Competitive Enterprise Institute | 1899 L ST NW Floor 12,
Washington, DC 20036 | Phone: 202-331-1010 | Fax: 202-331-0640
Co-authored by Drew L. Kershen. The modern techniques for
genetic improvement — recombinant DNA, or “genetic modification”
(GM) — began to be applied to bacteria and plants 40 years ago.
For the first time, molecular biologists could very precisely
move genetic material and its traits from one species to
another. The resulting new plant varieties have revolutionized
agriculture by boosting farmers’ profits and food security in
much of the world. But not in Europe. For more than 20 years,
bucking a worldwide scientific consensus, the European Union
(EU) has maintained literally nonsensical laws and regulations
that focus not on the risk-related characteristics of new plant
varieties but on the process — recombinant DNA technology — used
to create them. The result is a dysfunctional regulatory system
in which there is an inverse relationship between the degree of
regulatory scrutiny and the p