GMO assessment in Norway: societal utility and sustainable development

Abstract

The controversy surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been a highly politicized issue in Europe. While opponents of GM crops maintain that scientific risk assessments are not sufficient to address potential long‐term hazards for health or the environment, proponents have criticized the current regulatory framework for being influenced by political and other non‐scientific interests. In this regard, it is interesting to compare the situation in Norway, which is linked to, but not bound by European Union (EU) law and which places a comparatively strict regulatory burden on GMOs. Here, we briefly present our assessment of applications to market GMOs in Norway, and how they fulfil the criteria of sustainable development and societal utility that are required by the Norwegian Gene Technology Act. The Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management in Trondheim requested the study (Myhr & Rosendal, 2009), but the results have implications beyond Norway as other countries are also exploring ways to integrate socio‐economic considerations into the national regulation of GMOs. After an initially liberal approach to GMO technology, Norwegian civil society, including farmers’ organizations, has become largely opposed to such organisms and the regulatory approach in Norway now places more emphasis on environmental, health and societal concerns. In fact, the legislation covering GMOs …