Regulating GM crops
Effective regulation is an essential component of any innovation process. This is particularly the case for GM crops, where potential risks remain unknown. Impacts arise through the interaction of particular technologies in particular environments. Therefore a case-by-case approach to regulatory control is essential.
Arguing for a precautionary approach is not ‘anti-science’. In fact, the opposite is true, as a broad approach to precaution means that uncertainty and ignorance are dealt with, avoiding the danger of reducing complex assessments to simplistic risk management.
It is certain that biosafety regulations need to be developed in response to local settings and demands. Disputes in the WTO have highlighted differing constructions of risk management and policy across the world. Intellectual property restrictions have major impacts on access to new technologies, especially for the poor and regulations need to be built from the bottom-up, incorporating diverse views and assuring trust and accountability.
Limited regulatory reach is a major constraint in most of the developing world. But few approaches exist which allow for a flexible development of regulatory capacity based on real – rather than ideal – settings. Meanwhile discussions of ‘red tape’ should be understood in the context of the broader political economy of GM technology, including the associated business interests.
Arguing for a precautionary approach is not ‘anti-science’. In fact, the opposite is true, as a broad approach to precaution means that uncertainty and ignorance are dealt with, avoiding the danger of reducing complex assessments to simplistic risk management.
It is certain that biosafety regulations need to be developed in response to local settings and demands. Disputes in the WTO have highlighted differing constructions of risk management and policy across the world. Intellectual property restrictions have major impacts on access to new technologies, especially for the poor and regulations need to be built from the bottom-up, incorporating diverse views and assuring trust and accountability.
Limited regulatory reach is a major constraint in most of the developing world. But few approaches exist which allow for a flexible development of regulatory capacity based on real – rather than ideal – settings. Meanwhile discussions of ‘red tape’ should be understood in the context of the broader political economy of GM technology, including the associated business interests.
- Regulating biotechnology in China: the politics of biosafety
- ( J. Keeley / Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK , 2003)
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This paper examines the politics of biosafety regulation in China and policy processes around Genetically Modified (GM) crops.
The paper:locates biosafety debates in wider contexts, both in ...
- Can food safety policy-making be both scientifically and democratically legitimated? If so, how?
- ( E. Millstone (ed) / Science and Technology Policy Research, Sussex , 2006)
- The politics of food safety is a highly contested field. Not only are there disputes about the safety and acceptability of particular products and processes, there are also disputes about how food saf...
- Risk: safety is just the start if we want good regulation
- ( A. Ely / Science and Technology Policy Research, Sussex , 2008)
- Transgenic crops are being put forward as a solution to the food crisis. The controversies that dogged their introduction, at least in Europe, are being dismissed as dangerous distractions. ...
- Risk, precaution and science: towards a more constructive policy debate
- ( A. Stirling (ed) / EMBO Reports , 2009)
- Sound scientific techniques of risk assessment offer a comprehensive and rational set of ‘decision rules’ for use in policy. These science-based approaches yield a robust and practically o...
