GMOs have brought new concerns into an already challenged world trading system. This paper considers the jointly enodogenous formation of GMO-related standards and sub-global trading agreements. Standards are understood as tolerance levels for GMOs. Sub-global trading agreements may be either formal agreements between countries sanctioned by the WTO, or they may be implicit agreements, e.g. a developing country accepting the U.S. standards.We develop a theoretical model of standard formation and agreement formation. In autarky, national standards reflect the preferences of domestic consumers. The possibility of gains from trade encourages countries to modify their standards to facilitate trade with other countries having similar standards. Whether or not a country engages in trade depends on the magnitude and nature of the gains from trade--e.g. economies of scale, greater variety for consumers, etc.--and the degree of standard modification required for trade. If the gains from trade are sufficient, countries will compromise or harmonize standards to achieve these gains. In the case of countries of similar size (bargaining power), compromise may be feasible. In the case of countries of different size, harmonization of the smaller country's standard to that of the larger country may be more likely. The case of the European Union's de facto prohibition on trade in GMOs is represented as a case in which the gains from trade are insufficient to catalyze a compromise position. Analogously, the North American refusal to restrict or prohibit GMOs indicates that the gains from trade with Europe are insufficient to compensate for this change in standard. In the absence of a common global standard, countries with similar preferences cluster into smaller clubs to capture at least some gains from trade.
Tóthová M., Bokor P., Cagáň Ľ. (2015): The first detection of leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) in Slovakia. Plant Protect. Sci., 51: 88-93.Scaphoideus titanus Ball, the main vector of Flavescence dorée phytoplasma, was monitored in Slovakia during 2013 and 2014. The species was present in the vineyards of eastern Slovakia but it was rarely found in the south of central part of the country. It was also found at many locations of western Slovakia but not in the southeast of western Slovakia. Higher abundance of S. titanus was detected in the vineyards with biological control. Varietal preference of the leafhopper was not confirmed. The first nymphs were found on June 5 and the last nymphs on July 17, adults occurred from the end of June to the end of September. There is one generation of S. titanus per year in Slovakia.
In 1995-1997, the population dynamics of the flea beetles Chaetocnema tibialis and Phyllotreta vittula, associated with Amaranthus retroflexus (wild species) and Amaranthus caudatus (cultivated species), were studied at the locality Nitra-Malanta (48°19'N, 18°09'E) in south-western Slovakia. On both plant species, the number of C. tibialis adults was usually very low until the beginning of July. During July the number of C. tibialis increased, but sooner on cultivated amaranth. An increased number of C. tibialis adults was observed on both amaranth species until the middle of September. The results showed that amaranth plants are a very important reservoir of C. tibialis during summer. P. vittula was a common flea beetle on amaranth during the whole summer, but its numbers never exceeded more than 10 adults per 25 plants. Low temperatures in winter had a negative effect on populations of C. tibialis on both amaranth species and also on populations of P. vittula on A. retroflexus. The lower the precipitation was in July, the higher were the populations of C. tibialis on both amaranth species and the populations of P. vittula on A. retroflexus.
The objective of this paper was to examine the total polyphenols, vitamin C and capsaicin contents of pepper (varieties: Garam F1, Alma, Poseidon, Promontor, Slovakia, Claudius, Bhut Jolokia, Serrano, and Candlelight) and their correlation with the antioxidant activity by using the high performance liquid chromatography and Folin-Ciocalteu method. The limit of detection for capsaicin was 0.09 µg.g −1 .Vitamin C and capsaicin ranged from 95.76 to 2,139 and from 44.40 to 2,224 μg.g −1 dry matter (DM), respectively. The determined total polyphenol content (TPC) ranged from 4,230 to 9,939 mg GAE.kg −1 DM and the values of antioxidant activity (AA) determined by using DPPH •, FRAP and ABTS • + methods were in range 19. 48-91.81, 19.08-61.46 and 15.72-65.70 μmol TE.g −1 DM, respectively. Based on the statistical evaluation, there was a high correlation between vitamin C content and antioxidant activity of peppers. The obtained results suggest that due to the composition of bioactive compounds, especially antioxidants, the consumption of pepper fruits is an ideal choice for the prevention of the cell damage.
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