Engaging with Uncertainty and Risk in Agricultural Biotechnology Regulation: Delivering Safety and Innovation

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The overall aim of this project is to take insights about the imperfections of the regulatory and policy processes related to agricultural biotechnologies, and apply them to recommend how to improve these processes by using the Innogen Centre's approaches to Adaptive Governance of Innovative Technology (AGIT) and Critical Stakeholder Engagement (CSE). The project will particularly examine the role of experts and non-experts in the field, and how they influence decisions through their use of evidence as well as ideological motivations. The proposal builds on research by Innogen Centre staff, who have been working in, and commenting on, these areas of policy since the early 1990s when the questions of impacts and safety surrounding the development of GM crops were much more contested in terms of scientific evidence. The expectation at that time was that the approach taken to form regulation for GM crops, the precautionary approach with very stringent testing requirements for new products, would be modified if and when evidence of the safety and efficacy of GM crops became available. The modification of the precautionary approach in Europe, however, has not taken place, despite increasing evidence that GM crops are safe, and even beneficial, to the environment and to people. The proposal, which arises from discussions between the ESRC Innogen Centre and Syngenta on the regulation and governance of innovative biotechnologies, including current regulatory systems as applied to genetically modified (GM) crops and the future use and regulation of synthetic biology, looks to suggest some solutions to the current problems in the system.The key research questions addressed in the project are the following:1. How can Innogen's and Syngenta's insights on the science, policy and regulatory concerns be combined to improve the regulatory system and the interactions among innovators, regulators and society in delivering to market products that are safe, effective and profitable?2. What lessons can be drawn from this analysis for companies, policy makers and stakeholders?3. Can new academic understanding be drawn from this opportunity to apply socio-economic insights to real world case studies?The project will therefore look to combine the insights from Innogen in this policy area, and Syngenta's experience with the regulatory system, to address these issues. The project provide the opportunity for industry representatives, policy representatives, and civil society representatives (e.g. NGOs) to meet and discuss the project's conclusions, and to take-away some key lessons to interact with and improve policy process and the regulatory system. In addition, the project will result in policy briefs, opinion pieces, and academic publications, in order to share the project insights with as broad an audience as possible.