity, including traditional Mennonite, Amish, and modern...
, as local trade in local goods with no reliance on alien organisms presents no ecological risk to its
genomeIn modern molecular biology the genome refers to all of its hereditary information encoded in DNA .The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. The term was adapted in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany...
s,
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
, or
drainage basinA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
s. Accordingly, some advocates argue, local trade in any native species within an ecoregion's borders should not be taxed at all, as it presents little or no ecological risk compared to imported goods, and so requires little or no
regulationRegulation is "controlling human or societal behaviour by rules or restrictions." Regulation can take many forms: legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority, self-regulation, social regulation , co-regulation and market regulation. One can consider regulation as actions of conduct...
, labelling,
inspectionAn inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. It involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. The results are usually compared to specified requirements and standards for determining...
, or other expenses.
The assumption that imports carry
moral hazardMoral hazard is the fact that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it would be fully exposed to the risk...
s, and that tax, trade, tariff measures should compensate for harms done, is shared by advocates of
fair tradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of...
whose programs address, in addition, more overt
social justiceSocial justice is a notion used to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as equality of opportunity and...
concerns of
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
beings, such as the maintenance of the "
human capitalHuman capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. It is the skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience...
" of a region. Both initiatives are alternatives to
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
, which has no such controls, and generally permits and encourages free
transitTransport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Transport is performed by modes, such as air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space...
in goods (but not, in general, labour) across ecological and social borders.
A broader understanding of
biosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of intentional removal of a valuable biological material. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices usually put into place at a legitimate bioscience laboratory that could be sources of pathogens...
that is emerging under threat of
biological warfareBiological warfare , also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, other disease-causing biological agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons ....
, and the fear that such economically devastating events as the mad cow disease epidemic could recur, either deliberately (as an act of
bioterrorismBioterrorism is terrorism by intentional release or dissemination of biological agents ; these may be in a naturally-occurring or in a human-modified form.-Definition:...
) or by accident due to unrestricted imports, is causing some nations, notably
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, to adopt relatively harsh restrictions against imported organisms. As one objective of
asymmetric warfareAsymmetric warfare is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly....
is to cause attacks to appear initially as accidents, or blame slow responses on apparently incompetent governments, there is some concern that spreading a virulent organism among animals would be an effective way to attack humans, damage economies, and discredit governments who are lax on
biosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of intentional removal of a valuable biological material. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices usually put into place at a legitimate bioscience laboratory that could be sources of pathogens...
. Technologies for scanning for dangerous organisms at ports and markets are also becoming more reliable and less expensive. However, no bio-defense solution seems to be able to compete with a simple reduction of import volumes, and its corresponding reduction in risk of any accidents.
Opposition
Critics of safe trade argue that the
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
and
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
aspects of
biosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of intentional removal of a valuable biological material. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices usually put into place at a legitimate bioscience laboratory that could be sources of pathogens...
are dissimilar, unlikely to converge in the form of an attack disguised as an accident, and require such differential
preventionPrevention refers to:* Preventive medicine* Hazard prevention, the process of risk study and elimination and mitigation in emergency management* Risk prevention* Risk management* Preventive maintenance* Crime prevention...
and response measures that there is little risk reduced in altering the
fundamental structureIn Schenkerian analysis, the fundamental structure is a specific musical pattern that occurs at the most remote level of structure. A basic elaboration of the tonic triad, it consists of the fundamental line accompanied by the bass arpeggiation...
of trade relationships to accommodate a robust regime of
biosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of intentional removal of a valuable biological material. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices usually put into place at a legitimate bioscience laboratory that could be sources of pathogens...
. Such critics usually argue instead that emergency services'
biodefenseBiodefense refers to short term, local, usually military measures to restore biosecurity to a given group of persons in a given area — in the civilian terminology, it is a very robust biohazard response. It is technically possible to apply biodefense measures to protect animals or plants,...
measures are sufficient to handle outbreaks of any diseases or alien organisms, and that such outbreaks are unlikely to be long sustained or deliberately masked as agricultural accidents. This, to the advocates, seems like wishful thinking.
Support
Advocates point to the costs of emergency measures such as burning over one million cows suspected of having
foot-and-mouth diseaseFoot-and-mouth disease, FMD or hoof-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic animals such as cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs, as well as antelope, bison and other wild bovids, and deer...
in the UK, smoke from which they calculated (based on dioxin levels) was to be expected to kill several hundred Britons from cancers in this generation. Safe trade, they argue, would have removed the need for any such measures, as
vaccinationVaccination is the administration of antigenic material to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by a pathogen. Vaccination is generally considered to be the most effective and cost-effective method of preventing infectious diseases...
of British beef cattle would have been possible (the burning was to prevent British exports of beef from being rejected by its trade partners, who would not have been able to tell vaccinated from infected beef), and the foot-and-mouth disease was not so dangerous to humans that it could have justified dooming so many fellow citizens to die of the dioxin-caused cancers. The burning, they argue, was justified only by bad trade rules that spread infection and advise dangerous cures that are worse than the ailment itself.
Another argument supporting safe trade rules is that there are links between primate extinction and
deforestationDeforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
in the regions where primates are abundant, i.e. the
Amazon rainforestThe Amazon rainforest , also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
, African rainforest, and Sumatran rainforest. Fail to prevent devastating logging in these regions, advocates claim, and a Great Ape species will likely become extinct, causing a critical link to the human past to be permanently lost. Accordingly, preventing logs from these forests from reaching foreign markets has been a major focus of
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
actions, especially in 2002.
External links