Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
effects,.itness,.potential.for.spread,.effect.on.endangered.species).is.very.costly.and.
by. their. nature. imprecise,. requiring,. for. reasonable. estimates,. large. experiments.
and.years.of.study.over.many.environments..For.pest-tolerant.crops.(i.e.,.those.with.
plant.incorporated.protectants,.[PIPs]),.the.required.analyses.by.EPA.are.expected.
to.be.even.more.costly.and.complex..Rarely.are.the.paybacks.to.developers.from.
improved.horticultural.crops.suficient.to.cover.all.of.these.large.up-front.costs.
DEREGULATED HORTICULTURAL VARIETIES
DO NOT PROVIDE GENERAL MODELS
The.very.few.woody.horticultural.crops.that.appear.to.have.successfully.navigated.
the. regulatory. maze. have. special. characteristics,. and. thus. provide. few. general.
lessons.. They. are. trees. that.have. genes.that. protect.against. a. major. viral. pest. and.
make.no.actual.novel.pest-toxic.compound.(papaya.and.plum:.they.invoke.the.natu-
ral. RNA. interference. mechanism),. and. also. cannot. spread. in. the. wild. to. any. sig-
niicant. degree.. The. GE. cold-tolerant. and. male-sterile. eucalypt,. now. in. extensive.
ield.trials.and.part.of.a.petition.for.deregulation,.is.also.dependent.for.its.approval.
to.allow.lowering.and.commercial.planting.on.its.presumed.sterility.or.inability.to.
spread.
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. It. is. as. yet. unclear. if,. in. a. practical. and. affordable. way,. normally. fertile.
horticultural.varieties.that.have.wild.or.feral.relatives.can.comply.with.regulations.
and.obtain.regulatory.approval.for.commercialization.
CAUSES OF OUR STRINGENT REGULATORY SYSTEM
How.have.we,.in.the.Unites.States,.produced.a.regulatory.environment.that.appears.
so.hostile.to.transgenic.innovation.in.horticultural.crops?.The.political.and.legal.his-
tory.of.our.regulatory.framework.is.well.known,
6,14
.and.there.are.a.number.of.very.
signiicant.political. issues
15
.that.appear.to.have.played.a.major.role.in.shaping.the.
negative,.or.at.least.highly.divided,.public.view.of.crop.biotechnology..Major.sources.
of.controversy.include:
.
1.. The. relatively. new. and. major. roles. for. strong. patents. in. crop. breeding,.
which. provide. no. breeder's. rights. to. the. use. of. genetic. material. and. no.
limits.on.ownership.of.genes.and.transgenic.plants.when.they.move.in.the.
environment..This.appears.to.be.considered.an.overstep.or.an.outright.ethi-
cal.transgression.to.many.
.
2.. The. growing. role. of. multinational. corporations. in. biotechnology.. This. is.
in.no.small.part.due.to.the.costly.intellectual.patent.and.regulatory.land-
scapes.discussed.above.. Negative.attitudes.toward.these. corporations.and.
their.dominance.in.the.development.of.commercial.biotech.crops.are.also.
a. result. of. the. legacy. of. the. production. and. marketing. of. pesticides,. and.
of.divisive.products.such.as.recombinant.bovine.somatotropin.(rBST),.by.
these.companies.or.their.predecessors.
.
3.. The. lack. of. direct. beneits. to. consumers. and. food. production/service. com-
panies,.in.the.face.of.perceived.risks.to.people.or.retail.chains,.from.use.of.
herbicides.and.pesticidal.molecules.in.the.current.major.transgenic.varieties.
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