Foods produced using biotechnology: how does the law protect consumers?

This paper addresses the following subjects: biotechnology and consumers, concern about risks, consumer acceptance, labelling of foods produced using biotechnology, the legal approach to consumer protection, and consumer protection policies relating to biotechnology products in the European Union, the United States, Turkey and global institutions such as the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It is likely that biotechnology will gain ground much more rapidly in the twenty‐first century than in the past. Despite rapid, detailed and precise advances in gene technology, its applications have not been the received with a great deal of consumer enthusiasm. Consumers have approached genetically modified foods with considerable apprehension and opposition. Consumer concerns about bioengineered food products focus on the questions of human health, environmental and social risks and benefits. The most important stages in the process of marketing new foods produced using biotechnology are to demonstrate user need and consumer acceptance. Generally, the technical complexity of biotechnology makes it difficult for consumers to understand details of the product and the specific attributes of biotechnology applications. Scientific uncertainty, the nature of consumer concerns and general reluctance to accept biotechnology products, increase the importance of consumer protection. Legal protection is a very important factor in the solution of new social problems related to technological advances. More specifically, consumer and environmental law support consumer protection related to foods produced with biotechnology. The basic principles of consumer law can be re‐formulated as consumer rights. Environmental law is a new phenomenon, but precautionary principles and public participation in decision‐making for environmental law are relevant to consumer protection relating to bioengineered food products.     

Trade and Biotechnology in Latin America: Democratization, Contestation and the Politics of Mobilization

This research explores the role of agrarian and environmental movements in contesting the development and promotion of agricultural biotechnology through trade liberalization in Latin America. Organized around themes of mobilization, participation and representation, it raises key questions about who mobilizes and how, and about the strategic dilemmas that arise when movements with different histories, membership bases and cultures of protest attempt to work together. Issues of accountability, representation and participation run through the analysis of strategies of organization and claim-making adopted by an eclectic range of groups seeking to contest the role of biotechnology in the structure of agricultural production, the institutions that manage that relationship and the discourses which sustain it. In particular, analysis centres on their responsiveness to the concerns and agendas of poorer groups in the front line of the 'gene revolution' as it plays out in the Latin American countryside, in particular in Argentina and Brazil, the key players in biotechnology in the region.     

Strategic Behavior and Consolidation in the Agricultural Biotechnology Industry

We develop a model explaining the consolidation patterns in the agricultural biotechnology industry. Among different consolidation and cooperation mechanisms, we consider collaborative and licensing agreements, joint ventures, acquisitions, and exchanges of ownership and spin-offs. The key results derive from the benefits of coordinated actions, distinction between transferable and nontransferable payoffs, the substitutability, complementarity, and the importance of the managers' noncontractible investments, and access and expansion of markets. Results from the model are used to examine the cooperation and consolidation activities for four major players in the agricultural biotechnology industry, DuPont , Dow Chemical , Monsanto , and Novartis .     

Estimating the Impact of Transgenic Bt Cotton on West and Central Africa: A General Equilibrium Approach

West and Central Africa (WCA)’s cotton sector is experiencing rising production costs and lower yields, reversing decades of growth. Declining input use, soil fertility and inefficient chemical pest controls are contributing factors. We evaluate the potential impact of Bt cotton on WCA using a multiregion general equilibrium model and multicountry estimates of Bt-induced productivity. We find that Bt cotton raises growers’ returns, land value and welfare. Released labor from cotton is shifted to food crops hence reducing labor shortage constraints. Overall, results indicate that potential gross benefits from Bt cotton are substantial for WCA cotton sector, and that the economic costs of nonadoption are equally significant.     

Trade-offs in sulfur emission trading in Europe

How to implement emission trading is one question in the current negotiations on a new sulfur protocol in Europe. Whereas the current protocol stipulates a 30 percent uniform reduction, national emission ceilings included in the proposed new protocol imply differentiated reductions. In addition, emission and fuel standards are proposed. This paper examines the costs and environmental impacts of emission trading. Emission trading combined with regulations is a new element in the paper. Calculations using the RAINS (Regional Acidification INformation and Simulation) model suggest that overlaying emission trading on regulations not only reduces the cost savings but has beneficial impacts as well: ecosystem protection is not changed and significant decreases in environmental benefits for countries are largely avoided. Emission trading can also be used to decrease emissions and increase ecosystem protection. If combined with existing legislation, emission trading minimizes losses in expected environmental benefits for some countries, and most countries gain. However, the initial distribution of emission ceilings has to be used so that some countries are not confronted with higher costs. Trade-offs appear to exist between the use of emission trading to achieve cost savings on the one hand, and ecosystem protection and distributional equity on the other.     

生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的影响及我国的对策研究

本文分析了世界各主要国家在生物技术管理方面的政策差异及其原因。分析了生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的各种潜在和现实的影响。并对未来转基因农产品贸易的形势进行了初步的预测和判断。在此基础上，从短期和长期两个方面提出了今后我国生物技术发展和转基因农产品贸易的政策建议。     

美国生物技术企业市场定价及启示

生命科学和生物技术行业不断凸现出投资价值,其日益受到证券市场的青睐,生物技术公司成为了投资者追捧的对象.由于该产业在我国的发展刚刚起步,企业在获取投资者认可等方面还存在很多问题.通过对美国生物技术行业主要上市公司的数据分析,探索了该类企业在证券市场定价的一般规律.     

阿仑磷酸钠片联合唑来膦酸注射液治疗骨质疏松症患者的药物经济学评价

目的探讨阿仑磷酸钠片联合唑来膦酸注射液治疗骨质疏松症的成本-效果。方法选取2016年12月至2018年2月于阜新市中医医院骨伤科治疗的138例骨质疏松症患者作为研究对象,按照随机数字表法分为对照组和观察组,每组69例。对照组给予阿仑磷酸钠片治疗,观察组在对照组治疗基础上采用唑来膦酸注射液治疗,比较两组患者治疗效果,并进行成本-效果分析。结果观察组治疗有效率为97.10%,显著高于对照组的75.36%,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗后,与对照组比较,观察组患者腰椎骨、股骨颈和Ward’s三角区骨密度水平显著提高(P<0.05),血清Ca2+、骨特异性碱性磷酸酶(ALP)、降钙素(HCT)水平显著提高(P<0.05),成本-效果比提高(P<0.05),不良反应发生率降低(P<0.05)。结论阿仑磷酸钠片联合唑来膦酸注射液治疗可明显提高骨质疏松症患者疗效,调节骨密度,有助于骨代谢指标恢复,但其成本也较高。     

渐开线圆柱齿轮的形位误差探讨

从误差角度分析，综述ＧＢ１００９５－８８《渐开线圆柱齿轮精度》误差的表达方法。     

国内外醋酸生产应用及市场分析

对国内外醋酸生产技术发展动向和市场供需作了综述。认为醋酸作为重要有机原料品种之一，在我国发展前景看好。借鉴国外发展策略，应淘汰包括乙烯-乙醛法在内的落后工艺，发展先进的甲醇羰基合成工艺，同时还应重视规模效应，在有条件的地区建300-500kt／a规模的装置是可取的。