| In addition to existing juridical analyses of the new German act for genetic engineering, this article deals with an environmental economic assessment. It is examined what kind of external costs will arise by using/applying genetic engineering and how they will be allocated. Our focus is on the costs that explicitly evolve from the societal postulated coexistence of conventional/ organic farms and users of biotechnology. If the protection of the existing production is accepted, as postulated by politics, the new act internalizes the so called market losses relatively well. In this context, the design of precautionary duties that have to be still established by law is of utmost importance. To avoid the dangers of an excessive liability by the farmer, it is... |
