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April 21, 2006
Source:
CropBiotech Update
The adoption of the technology
of genetic modification (GM) in developing countries is shaped
by a number of players, which include multinational
corporations, scientists, farmers, consumers, and
anti-globalization and environmental NGOs; and is also
influenced by global and national markets and by international
and national rules on intellectual property rights and
biosafety.
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, of Harvard University, explores some of
the policy issues for developing countries related to the
introduction of GM crops, and argues that developing economies
should develop policy approaches that are specific to their own
unique set of circumstances. Her essay, entitled “Introduction:
Global actors, markets and rules driving the diffusion of
genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries”, is
published in the second issue of the
International Journal of Technology and Globalisation 2006 -
Vol. 2, No.1/2 pp. 1 - 11.
While crop breeding and
improvement have traditionally been public sector initiatives,
several factors have contributed to provide powerful market
incentives to the private sector of developed countries to
invest in agriculture in the last two decades. These factors
include: scientific advances in molecular biology; changes in
the legislation, in particular with regards to property right
protection; and the availability of large US seed markets for
maize, soy, canola, and cotton. As a result, the first biotech
crops that were commercialized are mainly crops suitable for
temperate zones, and industrialized countries currently account
for 65% of the total area planted with biotech crops. However,
Argentina is the second country in terms of biotech crop
production, and diffusion is rapid in Brazil, China, and India,
countries which are investing heavily on crops and traits that
fit their local priorities and requirements.
Efforts to develop crops
tailored to suit local needs, and aimed at the local markets of
developing nations for the benefit of resource-poor farmers,
“cannot depend entirely on national public sector efforts alone”
argues Fukuda-Parr. The author adds that “public-private
partnership, building regulatory and IPR enforcement mechanisms,
and having the right kind of IPR regimes globally are all
critical.”
ABSTRACT
The theme of this special
issue – genetically modified (GM) crops – goes to the heart
of the process of globalisation, technology and development.
This introductory essay explains how this new technology is
being driven by the actors (multinational corporations),
markets (large global markets) and rules (intellectual
property) of globalisation. But it is also shaped by the
other national and global actors (farmers, research
scientists, anti-globalisation and environmental NGOs),
markets (national priorities) and rules (national
biosafety). The papers in this issue address some policy
questions for developing countries: markets that are too
small for corporate sector, or to be kept GM free, or
dominated by monopoly products; the rules of intellectual
property rights and the enforcement of biosafety regulation.
Developing countries need to develop policy approaches that
are specific to its own unique set of circumstances.
Source:
www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=9123&prevQuery=&ps=10&m=or |
