Genetic Technology and Food Safety

The volume gives an overview on how legislators all over the world have come up with different legal solutions for governing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and food security and provides a compact summary of the existing regulations in this field. In a comparative legal approach, a general report analyses and compares these various national and supranational legal systems. It closely follows the newest developments at the interface between genetic engineering law and food law.

The emergence of a new technology usually leads to fundamental questions as to how the law should respond to it. The regulation of genetically modified organisms is a prime example, they have been discussed controversially ever since they were subject of legislation and regulation. In particular, this applies to the use of GMOs in food production. There is a variety of interesting legislations and a differentiated width of legal frameworks on international, supranational (EU) and national level to be found. The different regulations that thereby came to light are evidence of the various opinions and policies the societies and states have developed on this matter. It is this variety of regulations the volume examines, primarily on the basis of national reports that were handed in concerning the topic of genetic technology and food security at the occasion of the XIX International Congress of Comparative Law.