Background
Soy production is expanding
Soy production has expanded fast during the past decade, especially in North and South America. This expansion is triggered by the world's increasing demand for vegetable proteins and more recently bio-fuels. A large and increasing part of the soy production is genetically modified (GM). Currently, soy is among the biggest GM crops, together with corn, cotton and rice.
Opposing insights impede debate
Due to their often radical positions, there is currently little constructive dialogue between proponents and opponents of GM. Proponents of GM crops claim that GM technology poses no threat to human or environmental wellbeing. Instead, they claim it reduces the need for pesticides and increases yields. Opponents point to the unknown long-term environmental and health risk, claim that GM soy boosts expansion and other negative impacts of soy, and claim that farmers are increasingly dependent on a handful of companies for obtaining seeds and crop protection.
GM soy and voluntary standards
The increased importance of soy as a global protein crop has led producers, industry, retail, financial institutions and civil society organisations to initiate processes aimed at developing voluntary standards to mainstream responsible soy production, reducing adverse and stimulating positive impacts e.g. the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and The Roundtable on Bio-Fuels (RSB). The legitimacy and support of such relevant processes is sometimes overshadowed by the dominance of the GM debate.
The GM Soy Debate
A new start to policy discussions with regard to GM soy can be made through developing a common knowledge basis that responds to key stakeholder concerns. A key question is:
How to manage risks and benefits of GM in processes directed at improving the performance and practices of the soy sector?
The GM Soy Debate hopes to facilitate such a new start. The expected result is a series of practical and feasible recommendations that can be used either by voluntary standard setting processes or by policy makers working at national or international level.
