ABSTRACT
The evolving regulations for agricultural biotechnologies can have important implications for the types of products that will be developed and the speed with which they reach commercialization. Regulation may be overwhelmed by the sheer momentum of public and private research and development efforts. Insights can be gained by examining the history of safety regulation in agriculture to anticipate the evolving regulatory regime for agricultural biotechnologies. The chapter provides historical background on the regulation of pesticides and exotic pests and by using the historical perspective to draw precedents for future regulation of agricultural biotechnology. Public sector institutions, agricultural producers, technical change, and the scientific community were all important elements in the historical evolution of pesticide regulation. In 1935 the "lead arsenate crisis" prompted the American Medical Association to assert the gravity of the risk to public health from insecticide residues and to recommend stricter regulation of their use.
