OTTAWA – Senior government officials wrestling with the issue of how biotechnology and its products should be governed came down last week on the side of flexible guidelines rather than specific, enforceable regulations as the best means.
It is the position biotech boosters, including agricultural interests, have taken when they appeared this spring before a House of Commons committee studying the issue.
Last week, senior Health Canada official Keith Bailey, head of the departmental division responsible for assessing the health and safety of biotech products, agreed.
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Guidelines are more flexible and can be changed more readily to take account of changing science and circumstances, he said. It takes too long to change regulations to keep up with fast-moving science.
And requirements or pressure for compliance with government-established guidelines can be as strict as for regulations, he said.
“I would go with guidelines because we are able to … be at the forefront of science,” he told MPs June 12 during an appearance before the Commons environment and sustainable development committee.
The committee will be preparing a report for government recommending how the products of biotechnology, such as genetic engineering, can best be regulated to ensure public safety.
