Scientific, Political, and Cultural Complexities of International Trade in Animals and Animal Products
Role of politics in international trade in animals, poultry and associated products
Politics can be described variously as the noble art of governing and decision making or as scheming or maneuvering for personal or national gain. In the trade area, both definitions are applicable in some cases. Ideally, science-based recommendations should result in science-based decisions. This doesn't always happen. Anecdote about how two countries recently handled the intersection (or lack of) between politics and science >>
However, animal health authorities and other government officials with decision making authority cannot operate in a vacuum or be shielded from the pressures of concerned multiple constituencies upon whom they depend for political survival. They must operate in a realistic domain that recognizes:
- reductions of tariffs and quotas leaving SPS measures as sole protectionist devices in the agricultural sector
- the influence of multinational trading blocs
- the global movement toward privatization of regulatory functions that were once considered solely the domain of national governments and required oversight by full-time government employees
- the vulnerability of U.S. animal and poultry disease control systems
In addition, the worldwide emergence of politically influential activist groups has forced animal health regulators and decision-makers to think beyond the interests of traditional stakeholders (livestock and poultry producers and processors) and consider thoughtful input from:
- environmentalists seekng to preserve global ecological stability
- animal welfare groups seeking humane husbandry, transport, and slaughter
- consumer interests who want a food supply that is safe and affordable
- traditional agricultural interests seeking survival of classic agricultural practices, family and collective farms, and opposing the movement to corporate integration, mechanized concentrated livestock and poultry production units, and automated slaughter and processing operations
| These last four issues will assume increasing importance in the decisions of policy makers. It is also these four issues that portend the most radical changes for agriculture as we know it in the U.S. |
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