THE LEGAL REGULATION OF BIOSAFETY RISK: A REVIEW OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES

Abstract

This paper examines the socio-economic consideration as part of the Key biosafety issues from the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity that governs the transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMO) for the protection of human health and the environment. This doctrinal research reiterates the benefits and risks from the modern biotechnology products together with the precautionary principle for the uncertain areas of science. This paper finds that bioethics and the formal inclusion of socio-economic consideration into the biosafety decision-making process that lays down the foundation of good biosafety governance apart from the risk assessment. In conclusion, the institutionalisation of bioethics will contribute to a more effective implementation of the Key Protocol issues from the socio-economic perspective that need to be translated into the national biosafety laws as biosafety does not just pose scientific risk but socio-economic issues as well.