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“Risking Regulation, Regulating Risk: Lessons from the
Trans-Atlantic Biotech Dispute.” Review of Policy Research
Vol. 24, No. 4 (September, 2007).
Abstract
Debates over the future of new
technologies frequently implicate governmental policies and
regulation, the purpose of which has traditionally been to
mitigate the dangers of new technologies through promotion of
conditions of safe use. It is increasingly recognized, however,
that regulation is predicated on a particular conception of the
nature of risk which may or may not correspond to the views and
beliefs held by society. Here I explore three broadly related
questions in the context of the debates around agricultural
biotechnology. First, what are the implications of varying
conceptions of risk for regulatory policy in the United States
and the European Union? Second, what are the implications of
differing conceptions of risk and resulting regulatory policy
for agricultural trade relations between the two giants of
international trade? And finally, what lessons might we draw
from contemporary disputes over agricultural biotechnology? |
