Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
part of the goals by designing procedures. There should also be a consid-
eration of the various factors that play a role in fostering safety culture
on sites and throughout the marketing process. Special attention given to
organizational issues at industrial-scale agribusiness and sites and a bet-
ter understanding of the sociology and economy of GM crop growing,
including its institutional and political environment, are two key aspects
of a possible step toward this goal. It is also one way to start building an
emergency-preparedness response in case of an adverse event.
So far, the public has little knowledge of the organizational and insti-
tutional policies already put in place by this industry to recover promptly
from a problematic event. Studies on the day-to-day operations at farm
sites could also contribute to a new perspective on this technology, too
often considered only as laboratory “magic,” or a potentially harmful
technology.
The other tool that could be put in place addresses the systematic
reporting of unwanted and adverse events (such as contamination of
non-GM crops, commingling at storage sites, and gene flows). Clearly,
this kind of effort would require the industry and/or the regulators to
don a stewardship role that seems lacking at the moment.
The nuclear industry as well as civil aviation has now developed insti-
tutional links across countries and companies (even imperfectly) that
assume this stewardship role. 9 The chemical industry is struggling to put
in place a formal exchange of information, as transparent as possible.
Industry patents and trade secrets are serious obstacles to such initia-
tives. The same sort of obstacles is certainly at the core of the wariness
one can perceive from the GM firms. However, such efforts have gradu-
ally been considered as mandatory after severe accidents struck not only
9 For the nuclear industry, several institutions are taking on this stewardship role: IAEA,
the International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations agency based in Vienna,
INPO, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in the United States, WANO, the
World Association of Nuclear Operators, WENRA, the World Association of Nuclear
Regulators. In the case of the civil aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organiza-
tion is a strong equivalent.
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