Biotechnology makes it possible to integrate various sectors which use innovative techniques to promote revolutions in diverse areas of knowledge. The Mercosur countries offer – among other potential conditions – a promising scenario for regional biotechnology development.
The recognition of biotechnology as a new paradigm in the technology field involves nurturing new policies specifically addressing this area. The transfer of results of publicly-funded research to the private sector harms the institutionalization of legal protection systems for biotechnological inventions and the products that result from them. Scientific knowledge is itself an economic product, which over time has come to require large investments in human capital and equipment.
Science and technology and their practical developments, meanwhile, are not insensitive to the social and economic impacts they cause. This awareness imposes a great responsibility on the scientific community with respect to aspects of biosafety and bioethics, as well as issues pertaining to quality control of biotechnology products.
It has therefore become imperative to develop technical and legal standards to define and establish clear lines of responsibility for actions that could threaten or endanger people’s health, the environment, the heritage of original germplasm, and productive development itself.
Discussions on the impact and potential risks of biotechnology have reached the conclusion that there is a need to establish a legal system based on solid scientific principles, capable of establishing standards for all issues relating to biosafety. The issues which should be covered by these standards include: operating conditions of biotechnology laboratories, control systems and prevention systems, requirements for release in the field and commercial distribution of products. They should include accurate assessments of environmental impact, and definition and allocation of responsibilities for monitoring and control functions, which take into account that biodiversity is a constant concern for society.
The impacts caused by technological and environmental development, expansion of agricultural frontiers, unrestricted use of pesticides, devastation of forests, allegations of biopiracy and potential risks of genetic modification, are some of the issues of the debate which have influenced the key processes in the search for provisions and mechanisms to prevent ecological imbalance.
This work provides information on the subject in the context of the Mercosur countries. Its various chapters contain a critical mass of essential information on biosafety and intellectual property in the field of biotechnology. The authors have incorporated contributions of particular relevance in light of the current dynamics of regional integration. This report is undoubtedly of strategic value to the audience interested in the development of this discipline.
Eduardo H. Charreau
President of Argentina’s National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET)
[Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas]