Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
were confident of public acceptance. Looking back, this may be viewed as a failure on the part
of these companies to anticipate public sentiments about the safety of the food supply.
Many surveys have shown that people want to know how food safety is assured. It is
interesting to note that most common food products currently consumed are not subjected to the
same rigorous testing now required for biotech genetically modified foods. Were they subjected
to the same testing, many of today’s common foods would not be approved. The testing of biotech
foods is a science-based process that includes actual and potential information on, among
other things, risk assessment for the presence of allergens or toxins, what genes are transferred,
and what proteins are produced. The question then is how the current process for assuring food
safety can be improved. Surveys such as those conducted in Malaysia have shown that general
awareness about biotech foods is very low: 80% to 90% of those sampled are unaware of the
issues. In Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, there has been increasing recognition
in the media of biotech foods as an issue, but these same surveys have not revealed increased
concern about biotech food or biotechnologies on the part of the general population. In
fact, surveys have showed that people are more concerned about the price of food and about
health, especially cholesterol (Teng, 1999).
It is important that public concerns be recognized and properly addressed. Some of these
concerns have to do with the environment—regulation of field releases, outcrossing, and effects
on nontarget organisms—and food safety—the safety assessment process, regulation, the
presence of allergens or toxins, nutritional value, and the presence of antibiotic resistance markers.
Being aware of the issues helps scientists understand them and generate data to address them.
Science currently addresses these concerns very well; scientists generally acknowledge that there
are elements of risk, but the benefits far outweigh the risks. There is certainly a high level of
speculative fear associated with the topic of biotech food. The more emotion is separated from
science and fear from reality, the better it is for all. It is important to demystify the process of
biotech crop production and the nature of biotech crop products so that the public can understand
them.
ADDRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT BIOTECH CROPS
Producing more food is no longer a justification for any perceived or real negative internalities
or externalities. Increasingly, questions are asked of the role that new technologies like
biotechnology play in the food chain. Are there nontechnological alternatives? Who benefits?
Who has access? Who owns it? Is it safe for humans and animals? Is it safe for the environment?
Is it within the morals and ethics of civilized society? These questions may in turn be translated
into a set of topics discussed in published papers (Teng, 1999).
Intellectual Property Protection: Ownership of Genetic Resources
Consolidations in the form of acquisitions, mergers, and alliances have been a noted feature
of the biotechnology industry. Since 1996, more than 25 major acquisitions and alliances valued
at USD15 billion have taken place among agrobiotech, seed, and farm chemical firms (James,
2004). While these are expected to result in increased efficiencies for the private sector, fears
arise of dominance and of marginalization of the role of public sector institutions charged with
helping the poorest of the poor. The challenge to both sectors is to identify common ground for
action to benefit resource-poor farmers based on the common vision of ensuring food security
for all, whether rural or urban.
One issue that epitomizes social and ethical concern about biotechnology is intellectual
property protection. Multinational companies are increasing their ownership of biological material,
which will be protected by patents, relative to the public sector. Supporters of patenting
point out that if the private sector is to mobilize and invest large sums of money in biotechnology
R&D for agriculture, it must protect and recoup what it has put in. This is especially so
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