The regulatory regime and its impact on innovation activities in agro-food biotechnology in the EU and USA

In recent years the development of agro-food biotechnology significantly differed between the European Union (EU) and the USA. While in the EU a quasimoratorium was agreed upon in 1999 preventing the commercial cultivation of transgenic crops in the EU, such plants are produced on millions of hectares in the USA and other parts of the world. This chapter aims at giving some insight into the effects of this differing regulatory situation on innovation activities in the field of agro-food biotechnology in the two regions. First, the chapter gives a brief overview on regulatory principles and implementation activities in the field of agro-food biotechnology in the EU in comparison to the US system. On the basis of this background the development of specific indicators for innovation activities in this field is compared for the EU and the USA. This relates, for example, to the character of research projects in the laboratory phase, scientific publications in this field, deliberate release of genetically modified (GM) plants, approval of such plants and the cultivation of transgenic crop in commercial agriculture. In addition, the relevance of additional factors for innovation activities in agro-food biotechnology in the EU is also analysed in this chapter. Finally, some conclusions are drawn concerning the impacts of differing regulatory systems on innovation activities, taking into account the experiences in other fields related to food production and food processing (e.g. functional food, organic farming and food processing).