Biotech Updates

Government Regulation and Public Opposition Create Increase Costs for GM Crops in Switzerland

February 11, 2011

Recognizing that field trials of GM crops is not just a scientific experiment but also a social experiment, Thomas Bernauer of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and colleagues conducted a study to assess the additional costs brought about by government regulations and public opposition to the field trials of GM crops in Switzerland. Results showed that "for every Euro spent on research, an additional 78 cents were spent on security, an additional 31 cents on biosafety, and an additional 17 cents on government regulatory supervision. Hence the total additional spending due to government regulation and public opposition was around 1.26 Euros for every Euro spent on the research per se." These estimates are conservative and do not include expenses of informing organizations and government institutions involved.

Read the abstract of the study published in Transgenic Research journal at http://www.springerlink.com/content/x1634l16h0175478/.