Forensics at the Port: Can Diagnostic Testing Benefit Trade?
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada
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Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010106
Received: 25 November 2020 / Revised: 21 December 2020 / Accepted: 22 December 2020 / Published: 24 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Accelerating Bioeconomy Growth through Applied Research and Policy Change)
A growing pool of genomic knowledge and remarkable reductions in the cost of genetic sequencing is revolutionizing the identification of plant pathogens and phytosanitary risks. This article examines available technologies of plant testing for genetics, residues, and contamination that can be imposed at port locations for the trade of bulk commodity crops. Access and deployment of lower-cost detection technologies could fundamentally change phytosanitary practices with potential consequences for agricultural trade. Investment in testing for the presence of transgenic dockage or plant and soil diseases will likely decrease time and arbitration costs. Implementation of diagnostics testing could not only protect the exporters’ position, but it could also lead to future implications of trusted trade or higher standards of phytosanitary policy. The lack of rigorous export testing creates the opportunity for trade protectionist countries to claim that commodity imports fail to meet import standards, which can either lower the price or result in shipment rejection. The failure of commodity shipments to comply with import thresholds is a regular occurrence, yet resolutions are achieved that do not disrupt international trade. This rise in the ability to accurately test for pathogen detection provides the opportunity for safer commodity trade, but also the rise in protectionism.
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Keywords:
adventitious presence; diagnostics; low-level presence; pathogen; phytosanitary risk; trade
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gleim, S.W.; Gray, R.S.; Smyth, S.J. Forensics at the Port: Can Diagnostic Testing Benefit Trade? Sustainability 2021, 13, 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010106
AMA Style
Gleim SW, Gray RS, Smyth SJ. Forensics at the Port: Can Diagnostic Testing Benefit Trade? Sustainability. 2021; 13(1):106. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010106
Chicago/Turabian StyleGleim, Savannah W., Richard S. Gray, and Stuart J. Smyth 2021. "Forensics at the Port: Can Diagnostic Testing Benefit Trade?" Sustainability 13, no. 1: 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010106
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