Genetically modified crops and perceptions of country image: implications for food exporters

Abstract

Risk to country image in foreign markets for food products has been advanced as a reason for Australia, New Zealand and Asian countries to ban commercial production of genetically modified (GM) food crops. In order to explore the reality and intensity of such a University of Otago risk, a series of in-depth interviews has been undertaken in European countries with key importers and distributors in the European food sector. No evidence was found that presence of GM crops in a country causes negative perception in general of food imported from that country.