Croatia: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual
Croatia is a net food importer and the government policy is geared towards raising agricultural productivity and, to a lesser extent, controlling imports. Although Croatia has adopted the European Union's (EU) biotech legislation, Croatia is a part of a group of EU member states that “opted-out” from planting genetically engineered (GE) seeds. Croatia believes its competitive advantage in agricultural products will be realized by seeking a premium for high quality “natural” products rather than competing on volume. Thus, there is a concern about the potential market consequences of adopting pro-biotech policies as well as a strong bias against GE products as somehow being “unnatural.” Additionally, Croatian politicians and the general public remain misinformed about biotech products and view them as potentially dangerous.
