ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how socioeconomic considerations (SECs) have been, or are proposed to be, included in international agricultural biotechnology regulation and the Intellectual Property (IP) regimes that protect it. It then considers parallel moves in relation to Australian biotechnology regulation. The meaning of 'biosafety' is controversial, but for the purposes of this chapter is the safe use of biotechnology and its products, in particular those precautionary practices intended to ensure the safe transfer, handling, use and disposal of living modified organisms (LMOs) and their products. The Cartagena Protocol on Biodiversity (CPB) uses the term 'LMO' to restrict its application to living organisms and thus excludes processed genetically modified (GM) commodities from its scope. Conversely, for many countries, domestic regulation, such as Australian regulation of food and gene technology, applies to GM food or GMOs rather than only to LMOs.
