ESTIMATES AND IMPLICATIONS OF COMPLIANCE WITH BIOSAFETY REGULATIONS 179


Furthermore, failing to adopt new technologies that may benefit poor farm- ers and consumers carries its own set of risks (Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2003). Undesirable conventional agricultural production practices may result in overexposure to chemical pesticides or incomplete abatement of pest damage, negatively affecting food safety and security. Biosafety regula- tory systems thus need to balance objective risks to human health and the environment against the potential risk of opportunity losses to increase agri- cultural production, introduce novel crops, and enhance the livelihoods of poor people. The key to delivering safe, valuable, and appropriate GE technologies to


farmers in poor countries is smart and efficient regulatory systems imple- mentable by countries with lower scientific and financial capacity. Developing countries need such a system, which does not necessarily mean more biosafety regulations. Regulations have to be based on risk-assessment procedures with a history of success in other countries. Many international documents articulate biosafety, risk assessment, and risk management principles; a specific example is Annex III to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Furthermore, establish- ing sensible regulations does not have to be complicated, as long as the process is robust, transparent, and participative (Jaffe 2006). Most importantly, bio- safety needs to be a process trusted by society. Several policy and regulatory system options are available for improving biosafety processes. African and other developing countries eventually will need to decide


whether biotechnology and GE crops are useful for their development pro- cesses. This decision will be—hopefully—based on information on likely and actual impacts from biotechnology adoption and use (see, for example, Smale et al. 2009). Furthermore, developing countries need to realize that excessively precautionary approaches to biosafety regulations will have an impact on the flow of potentially valuable biotechnologies reaching farmers. All countries have the sovereign right to decide whether to embrace or reject this technol- ogy, but it is desirable that such decisions consider all costs, benefits, and risks involved with this technology. For those countries that are considering adopt- ing GE crops, proper biosafety and technology assessments will help ensure the reduction of the costs and risks while maximizing the benefits.


Acknowledgments


The authors thank Hector Quemada, Karen Hokason, John Komen, and two anonymous reviewers for thoughtful and valuable contributions to this chapter.


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