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The recent and rapid advances in agricultural biotechnology have many
potential benefits but also raise many questions. New issues have arisen about agricultural
research policy, industry structure, production and marketing, consumer preference, and world
food demand. Public policy is struggling to keep up with these rapid changes. Genetic engineering,
particularly in cotton, soybeans, corn, and canola has been adopted rapidly in North America
and in other food exporting countries such as Argentina. Consumer response has been variable,
ranging from rather negative in Europe to more neutral in the United States and China.
The array
of issues surrounding biotechnology is legal, ethical, environmental, and economic. They include
the proper role of the public sector in research, as well as patent and other intellectual property
policy, transgenic farming practices, and appropriate regulation of marketing, labeling, and
international trade in biotechnology products. The course of U.S. research and intellectual
property policy is affected by the degree of concentration in agricultural input industries.
For example, biotech firms have merged with seed companies to secure sources of germplasm
with which to produce genetically modified seed varieties, and then to control outlets for
delivering the new products. Concentration of this kind raises questions about the direction
of future agricultural research. Determining the appropriate role for public research and its
connections with private research will be critical to the promotion of efficient and equitable
progress in agbiotech. |
