Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
well as adverse effects on human and animal health. In contrast, the con-
cerns of the public, NGOs, and environmentalists centered on longer-
term environmental consequences, consumer choice, impacts on tradi-
tional farming, and other societal issues such as the influence of industry
in the regulatory process and commercial pressures. In addition, food is a
symbolic lifestyle factor, and familiarity with food products is important
to European consumers including the Dutch citizens. Thus, the current
European regulatory regime, which emphasizes technical expertise and
narrowly ranks food safety as its top concern, has proven an inadequate
approach to meeting public concerns.
These problems have been apparent in the Netherlands since 1996
when the Dutch government allowed the importation and limited pro-
cessing of Monsanto's glyphosate-tolerant soybeans on the basis of sci-
entific studies that showed the product to be safe for the environment
and human health.
4
Environmentalists and consumer groups violently
protested upon arrival of the first shipments from the United States and
Canada. In retrospect, it seems that this response may have been due
to several factors. The imports would obstruct consumer choice because
no labeling of GM products was required at that time, and the products
and their derivatives, such as GM soybean oil, would be indistinguish-
able from conventional, non-GM alternatives. Also the expert evalua-
tion, which led to the approval, was seen as inappropriately narrow and
not reflective of societal values, and information on potential benefits
was not presented.
Increased transparency and public participation in regulatory proce-
dures are needed to enhance stakeholder and public confidence in food
safety governance. Whereas regulators must identify potential harms,
other concerns such as long-term outcomes, and information on the
potential benefits of GM crops would bring about a more thoughtful
and acceptable regulatory approach. Moreover, the regulatory approach
must respect both expert and nonexpert values, address safety in
4
Commission Decision (EC) No. 96/281 of 30 April 1996, O.J. (L 107) 10-11.
