LMO 제품의 위해성 관리에 관한 논의의 주요 쟁점과 과제

Issues and Prospect of Risk Management of LMO Products

On the basis of living-modified organisms (LMO) as life forms, many concerns have arisen surrounding the issue of safety for the human health and the environment. One result of such concerns is the “Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.” The Protocol outlines a variety of structural mechanisms aimed at ensuring safety, such as risk assessment, risk management, public information, public participation, etc. The Protocol sets forth basic principles that must be established in each country regarding risk assessment and management. Modern science and technology have achieved outstanding developments but these developments per se are not perfect. As such, the Protocol prevents incomplete risk assessment and management by scientists and technicians through structural guarantees related to public information and participation aimed at ensuring to citizen consensus and choice. However, despite the principles guaranteed in the Protocol, a problem arises as to whether these principles can be taken as the preconditions for granting intellectual property rights. The development of LMO, due to their uniqueness, does not end with the mere possession of the technology involved, such development also take into consideration the post-development fact that the resolutions LMO can be cultured again. Even with the strictest standards of maintenance, unintentional proliferation cannot be entirely prevented. There is always room for problems even if the developer has no intention of such occurrences. For this reason, requirements must be included for monitoring influences on the human health and ecology. Furthermore, even if these requirements were included, how can we resolve other safety problems presently unforeseen by modern science and technology? Safety can only be guaranteed by means of a consensus based on a release of information and public participation. The range of the standards of risk assessment and management can be established through such consensus and these standards must be legally controlled. Standards established through public information and participation can limit those LMO products which do not meet these standards by excluding them from protection as intellectual property rights. However, it would also be difficult to apply these standards as the norm. More diverse measures must be taken into consideration to control certain rights.