Biotechnology and the Politics of Regulation

This paper is a contribution to a research project on biotechnology and the policy process in developing countries. It aims to provide an overview of the issues, debates and ways of thinking about the regulation of third generation crop biotechnologies. Firstly, it looks at debates about the role and purpose of regulation. Secondly, it examines the different approaches that have been adopted towards the regulation of the products of modern biotechnology. This means, in addition to looking at the peculiarities of regulation in developing country contexts, also looking at developments in countries of the OECD and at the international level, as these often serve to establish the appropriate boundaries for regulation within which the rest of the world has to operate. Finally, the paper explores some of the ways of understanding the policy processes by which regulations develop and are enforced.