Facts and Terms from "Poorer Nations Turn to Publicly Developed Crops" Nature Biotechnology, January 2005, by Joel Cohen, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow (unless other sources cited)
Available Factsheets
Regulation, Approval, and Intellectual Property Rights of GM Crops
- Most investment in food biotechnology has been in research infrastructure, collaboration with industrialized countries or international centers, and scientific capacity building without foreseeing the need to meet regulatory requirements.
- Locally developed GM crops, often tailored to local needs, pose unique challenges for public research institutes seeking regulatory approval. As a result, GM crops tend to remain in development and out of the hands of farmers.
- Developing countries have made limited gains in compiling regulatory data. Approximately 22 percent of the GM crops produced under the public research programs in this study remain in confined testing due to lack of experience or resources and capacity for compiling regulatory data.
- Commercial GM crops pre-approved in Western markets are more successful in gaining approvals in developing countries.
- Access to proprietary genetic resources in developing countries is extremely limited; only 6 percent of all GM crops in this study used private genetic materials.
- Multinational companies could play a key role for specific GM crops, given their experience in commercial development and regulatory compliance.
|