Update of the APEC Baseline Study: Regulations of Products Derived from Innovative Agricultural Technologies and Identification of Ways to Promote Greater Efficiencies and Alignment

The regulation of products from biotechnology varies widely across the Asia-Pacific region, largely based on local economic, political, and societal motives. However, all regulatory agencies, regardless of geography, share the same mandate–to ensure the health and safety of consumers and protect the environment. The report provides an outline of APEC economies’ decision frameworks in order to inform which economies could be further assessed for compatibility to identify ways to promote greater efficiencies and alignment. This study, in two parts, investigated the compatibility of regulatory regimes in the sharing of food safety assessments and/or the mutual recognition of safety assessments from economies with trusted regulatory frameworks aligned to international standards. Additionally, the study aimed to explore areas in which APEC economies have scope to improve, and in which other, comparable economies are leading in terms of a range of relevant outcome indicators.