SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN TURKEY

Modern biotechnology has found its largest area of utilisation in the agricultural sector. The structures of conventional culture types and their wild relatives are modified to produce a high amount of quality crops. Cultivation area of Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), whose production has started in 1996, has multiplied more than 110 times; from 1.7 million ha to 185.1 million ha in 2016. Taking necessary steps by defining the disadvantages of modern biotechnology on biodiversity, human health, and social structure requires the 'Biosafety System'. Biosafety is defined as the guarantee for the safe use of biotechnology. Biosafety is a concept covering the risk assessment and risk management. Risk assessment consists of scientific risk assessment and socio-economic consideration. In some cases, scientific risk assessment may be insufficient in risk management and at this point, socio-economic consideration gains importance. The first binding legal document on a global scale regarding the international movement of the GMOs, Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) grants the countries the right to consider the socio-economic costs in the approval process of GMOs import. However, the number of countries performing the socio-economic evaluation in this process is limited. Up to now, 35 countries have included socio-economic evaluation in their national biosafety regulations. Even though it is not in the literature yet, with the Law on Biosafety legalised in 2010, Turkey has become one of the countries that make socio-economic evaluation obligatory in GMO market launch. This study has focused on why and how the socio-economic evaluation, which is mandatory before authorising the import of GM agricultural products, should be conducted.