The global governance of biotechnology

Canada and China share a common interest in the science and development of agricultural biotechnology. Canada has seen genetic engineering (GE) as a key driver for future agricultural productivity and has become a major producer and exporter; China has invested heavily in GE research, becoming the second largest research base in the technology after the US. However, the regulatory side of technology has put Canada and China in different international camps. While Canada has adopted permissive regulations that see GE crops as equivalent to conventional ones and do not require mandatory labelling, China has followed a more precautionary approach with much slower approval for the production of GE crops and mandatory labelling. Canada has followed a close integration with the US on these issues and has been very responsive to the preferences of the biotechnology industry and farmers. China, on the other hand, has followed a path that is closer to those of the European Union and Japan on the regulatory side. The introduction of labelling requirements by China and the change in its approval system led to a collapse in canola exports from Canada to China. Interestingly, the Chinese position has shifted to more precaution mainly as a result of a concern for the preferences of the urban middle class (which is increasingly similar to the Japanese or South Korean urban middle class and wary of GE food), as well as bottom-up pressures from civil society. Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been resisting non-governmental organizations pressures as well as clear public preferences for mandatory labelling and for the ratification of the Cartagena Protocol. Agricultural biotechnology is one issue area where the Chinese position is closer to the international majority position and to the preferences of global civil society. On the other hand, Canada's hands have been tied in this matter by NAFTA and the need to integrate regulations with the US. There is a need for dialogue and regulatory convergence over time, but the proces