Abstracts of presentations on selected topics at the XIVth international plant protection congress (IPPC) July 25–30, 1999

Abstract

The release of transgenic organisms has evoked an unusual legal process in that laws governing it are prospective on perceived risks rather than retrospective on experienced risks as is the usual case with legislating against problems. Most countries undertaking transgenic releases have adopted a regulatory structure usually comprising controlled releases to address questions of perceived risks followed by uncontrolled commercial releases. There has been an increasing number of commercial releases from approximately 11 million hectares of transgenic crops in 1997 to more than 27 million hectares in 1998. Most of these commercial releases have been in industrialized countries with only a small proportion in developing countries. The controlled releases, together with laboratory experiments, have addressed a range of perceived risks which can be put into three groups: risks to humans and domesticated animals, risks tO the environment, and commercial risks. These perceived risks have to be assessed against the baseline of current and projected farming practices with non-transgenic crops. Few, if any, of these perceived risks have been shown to be real risks which are significantly more important than the non-transgenic situation. The situation with plants transgenically protected against virus infection was discussed. In some countries, the discussions on transgenic crop releases have entered the public domain. The debate has raised various ethical issues and reflects the wish of society to be involved in the adoption of new technologies. [L]