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| Foreword |
| Argentina, Brazil, India and China are important exporters and importers of agricultural commodities. These emerging economies have increased their adoption of GM crops, improving their crop productivity and competitiveness. The pace of uptake of GM crops in these economies has exceeded that of most developed nations and adoption is likely to continue to progress rapidly. Given this, the evaluation of the likely implications for key industries in Australia’s export oriented agriculture sector has become imperative. In this report, the potential economic impacts on Australia of an increased uptake of GM varieties of oilseeds and wheat in the above named emerging economies are assessed. The modelling results reported in this study consider the benefits of adopting GM oilseeds and wheat in Australia under alternative assumptions of access stances of the European Union on importing GM crops. The illustrative analysis undertaken in this report shows that Australia will potentially have to forgo significant economic gains by delaying the introduction of GM oilseeds and wheat in an environment where these emerging economies are increasing their GM uptake. If these crops are increasingly adopted by emerging economies but not Australia, Australia’s export competitiveness will be adversely affected. |
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| Phillip Glyde Executive Director March 2008 |