October, 2006
Agricultural Biotechnology:
Legal Liability Regimes from Comparative and International
Perspectives
Stuart J. Smyth and Drew L. Kershen (2006)
Global Jurist Advances: Vol. 6: No. 2, Article 3
Source:
http://www.bepress.com/gj/advances/vol6/iss2/art3
ABSTRACT
As agricultural biotechnology has
become an agronomic alternative, discussion has emerged about
what legal liabilities, if any, exists for those who create,
distribute, and produce transgenic seeds and crops. Many
governments have debated legal liability as related to
agricultural biotechnology. In this article, the authors offer
fresh insights on legal liability from comparative law and
international law perspectives. The article begins by comparing
Canadian and American legal liability regimes in agricultural
biotechnology. Using this North American comparison as
background, the article then discusses liability issues by
contrasting the statutory regimes from Denmark and Germany. Once
the comparisons and contrasts between Canadian, American,
Danish, and German law have been presented, the article focuses
on the on-going discussion of legal liability and agricultural
biotechnology at the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (BSP). The authors posit that
understanding the comparisons and contrasts between Canada, the
United States, Denmark, and Germany assists greatly in
understanding the issues and debates about legal liability and
agricultural biotechnology at the international level in the BSP
negotiations. |