Many developing countries are currently in the process of designing regulatory systems that should allow them to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for agricultural development. They also have to manage food safety and environmental risks associated with these technologies. Researchers of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have developed a `Framework for regional bio-safety regulations? involving regional experts, stakeholders, and policy-makers in the design of a regional regulatory system. It will help fill knowledge gaps and generate conclusions regarding the trade-offs involved in regional biotechnology regulation.
Regina Birner and Nicolas Linacre of the IFPRI have presented a conceptual framework for the assessment of regional systems of biotechnology regulation in a discussion paper on regional biotechnology regulations: Design options and implications for good governance. It specifies design options and assessment criteria, and identifies major trade-offs and their mediating factors. More than 120 countries, party to the Catagena Protocol on Biosafety are participating in the ?Development of National Biosafety Frameworks? project of the UN Environment Programme and Global Environment Facility (UNEP-GEF). Eight countries have moved to the next stage, namely the UNEP-GEF project on the implementation of National Biosafety Frameworks.
?Regions of the developing world are seeking to establish regional systems of biotechnology regulation. Considerable costs are associated with biotechnology regulation, and bio-safety specialists are scarce. In addition, there is no consistent understanding of how regional systems of biotechnology regulation can be designed to be effective and efficient, while also fulfilling the principles of good governance, such as transparency, voice and accountability, control of corruption, and avoidance of special interest capture. There are a wide variety of possible regional approaches, differing with regard to the level of centralisation, the scope of the regional system, the types of regional institutions and processes, and the types of financing mechanisms. The framework specifies design options and assessment criteria, and identifies major trade-offs and their mediating factors,? they said.