ISSUES REGARDING THE REGULATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRODUCTS. BRINGING THE BY-LAWS ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA IN LINE WITH THOSE OF THE EU

Abstract

Polazeći od White Papera kojim EU nastoji pomoći zemljama CEEC da svoje zakonodavne aktivnosti približe propisima EU, autorica se bavi problematikom regulacije genetički modificiranih proizvoda kao jednim od područja visokog rizika, koji treba svesti na najmanju moguću mjeru. Uz prikaz sadašnje regulacije EZ, posebno se analiziraju promijenjene političke i gospodarske okolnosti koje traže izmjene postojeće regulacije. Akteri arene u kojoj se određuje politika GM proizvoda raspoređeni su interkontinentalno: multinacionalne kompanije agroindustrijskog kompleksa SAD, individualni poljoprivredni proizvođači i njihove asocijacije s obje strane Atlantika, europski agroindustrijski biznis i vlade. Sukob ovih aktera pokazuje se kroz proces donošenja Protokola o biosigurnosti, koji treba predstavljati okvir za novu regulaciju. Saopćenje Komisije EU kao nastavka Cartagena protokola o biosigurnosti prikazuje pristup EU upotrebi načela opreza koji se posebno odnosi na situacije kad znanost nije u stanju u potpunosti utvrditi rizik vezan uz GM proizvode. Prikaz procesa izmjene propisa EU o GMO upućuje na složenost interesne situacije zbog čega proces još nije dovršen što. To, međutim, ne opravdava odgađanje pokretanja toga postupka u Hrvatskoj, pri čemu može biti korisna nacionalna regulativa drugih zemalja, koja je sažeto prikazana na kraju rada.Using The White Paper (by which the EU has been trying to help the CEEC countries to bring their legislative activities in line with the EU regulation), the author looks into the issues of the regulation of genetically modified products as one of the high-risk areas and into the ways how to minimise these risks. The essay includes a review of the existing regulations and an analysis of the changes in the political and economic circumstances that require the corresponding changes in the existing by-laws. The prime movers in the arena in which the GM products policy is designed are scattered intercontinentally: the multinational corporations of the US agro-industrial complex, the individual farmers and their associations on both sides of the Atlantic, the European agro-industrial businesses and governments. The disagreement among these protagonists was made apparent during the process preceding the adoption of the Protocol on Bio-security, envisaged as the framework for the new regulation. The communique of the EU Commission as a sequel to the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-security illustrates EU’s approach to the application of the caution principle which is particularly appropriate in the situations in which science is not able to take in all the risks connected with the GM products. The process of the modification of the EU regulation on GMP is an indication of the complexity of the interests involved. This is the reason the process has not been completed. However, this does not justify the delay in the launching of this process in Croatia which could use the regulation of other countries, briefly summarized at the end of the essay