Innovation and Liability in Biotechnology: Transnational and Comparative Perspectives

`If only one thing could be said about this book is that it comes at the perfect time and fills a great void on the subject it addresses. Genetically Modified Organisms are innovative - so have to be the answers to the legal questions raised by their development: What should be the definition of damage? Who should be held liable? Where should claims be brought? The Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety have been discussing these issues for many years and are now ready to give some answers by means of a new multilateral environmental treaty. The comprehensive analysis and comparative data put forth by the authors contribute enormously to the current debate and provide detailed insights into the nuances of international liability in a manner previously unaddressed.'
- Jimena Nieto Carrasco, University of the Andes, El Rosario University, Externado University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

Innovation and Liability in Biotechnology introduces and articulates an innovative framework, the Liability Analysis Framework (LAF), which offers a new perspective from which stakeholders and society can assess, manage and communicate about liability in relation to innovation. This path-breaking book provides a detailed description of the relationship between risk and liability. Risk and liability are not synonymous and the fact that, at times, the terms have been used in very close proximity has resulted in confusion and misunderstandings.

The book begins with an overview of risk and the development of the Risk Analysis Framework, describing how it has evolved from initial concepts to present day form. It highlights the need for a LAF and provides a diverse examination of the LAF as a means to stimulate further debate. The authors conclude that risk is concerned with hypothetical probabilities whereas liability relates to actual marketplace externalities.

Offering a new conceptualization for the analysis of liability, this book will appeal to academics involved in the fields of law, innovation and business, as well as federal regulators and industry representatives. Agricultural organizations and their lawyers who are attempting to understand the legal liability issues involved in growing and marking transgenic crops and their products, will also find this book of great interest.