United Kingdom: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual
Politically, agricultural biotechnology is currently a conundrum for the recently elected United Kingdom (UK) government. With a referendum looming on whether to stay in the European Union (EU), biotechnology is a policy area that the UK could potentially reap economic benefit from autonomous regulation. Consumer acceptance has received a positive bounce with a recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary aired at prime time that questioned the morality of the anti-biotechnology position. The television program asked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to account for the potentially negative outcomes of their anti-biotechnology position and for evidence of detrimental effects to human health. Most of the major grocery stores now permit their private label animal products to be fed genetically engineered (GE) products, and, in time, the food industry may have greater confidence to incorporate more products of genetic engineering in the supply chain.
