There is more heat than light in the discussion of the differences between the United States and the European Union over the regulation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. Thomas Bernauer's sober, thorough, and accessible book sheds welcome light on a complex issue, while also taking some of the heat out of the discussion.

Bernauer is motivated by concern that the “deep crisis” affecting this technology will deny the world, especially the developing world, potentially useful crops. He contends that this crisis stems from profound differences in how polities regulate the technology and the attending trade conflicts between them. He focuses on the United States and the EU as they are the two “regulatory poles”—the United States has the world's most biotechnology-friendly regulations and the EU its least—and have the most impact on other countries. Chapter 2 provides an excellent account of the emergence of and challenges confronting agricultural biotechnology. The meat of the book explains the differences in approach between the EU and United States (Chapter 3), analyzes why these differences emerged (Chapters 4 and 5), and examines the prevailing attempts to resolve these differences (Chapter 6). Having concluded that these efforts do not address the reasons underpinning the differences, Bernauer advances his own suggestions for “coping with diversity” (Chapter 7).

The crux of the author's argument is that the different approaches to regulating agricultural biotechnology in the United States and EU reflect the interaction within each polity of interest group competition (a “bottom-up” process) and the dynamics of regulatory federalism (rather confusingly called a “top-down” process). He argues that the two processes push in the same direction within each polity, but in the opposite direction from those in the other polity. In other words, the anti–GE technology interest groups in Europe have been more influential than their counterparts in the United States and the greater regulatory autonomy of the EU's member states (relative to the U.S. states) has enabled those most hostile to the technology to “ratchet up” the EU's rules.

Central to the influence of anti-GE groups in the EU has been the “public outrage” stemming from a distrust of agricultural biotechnology and a lack of trust in regulators. Bernauer argues provocatively that anti-GE nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the EU did not create this distrust but capitalized on it as a means of mobilizing members and financial resources (p. 69). Unfortunately, this claim is rather poorly developed. As the author admits (p. 75), the survey evidence suggesting that negative public attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology preceded NGO activism is “sketchy.” Other means of getting at the issue—such as interviewing NGO representatives or contrasting NGO activity in member states with different levels of public outrage—do not appear to have been tried. An important unanswered puzzle is, if the motive was self-interested, why have European consumer groups not been as hostile to agricultural biotechnology as European environmental groups?

Bernauer's introduction to regulatory federalism is excellent, but its application to the specific case is problematic. The central problem is that his discussion slips between the creation/reform of the regulatory framework and the approval of specific products. It is only really in the context of shaping the approval process and labeling rules, however, that the interaction among different jurisdictions matters. When it comes to individual approvals, the preferences of the member governments matter, not their regulatory autonomy. That the member governments' preferences regarding agricultural biotechnology are reported but not explained is disappointing. None of this invalidates the overall thrust of his analysis, but it does mean that it is not as compelling as it might have been.

Having examined the deep roots of the two regulatory systems, Bernauer analyzes the implications of their profound differences. He identifies strong pressures for the United States to seek to end the negative effects of the EU's regime on U.S. exports. He is, however, pessimistic about the prospects of resolving the problem through negotiated approximation or mutual recognition, the unilateral adoption of a more stringent approval process by the United States, or the payment of compensation by the EU. Rather, he anticipated that the issue would end up before the World Trade Organization, which it did, just as he was completing the manuscript. Consequently, much of Chapter 6 examines the relevant WTO rules. Bernauer seems to have been caught out by the launching of the WTO complaint, which is included only in general terms and sits rather uncomfortably within the text. In addition, his interpretation of the relevant WTO rules could have been better substantiated. Nonetheless, he comes to the quite possibly correct prediction that the EU may well prevail. Further, he contends, again probably correctly but on the basis of a rather crude (and now dated) extrapolation from the EU's problems complying with the WTO judgment challenging its ban on hormone-treated beef, that even if the EU were to lose the complaint, it would be unlikely to comply, or at least not in a way that would greatly improve market access.

In the light of this, Bernauer turns in Chapter 7 to coping with diversity. The first of his three complementary proposals is to strengthen national and supranational regulatory authorities in the EU in order to address low consumer confidence. The second is to encourage market-driven product differentiation, which is already under way, but which requires expensive identity preservation systems and labeling schemes if it is to be truly effective. The third is to support developing countries by funding research on agricultural biotechnology applications that would benefit them and by providing aid for developing their regulatory systems. With the exception of the market-driven scheme, which would likely become much more attractive if the United States loses its WTO complaint, these proposals do not seem obviously more likely to occur than the noncoercive measures Bernauer dismissed in Chapter 6 on the same grounds.

Despite its shortcomings, Genes, Trade and Regulation is essential reading for anybody who is interested in agricultural biotechnology or wants to understand the transatlantic dispute. The weaknesses in some aspects of the analysis, however, reduce its attractiveness for those more interested in the interaction between domestic (regulatory) and international (trade) policies more broadly.