The New Geopolitics of Food | Part 1
When access to food hinges on world affairs
At the beginning of the year, when German authorities detected the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) at a buffalo farm in the northeast of the country, the first such incident in Germany since 1988, a new trade wall quietly formed.
In lockstep, the governments of the UK, South Korea, and Mexico all banned German dairy and meat imports, fearful they could spread FMD into their nations. Shortly after, China and the Philippines followed suit. By March, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reinstated Germany’s status as “free from FMD without vaccination.” But, only the UK removed all of its temporary trade restrictions on Germany.
Others have either maintained their limits or partially lifted them. Both Germany and Europe face new export limits. At a moment of unfamiliar and heightened geopolitics, this could escalate into a new trade dispute.
The case of Germany becomes more complicated with China.
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