Trade disruptions, loss of confidence in the agricultural sector and institutional credibility are just a few of the issues of concern to governments when developing and implementing a biotechnology regulatory strategy. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA - publisher of the most relied upon data relating to the international adoption of agricultural genetic engineering technologies — noted in its latest report that the global area of biotech crops in 2006 totaled 102 million hectares, planted by 10.3 million farmers in twenty-two countries. This amounted to a twelve million hectare increase over the previous year, equivalent to an annual growth rate of thirteen percent. The five most aggressive countries in adopting this technology remained, in order of area, the United States (54.6 million hectares, 53 percent of the global biotech area), Argentina (18.0 million hectares), Brazil (11.5 million hectares), Canada (6.1 million hectares), India (3.8 million hectares) and China (3.5 million hectares).
展开▼
