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The Inclusion of Nonsafety Criteria within the Regulatory Framework of Agricultural Biotechnology: Exploring Factors that Are Likely to Influence Policy Transfer
Author(s) -
Marcoux JeanMichel,
Gomez Olga Carolina Cardenas,
Létourneau Lyne
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/ropr.12053
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , coercion (linguistics) , agricultural biotechnology , incentive , competition (biology) , agriculture , process (computing) , politics , public economics , inclusion (mineral) , microbiology and biotechnology , business , economics , political science , sociology , biology , law , social science , market economy , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , programming language , operating system
Policy makers of various countries are exposed to critiques that call for the consideration of issues that transcend human, animal, and environmental safety concerns when assessing agricultural biotechnology products. While some jurisdictions have decided to broaden the scope of their approval process for genetically modified ( GM ) foods, this paper analyzes legal, political, and economic factors that can influence the transfer of these initiatives. Drawing on mechanisms presented in the policy transfer literature, this article examines their mixed effects pertaining to the regulation of biotechnology. Although the mechanisms of competition and coercion do not preclude such a possibility, one must admit that they do not create any incentives for policy makers to include nonsafety criteria within biotechnology regulations. By contrast, to varying degrees, the mechanisms of mimicry and learning can foster the transfer of such a broadened scope that allows a better assessment of GM foods' social acceptability.