Local variation or global convergence in agricultural biotechnology policy? A comparative analysis

Abstract

The history of attention to local variation in science and technology studies notwithstanding, there is a growing emphasis in the study of science policy on global convergence. In this paper, we undertake a multi-state comparative study of agricultural biotechnology policies, illustrating the continuing value of attending to policy variation and the factors that mold it. We acknowledge the growing influence of supranational entities and transnational cultural exchanges in shaping policy. However, our research does not indicate the homogenization of agricultural biotechnology policies across the globe. Instead, we find three broad models of agricultural biotechnology governance: 'liberal science-based' regulation, 'precautionary science-based' regulation, and 'social values-based' regulation. While states are constrained by global and local factors, they actively shape policies by blending parts of these three policy models in distinct ways.

Genetically Modified Crops, Inclusion, and Democracy

“…In other work, Kleinman, Kinchy, and Autry (2009) argue that different sets of concerns carry more or less weight in different countries. In Europe, at the EU level, health and safety concerns are primary but food regime concerns play a secondary and less explicit role in some cases (Kleinman, Kinchy, and Autry 2009, 366-7).…”

“…Kleinman, Kinchy, and Autry (2009) examine agricultural biotechnology policy in the US, Kenya, EU, Austria, China, and India, and find both similarities and differences. Specifically, every political context uses some version of "sciencebased" policymaking; but Kenya, the EU, and Austria also recognize a role for "social values-based" policy.…”

Technological Abundance for Global Agriculture: The Role of Biotechnology

“…35 In fact, the tendency in regulation of biotechnology appears to follow more divergent paths reflecting unique national and regional attributes. 36 This is partly because regulatory practices and trends in biotechnology development tend to co-evolve as countries seek a balance between the need to protect the environment and human safety and fostering technological advancement. 37 Advancements in science have allowed scientists to insert characteristics of other plants into food crops.…”

Explaining local variation in agri-food biotechnology policies: 'green' genomics regulation in comparative perspective

“…As Kleinman et al (2009) noted, an analysis of the regulation of biotechnological activities in different jurisdictions cannot be undertaken in isolation from their corresponding technologies and contexts. Functionally, for example, there is a range of different uses for genomics biotechnologies stretching from 'green' activities such as agri-food production, 'white' uses related to various industrial applications such as pulp and paper digestion, 'red' uses related to health, 'black' areas such as energy (for example producing fuels from mine waste) and various 'rainbow' mixes such as the 'red-green' or 'black-green' use of agricultural crops to produce pharmaceuticals or biofuels.…”