A distorted regulatory landscape: Genetically modified wheat and the influence of non-safety issues in Canada

摘要

Drawing on the institutional analysis and development framework, this paper explores the likely influence of socio-economic issues on the processing of the application for the authorization for genetically modified wheat by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in the period 2002-4. As an attempt to explain why the CFIA regulators asked for additional environmental data relating to the unconfined release of this crop, and refrained from making a regulatory decision, this analysis focuses on the interaction between the rules that frame the formal approval process and the involvement of various actors in a lively social debate. It argues that the flexibility provided by the regulatory decision-making process, combined with the socio-economic issues that were forcefully raised by interest groups, academics and parliamentary committees, created a distorted regulatory landscape that led regulators to further scrutinize the environmental impacts of this seed.