Abstract

Precautionary measures to protect human health and the environment should be science based. This implies that they should be directed at a potential danger for which there is credible scientific evidence (although that evidence need not be conclusive). Furthermore, protective measures should be updated as relevant science advances. This means that decisionmakers should be prepared to strengthen the precautionary measures if the danger turns out to be greater than initially suspected, and to reduce or lift them, should the danger prove to be smaller. Most current legislation on agricultural biotechnology has not been scientifically updated. Therefore, it reflects outdated criteria for identifying products that can cause problems. Modern knowledge in genetics, plant biology, and ecology has provided us with much better criteria that risk analysts can use to identify the potentially problematic breeding projects at which precautionary measures should be directed. Legislation on agricultural biotechnology should be scientifically updated. Furthermore, legislators should learn from this example that regulations based on the current state of science need to have inbuilt mechanisms for revisions and adjustments in response to future developments in science.

Keywords

Agricultural biotechnology; GMO; plant breeding; precautionary principle; science-based precaution

Published in

Risk Analysis
2016, Volume: 36, number: 8, pages: 1513-1517
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

SLU Authors

• Hansson, Sven Ove

  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12647

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83156