Conko Gregory
Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
Transgenic Res. 2003 Dec;12(6):639-47. doi: 10.1023/b:trag.0000005157.45046.8e.
Operationalizing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will require resolving disputes about the meaning of the term 'precautionary approach' in the treaty text. Although the terms precautionary approach and precautionary principle have been referred to in the regulation of transgenic plants for nearly a decade, no customary expectation of what actions either requires has developed. If specific obligations for regulators, regulated entities, or both are not established, compliance will be impossible. This essay examines various interpretations of the precautionary principle, discusses their shortcomings, and suggests a way to rethink the regulation of transgenic plants that focuses on genuine uncertainty. Transgenic plants with familiar phenotypes should be subject to considerably less regulatory scrutiny than those whose risks are genuinely unknown, or known to pose heightened risk.
实施《卡塔赫纳生物安全议定书》需要解决有关条约文本中“预防办法”一词含义的争议。尽管“预防办法”和“预防原则”这两个术语在转基因植物监管中已被提及近十年，但对于这两者各自要求采取何种行动，尚未形成惯例性的预期。如果不对监管机构、受监管实体或双方的具体义务加以明确，就无法实现合规。本文审视了对预防原则的各种解释，讨论了其不足之处，并提出了一种重新思考转基因植物监管的方法，该方法侧重于真正的不确定性。与那些风险真正未知或已知构成更高风险的转基因植物相比，具有常见表型的转基因植物应接受的监管审查要少得多。
