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New Researches in Biotechnology - Facultatea de Biotehnologii ...

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Proceed<strong>in</strong>g of the 4 rd International Symposium“NEW RESEARCH IN BIOTECHNOLOGY” USAMV Bucharest, Romania, 2011PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING PROCEDUREOnce the environmental risk (assessment endpo<strong>in</strong>ts and testable hypothesis) arecharacterized, the next phase is project management and monitor<strong>in</strong>g. A sound governancestructure is essential for successful PCM. A pr<strong>in</strong>cipal <strong>in</strong>vestigator would coord<strong>in</strong>ateplann<strong>in</strong>g and execution of the study. It would be pru<strong>de</strong>nt to have national and <strong>in</strong>ternationaladvisors to provi<strong>de</strong> expert advice on all aspects of the PCM program.a) THE MONITORPakistan has a long history of conduct<strong>in</strong>g field and farmer surveys by public researchers orextension workers. However the same level of cooperation between farmers and employeesof the technology <strong>de</strong>velopers may not be as forthcom<strong>in</strong>g because of perceptions of bias ortrust.In Pakistan, neither the regulator i.e. National Agriculture Research Council (NARC) northe technology <strong>de</strong>veloper mult<strong>in</strong>ational companies has the expertise or <strong>in</strong>frastructure toconduct PCM. Much more importantly real or perceived conflicts of <strong>in</strong>terests should beavoi<strong>de</strong>d by hav<strong>in</strong>g public aca<strong>de</strong>mic lead PCM, not the <strong>de</strong>veloper with a vested <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong>the commercial success of the GM crop or the regulators that approved the unconf<strong>in</strong>e<strong>de</strong>nvironmental release of a GM crop; because there is the risk of bias <strong>in</strong> validat<strong>in</strong>g theirorig<strong>in</strong>al <strong>de</strong>cision.Public aca<strong>de</strong>mia should have access to these protocols directly from NARC as a conditionof the regulatory process for a genetically modified crop (GMC). Without these molecularprotocols it would be impossible to confirm the presence of a transgene of <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> GMcrop populations.b) THE FINANCERCost shar<strong>in</strong>g should reflect the value of the <strong>in</strong>formation to private <strong>de</strong>velopers, the publicgood and the policy <strong>de</strong>velopment. Technology <strong>de</strong>velopers should bear the majority of costsbecause they ga<strong>in</strong> the major f<strong>in</strong>ancial ga<strong>in</strong>s through seed or pestici<strong>de</strong> sales. A 20 yearspatent on the technology ensures a monopoly for that duration and an acceptable rate ofreturn on <strong>in</strong>vestment. Moreover results from the PCM provi<strong>de</strong> technology <strong>de</strong>velopers withnew <strong>in</strong>formation to help farmers adopt best management of GMCs and optimize economicbenefits.c) SPATIAL SCALEDepend<strong>in</strong>g on the size of the risk be<strong>in</strong>g monitored or regional scale of GM crop cultivation,multiple monitor<strong>in</strong>g sites with different eco-regions will be required to <strong>de</strong>term<strong>in</strong>e thevariation <strong>in</strong> magnitu<strong>de</strong> of measured variables. Data often would be collected <strong>in</strong> cultivatedfields, field bor<strong>de</strong>rs marg<strong>in</strong>s, and/or adjacent ru<strong>de</strong>ral or natural areas for areas adjacent toGMC cultivation, pollen flow and seed dispersal distances will <strong>in</strong>fluence the spatial scale ofmonitor<strong>in</strong>g.d) TEMPORAL SCALEThe duration of PCM should generally be 5 years from time of market release and wi<strong>de</strong>spread cultivation of a GM crop (Kjellsson and Strandberg, 2001).The responsibility ofpossible longer term (5 yrs) PCM to <strong>de</strong>tect potential <strong>in</strong>teractive or cumulative GM crop20

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