Trade deal with US to hit poor Bangladesh farmers: Expert

New Delhi, April 29 The trade deal signed by Bangladesh with the US is nothing but a dumping of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through meat and dairy products and will hit the livelihood of poor farmers in the Asian country, according to an article in The Daily Star, a Dhaka-based newspaper.

The article by Farida Akhter, former adviser in the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, points out that importing meat and dairy products from the US poses unequal trade terms for Bangladesh due to the different economic models in the two countries. Livestock is part of the livelihood economy in Bangladesh, whereas in the US, it is part of an industrial agro-capitalist system.

“The US Reciprocal Trade Agreement was concluded with nine countries. Among these, Malaysia was the first country to declare the trade deal with the US invalid on March 15, 2026. This should prompt Bangladesh to re-evaluate the deal or follow the Malaysian decision,” the article states.

It points out that in the US, industrial livestock farming accounts for 21 lakh farms but engages less than two per cent of the population. Contrarily, in Bangladesh, livestock keeping is part of the livelihoods of 80-85 per cent of 4.1 crore households, often led by women. The meat and milk supply from these sources contributes 16 per cent of agricultural GDP.

It further states that Bangladesh’s poor livestock keepers do not receive any subsidy, but will have to compete with a heavily subsidised industrial livestock sector. The US Department of Agriculture has spent at least $72 billion in subsidies to livestock and seafood producers over the past few decades. This asymmetry is critical. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), smallholder livestock systems are highly vulnerable to import competition due to limited access to credit, technology, and state support.

It highlights that the corn and soybeans used for chicken, dairy and meat cattle feed in the US are genetically modified. US chicken feed also contains meat meal from recycled animal by-products (mainly beef and pork). This is a sensitive issue for Bangladesh, with over 90 per cent of the population being Muslim. Over 90 per cent of the acreage planted with GM soybean varieties in the US has primarily herbicide-tolerant traits, for chemical weed control.

The article cites a 2019 study by the European Union which states that many weeds have adapted to the widespread use of such chemicals and become resistant. These herbicide-tolerant weeds are an increasing problem. Widespread adoption of the chemicals has led to an accelerating increase in herbicide use and, consequently, an “arms race” in genetic engineering technology and the use of complementary herbicides.

The increasing amount of herbicides sprayed not only causes substantial environmental problems but also creates new challenges for the risk assessment of health effects, since products derived from these plants can introduce new herbicide residues into the food chain.

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