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2 The Framework of the Report
Pages 47-64

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From page 47...
... However, in 1996, the National Research Council broke new ground on risk assessment with the highly regarded report Understanding Risk: Informing Decisions in a Democratic Society, which pointed out that a purely technical assessment of risk could result in an analysis that accurately answered the wrong questions and would be of little use to ­decision-makers. It outlined an approach that balanced analysis and delib eration in a manner that was more likely to address the concerns of inter ested and affected parties in ways that earned their trust and confidence.
From page 48...
... The committee worked toward the goal of asking the most relevant questions through early engagement with people and groups that held opposing views of GE crops and foods derived from them. Persons who had deep concerns about the adverse health, environmental, social, and economic effects of GE crops and persons who were enthusiastic about substantial benefits afforded by GE crops were invited to speak to the committee starting at its first meeting.1 It was clear from that early engagement -- and from many presentations and public comments that the committee received later -- that opinions on GE crops and food derived from them span the spectrum from extremely risky to overwhelmingly beneficial and that many members of the public hold extremely negative or extremely positive views of GE crops.
From page 49...
... . Social scientists have pointed out that social psychological processes that explain public attitudes toward genetic engineering are complex and go beyond understanding the science behind the technology; well-established individual beliefs, such as religious beliefs or deference to scientific authority, can act as perceptual filters when complex information is processed and, as a result, two persons may interpret the same massmedia information differently and reach conflicting conclusions regarding the technology (Scheufele, 2006; Brossard and Shanahan, 2007)
From page 50...
... .2 As set out in Understanding Risk, the purpose of risk characterization is to "describe the potentially hazardous situation in as accurate, t­horough, and decision-relevant a manner as possible, addressing 2 The committee has made the additions in brackets.
From page 51...
... The committee's goal has been to examine the evidence that bears on those issues. GOVERNANCE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS The terms regulation and governance are sometimes used interchangeably, but regulations are only a subset of the factors involved in governance of technologies (Kuzma et al., 2008)
From page 52...
... Regional,4 national, and subnational governments and tribal governments in the United States shape behavior in many ways, including regulations, incentives, and funding. For example, governments issue permits for testing new GE crops or traits, which may be accompanied by conditions regarding confinement and post-trial monitoring.
From page 53...
... , but the Codex Alimentarius Commission sets nonlegally-binding standards for assessing the safety of foods derived from GE crops (CAC, 2003a,b)
From page 54...
... With the growth of agri­food move ments, other actors in the global food system, particularly food r­ etailers, have taken notice and modified their own policies and practices either in response to or in anticipation of consumer demands. Studies have shown that private standards shape government policies and can affect practices at the farm level (Gruère and Sengupta, 2009; Tallontire et al., 2011)
From page 55...
... . The process is particularly important for such issues as GE crops because of their multidimensionality, their complexity, and the opposing views that engaged stakeholders hold on questions that often transcend the pure scientific realm.
From page 56...
... Roundtables are a type of MSI active in the agricul ture and food sector. For example, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the Roundtable on Responsible Soy, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels all operate to create a standard or set of standards that shape the entire commodity chain, as opposed to other private standards that simply create niche markets (Schouten et al., 2012)
From page 57...
... Finally, ideally and broadly speaking, governance of GE crops should facilitate achieving the maximum societal benefits from GE crops at given levels of acceptable risk. Alternatively, one could speak of a goal of minimizing the governance resources7 necessary to achieve given levels of societal risks and benefits associated with GE crops.
From page 58...
... The committee defines biotechnology to mean methods other than selective breeding and sexually crossing of plants to endow organisms with new characteristics. Thus, biotechnology as used in this report includes 8 The term genetically modified is often used synonymously with genetically engineered.
From page 59...
... Challenges in Defining Terms A major challenge in defining terms is that nature does not exist in neat boxes. For example, the commonly used definition of cisgenesis noted above is based on whether a genetically engineered recipient plant receives a gene from a sexually compatible plant.
From page 60...
... Such cases of natural gene transfer (that is, not from human manipulation) are known as horizontal gene transfer.
From page 61...
... 2003a. Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Using Recombinant DNA Plants.
From page 62...
... 2010. The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States.
From page 63...
... 2008. Horizontal gene transfer of the algal nuclear gene psbO to the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia chlorotica.


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