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When genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were put into the international trade, people in many countries, especially European countries, became skeptical of them. A perception developed that they are harmful to human, animal, plant life and health, and destructive to the environment. It is true that if there is no safe use of genetically modified living organisms (LMOs), other species might be affected causing loss to the environment. So as to ensure safe use of LMOs and GMOs, the Cartagena Protocol and the SPS Agreement were, respectively, made. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine both the legal instruments and to explore ways to make them co‐existent, so that human, animal, plant life and health, and the environment are protected without affecting the international trade in LMOs and GMOs.

This paper undertakes a critical examination of the issues surrounding GMOs and LMOs.

The Cartagena Protocol and the SPS Agreement serve two different purposes. It is for this reason that some of their provisions are not co‐extensive. But the conflict in them can be resolved. It is suggested that the provisions pertaining to the precautionary principle of the SPS Agreement should be brought in line with that of the Cartagena Protocol. It is also suggested that importing countries should conduct their own risk assessment preferably by following the CODEX procedure. In no case, risk assessment done by producing companies should be taken as conclusive.

If suggestions offered by the paper are followed, the two will then protect the human, animal and plant health and the environment in the best possible way.

For achieving its object, the paper presents a comparative assessment of the cases decided under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The purpose of writing this paper is to present a comparative but critical assessment of the applicability of the precautionary principle (PP) under the SPS Agreement, which is a part of the WTO regime by implication, and under the Cartagena Protocol, which has been made under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The paper presents an analytical exposition of both the sets of laws, trade law and environmental law. The methodology adopted is library based. The approach is to bring about an amicable co-existence of both the laws so that they could serve the dual purpose, i.e. promotion of trade and protection of “human, animal and plant life and health” and conservation of the environment.

The DSB of the WTO should give due importance to the PP and should apply it liberally, keeping also in view the environmental aspects, so that along with free trade human, animal and plant health and life, and conservation of the environment are also protected.

It will change the present paradigm and will bring both the sets of laws together.

It focuses on the life and heath of poor people around the world. It, thus, pleads for application of strong PP.

Purpose – New genetically modified (GM) crops are novel but risky interventions, offering a variety of potential benefits but also the possibility of serious unintended consequences. I address the regulatory framework for GM crops, seeking protection from disproportionate risks without unduly stifling innovation.

Approach – Conditions that may justify precautionary interventions are identified, and an idealized regulatory protocol (screening, pre-release testing, and post-release surveillance, STS) is developed to provide protection, encourage research and learning, and focus-in quickly on the cases that pose serious threats of harm. This protocol is adapted to the case of GM crops, and compared with current regulatory practice in the United States, the EU, and Canada, as well as international agreements exemplified by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Two real-world cases are considered, Starlink® corn and Roundup-Ready® canola, and some speculations are offered as to how the stylized protocol might have handled them.

Findings for policy – Pre-release, US regulatory practice is more fragmented and incomplete than the stylized protocol; EU practice is more systematic and streamlined, but some critics perceive over-regulation; and Canadian regulatory practice is more consistent with the protocol. Only the EU performs systematic post-release surveillance. International agreements have various weaknesses, beginning with fragmentation: for example, food safety and biosafety are regulated separately.

Implications for further research – Embracing the STS framework opens a broad new avenue of research about to how the mix of pre-release testing and post-release surveillance might be streamlined to provide adequate protection while reducing further the costs and delays entailed.

The paper analyzes the impact of the global financial crisis on capital flows, financial markets and economic activity in Asia and attempts to explain why Asian markets were hit hard despite relatively strong fundamentals, and why the subsequent recovery was relatively quick. The openness of a country to trade and finance and the degree of integration into international financial markets are shown to be important determinants of the swings in economic activity and capital flows during both the reversal and recovery phases. It also discusses the role played by macroeconomic and financial policies in the recovery and concludes with some lessons from Asia's experience.

There are times when the present state of an organisation cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the past. This is certainly true of Singapore International Airlines.

Libraries in the United States in the '90s must intensify their examination of how they do things if they are going to serve their patron communities more effectively and economically. The changing nature of the publishing industry, rising costs for library materials and staff, mean that better ways must be found to get books more quickly and cheaply. One way is to automate many procedures done manually in the past. The library acquisitions process may seem a highly complex operation, but in fact it is only a long series of extremely simple procedures. Virtually every step can be done more efficiently and more cost‐effectively on an automated system.

Modern new biotechnology has the potential to provide major economic and other benefits, but at the same time it poses potential hazards for human health, the environment, the “natural” biological order, and can have adverse socio‐economic consequences. The application of such technology frequently violates traditional ethical, moral and religious values. This paper, after outlining possible benefits of modern new biotechnologies, discusses the type of biosafety risks which they pose, their possible adverse consequences for the sustainability of biodiversity and agriculture and their potential impacts on socioeconomic welfare and traditional cultures. Particular concern is expressed about the possible consequences of such technologies for developing countries and the practice in some developed countries of issuing patents conferring very broad rights over the use of genetically engineered material. Because these rights are so broad, in some cases they have the potential to establish powerful multinational monopolies in the hands of private companies. Global debate about these issues suggests that more emphasis should be given globally to the socio‐economic consequences of such technology than in the past. The need for this is highlighted by the North‐South divide. Developing countries lag considerably in this new technological field, are placed in a dependent position and have weak institutional structures to control the application of such technology.

Purpose – The chapter provides a comprehensive review of trade-related regulations of genetically modified (GM) food, identifies their main effects, and analyzes the main motivations behind their support.

Methodology/approach – The analysis is substantiated by (a) results from the literature on GM food regulations and (b) comparative statics results from a simplified three-country partial equilibrium welfare and political economic model.

Findings – The analysis shows that in a non-GM producing country, trade-related regulations will benefit producers, but not necessarily consumers. Producers' support is found to be instrumental to push for a ban, for information requirements on shipments, or for mandatory labeling of GM food products. Outside pressure groups will play the role of swing voters in cases where consumers and producers do not agree.

Research limitations/implications – The analytical model is based on simplifying assumptions on the groups and market effects of each regulation. Future research is needed to empirically validate some of the main results.

Originality/value of the chapter – The goal of the chapter is to inform economic and policy researchers on the effects of GM food trade-related regulations. The chapter provides an updated comprehensive overview of the key trade regulations of GM food. It uses a unique model to derive the main welfare effects of GM food regulations. By comparing the effects of GM food regulations in different types of countries for different pressure groups, the findings provide new insights in this area.

If your sales are lagging, it's not the sales manager's fault. Nor is it the fault of the sales people or sales staff. The problem is that you haven't made a commitment to a consistent, organized prospecting program. Everyone wants prospects, but few are willing to do what's necessary to develop them. Before we go any further, it is important to make one point crystal clear: Although they should certainly be contributing to the prospecting process, salespeople should not spend their time prospecting. The job of developing the prospects belongs to the entire company, not just the sales force.

Considers the “baby boom” generation, and that all of them will be the new aging market starting in the 1990s. Argues that when marketers are considering aging consumers, there are three demographic issues that must be considered prior to the creation to any strategy: (1) stereotypes concerning the aging consumer must be done away with, (2) the aging consumer is not an isolated entity, and (3) from a psychographic and numbers standpoint, the aging consumer market of tomorrow is going to much different from the aging consumer market of today.