Office for Environmental Programs - Theses

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Implications of the international legal regime on the domestic biotechnology policy in China

Mita, Megumi ( 2007)

This note provides an overview of the shift in China's biotechnology policy - from progressive to precautionary - that has happened in the last decade. China has been investing considerably since it started the biotechnology development in the 1980s as a part of the economic reform plan and continues to do so even today. In contrast to the advancement in biotechnology, the policy itself has taken a dramatic shift in 1999, suspending all new authorization of GM crops for commercialization and imposing a tough regulation on biotechnology in general, but in particular with trade. The timing of the strengthening of the regulation coincides with WTO accession and the establishment of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in turn implies the strong influence of these two international legal regimes have had on the domestic biotechnology policy. This note analyzes the implications of the international legal regimes on the biotechnology policy. International biotechnology debate may have successfully geared the biotechnology policy towards environmental protection; however, further challenge still lies at the implementation stage. Due to the inadequate capacity of the government, the environmental requirements set by the regulation are yet to be realized. Therefore, the next step to be taken by the Chinese government is to focus on capacity building.