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Transgenic Herbicide-Resistant Crops. a Participatory Technology

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Transgenic Herbicide-Resistant Crops. a Participatory Technology A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics van den Daele, Wolfgang; Pühler, Alfred; Sukopp, Herbert Working Paper Transgenic herbicide-resistant crops: A participatory technology assessment. Summary report WZB Discussion Paper, No. FS II 97-302 Provided in Cooperation with: WZB Berlin Social Science Center Suggested Citation: van den Daele, Wolfgang; Pühler, Alfred; Sukopp, Herbert (1997) : Transgenic herbicide-resistant crops: A participatory technology assessment. Summary report, WZB Discussion Paper, No. FS II 97-302, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Berlin This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/48966 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu DISCUSSION PAPER WISSENSCHAFTSZENTRUM BERLIN FÜR SOZIALFORSCHUNG SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER BERLIN FS II 97-302 Transgenic Herbidcide-Resistant Crops: A Participatory Technology Assessment. Summary Report.* Wolfgang van den Daele, Alfred Pühler, and Herbert Sukopp ISSN 1011-9523 Forschungsschwerpunkt: Research Area: Technik — Arbeit — Umwelt Technology — Work — Environment Abteilung: Research Unit: Normbildung und Umwelt Standard-setting and Environment *Originally published in the German language by VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Pappelallee 3, D-69469 Weinheim, Federal Republic of Germany, under the title van den Daele et al.: Grüne Gentechnik im Widerstreit. Copyright 1996 by VCH Verlagsgesellschaft. ZITIERWEISE z CITATION Wolfgang van den Daele, Alfred Pühler, and Herbert Sukopp Transgenic Herbidcide-Resistant Crops: A Participatory Technology Assessment. Summary Report. Discussion Paper FS II 97 - 302 Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung 1997 Forschungsschwerpunkt: Research Area: Technik — Arbeit — Umwelt Technology — Work — Environment Abteilung: Research Unit: Normbildung und Umwelt Standard-setting and Environment Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung Reichpietschufer 50, D-10785 Berlin Tel.: +49/30/25491-0 z Fax: +49/30/25491-684 E-mail: [email protected] z Internet: http://www.wz-berlin.de Verfahren zur Technikfolgenabschätzung des Anbaus von Kulturpflanzen mit gentechnisch erzeugter Herbizidresistenz Herausgeber: Wolfgang van den Daele 1, Alfred Pühler 2, Herbert Sukopp 3 1 Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung Berlin gGmbH (WZB) Social Science Research Center Berlin Reichpietschufer 50, D-10785 Berlin Telefon: 0049-30-25491-260 Telefax: 0049-30-25491-219 e-mail: [email protected] 2 University of Bielefeld, Institute of Genetics Postfach 100 131, D-33501 Bielefeld 3 Technical University of Berlin, Institute of Ecology, Schmidt-Ott-Str. 1, D-12165 Berlin SUMMARY This report summarises a participatory technology assessment on transgenic herbicide-resistant crops organised by the Research Unit, Standard Setting and the Environment, at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, between 1991 and 1993. The technology assessment was a ”round table” involving some fifty representatives from industry, environmental groups, regulatory agencies and science in more than ten days of controversial debate and analysis. The first part of this summary report describes the methodology used applied in analysing the deliberations of the technology assessment; the second part presents the empirical findings with respect to the performance, the risks and the benefits of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops; the third part gives an account of the ethical, legal and political discussions held in the technology assessment, as well as the recommendations for regulation advanced by the participants. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Dieser Bericht ist die Zusammenfassung eines partizipativen Verfahrens zur Technikfolgen- abschätzung von Kulturpflanzen mit gentechnisch erzeugter Herbizidresistenz, das von der Abteilung ”Normbildung und Umwelt” am Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin organisiert worden war. Das Ver- fahren hat von 1991 bis 1993 etwa fünfzig Vertreter der Industrie, der Umweltgruppen, der zuständigen Behörden und der Wissenschaft an einem ”Runden Tisch” versammelt, an dem die Beteiligten insgesamt fast zehn Tage kontrovers miteinander diskutiert haben. Im ersten Teil dieser Zusammenfassung wird das partizipative Verfahren beschrieben und erläutert, wie aus den Diskus- sionen zwischen den Beteiligten Ergebnisse für die Technikfolgenabschätzung abgeleitet wurden. Der zweite Teil enthält die empirischen Befunde zu den möglichen Risiken und zum erwartbaren Nutzen transgener herbizid-resistenter Kulturpflanzen. Der dritte Teil stellt die ethischen, rechtlichen und politischen Diskussionen dar, die zwischen den Beteiligten geführt wurden; er enthält außerdem die Empfehlungen des Verfahrens zur Regulierung herbizid-resistenter Pflanzen. Contents FOREWORD....................................................................................................................XI PART I: PARTICIPATORY TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT AS A POLITICAL EXPERIMENT ........................................................................................................ 1 1 Representative participation and fair allocation of resources ..................................................1 2 Steering of the procedure: participants, coordinating committee, WZB working group............3 3 Selection of the subjects for the expert reports.......................................................................4 4 The approach: technology-induced versus problem-induced assessment..................................5 5 Issues considered: risks, benefits, and alternatives to transgenic herbicide-resistant crops .......5 6 Reference to scientific knowledge and the role of experts .......................................................7 7 Assessment conferences: science-based discussions ...............................................................8 8 The use of argumentation: How conclusions were derived through discourse..........................9 9 Example: Conclusions concerning specific risks of genetically engineered plants..................11 10 The closure of the participatory procedure...........................................................................16 11 Some structural problems of participatory technology assessment........................................17 PART II: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS — IMPACTS AND CONSEQUENCES ............ 20 A BIOSAFETY ASPECTS OF TRANSGENIC PLANTS .................................................20 1 Physiological side-effects and food safety: Are toxic or allergenic substances to be expected in transgenic plants? .............................................................................................21 2 Horizontal gene transfer: probability and possible consequences ..........................................25 3 Can feral populations of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops become obnoxious weeds or invade natural ecosystems?...................................................................................28 4 Evolutionary aspects: Can transgenic plants change the course of natural evolution? Will they obstruct existing differentiation of species?...........................................................31 5 The ”special quality” of genetic engineering........................................................................33 B BIOSAFETY ASPECTS OF NONSELECTIVE HERBICIDES .....................................36 1 Will greater or lesser amounts of herbicides be applied when transgenic herbicide-resistant plants are grown?...................................................................................36 2 Impacts on health: residues from nonselective herbicides in food crops.................................39 3 Impacts on the environment: Are nonselective herbicides more environmentally friendly?.............................................................................................................................41 C IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE ...................................................................................45 1 Issues of biodiversity: Will transgenic herbicide-resistant crops accelerate genetic viii erosion in plant breeding and agricultural habitats?..............................................................45 2 Agronomic effects of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops: technical gains, resistant weeds, and integrated crop protection..................................................................................47 3 Economic effects of transgenic herbicide-resistant crop plants: profits, costs, and concentrations.....................................................................................................................51
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