The Economic and Marketing Challenges of Horticultural Biotechnology - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 187

easier. for. food. processors. to. serve. niche. markets. for. GM. foods. without. risking.
liability.and.reputational.effects.associated.with.comingling..And.while.registra-
tions. for. horticultural. crops. in. the. United. States. and. other. developed. countries.
have.stagnated,.China.is.aggressively.moving.ahead.with.horticultural.biotechnology.
applications..Perhaps,.competition.will.induce.other.countries.to.follow..The.rise.
of.public-private.partnerships.like.PIPRA.that.intended.to.reduce.barriers.to.entry.
is.also.likely.to.provide.increasingly.valuable.services.to.start-ups.and.horticultural.
crop.operations.as.they.develop.
A.number.of.changes.to.IPR.and.regulatory.policy.could.also.improve.the.outlook.
for. horticultural. biotechnology.. First,. governments. should. move. from. a. system. of.
event.and.variety-based.testing.to.one.that.is.trait-based..That.is,.innovators.should.
not.be.required.to.undertake.the.same.testing.and.compliance.effort.to.introduce.an.
already-approved.trait.into.a.new.variety.or.species..To.require.such.redundancy.in.
testing. regimes. ignores. the. reduced. risks. associated. with. moving. a. probably. safe.
trait.into.a.new.plant..Second,.governments.should.adopt.tolerances.for.adventitious.
GM.content.in.foods.that.respect.consumer.choice.but.do.not.cause.the.market.for.
GM.foods.to.collapse..The.tolerances.adopted.in.the.E.U..are.too.strict.to.permit.the.
development.of.GM.food.markets..They.should.be.increased..Governments.should.
also.pursue.standardized.policies.that.reduce.the.compliance.costs.to.irms.that.rely.
on.exports.to.many.jurisdictions..Finally,.in.recognition.of.the.private.sector's.insuf-
icient.incentives.to.invest.in.horticultural.crops.at.the.socially.optimal.level,.the.pub-
lic.sector.should.step.up.its.effort.to.reduce.the.orphan-crop.problem..Horticulture.
has.historically.been.publicly.supported..Even.though.policy.changes.have.provided.
private. sector. inducements. for. agricultural. biotechnology,. it. is. clear. by. revealed.
preference.that.irms.are.not.suficiently.motivated.to.provide.biotechnology.appli-
cations. for. small. markets.. An. orphan. crop. act,. like. the. Orphan. Drug. Act,. could.
increase.the.incentive.for.research.on.GM.specialty.crops.

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