Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
threshold policy determination in the United States that the same regula-
tory requirements and procedures are sufficient and must be applied, the
EU has created new requirements and an elaborate procedural frame-
work for the GM enterprise.
A system for governing the risks may involve the application of sev-
eral types of social controls, as discussed in the ensuing chapters. These
may include reliance on self-regulation by corporate seed producers and
the agricultural, food producing, and retailing entities and trade associa-
tions involved in the GM enterprise, and the application of information
disclosure requirements to inform the marketplace and respect consumer
rights. In common law countries, such as the United States and Britain,
there is also reliance on the judicial system to impose liability on compa-
nies or individuals when their activities involving GM crops or foods fail
to meet prevailing standards of care and cause harm to persons or prop-
erty. However, in all countries, the most favored social control is some
form of risk regulation by one or more public agencies that have been
empowered by national legislation, a development usually accompanied
by the creation of a scientific advisory apparatus.
Regulatory approaches differ, with some agencies enacting and
enforcing detailed prescriptive rules and permit procedures, and others
applying more flexible performance-based requirements to the entities
subject to their authority. Common features include field testing and
risk assessment requirements, permit procedures for agency review and
approval of new GM crops before commercial planting, and additional
procedures for review of food products with GM content before com-
mercial marketing. In addition, various means of eliciting, listening to,
and responding to public opinion have been implemented by progressive
agencies in democratic nations, and in the EU, regulations impose spe-
cial labeling requirements for marketing foods with GM content. Amore
detailed account is presented in subsequent chapters, including discus-
sion of the criteria and assumptions applied in agency decision-making
processes, such as use of cost-benefit analysis to determine whether a risk
is reasonable, application of the “precautionary principle” when coping
