This section provides a general overview of the EU system for health and consumer protection, and examines some of the initiatives that the European Commission is currently undertaking to encourage innovation in this area. The first part of the chapter presents a background on some of the challenges we are currently facing including — increasing global food demand, and aging population, hunger, food waste, increasing prices and competitiveness in the food supply chain. The second part identifies some of the initiatives designed to spur innovation through smarter legislative processes and other strategies, launched under the Europe 2020 programme. Finally, there is brief examination of challenges in three areas: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), pesticides, and nanotechnology.

This section addresses the regulation of genetically engineered (GE) products and biotechnology as exemplary of a system for delivering innovative new products and assuring safety with public involvement. Biotechnology has been integral to the record productivity the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has seen in major crops. In the United States, the regulation of GE and biotechnology products involves three agencies: APHIS, the FDA and the EPA. Each agency has different responsibilities, though their regulatory domains often overlap. As a result, there is a high level of collaboration and cooperation across agencies, with each decision based on scientific fact and experimental data. GE crops, in particular, have had significant impact upon sustainability within the United States. These crops have had measurable beneficial economic and environmental effects on GE and non-GE producers alike. Going forward, we need to facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge and innovation between the public and private sectors, through Intellectual Property (IP) protection and public-private partnerships.

This section discusses differences in the strength of Intellectual Property protection between plant breeders' rights (a form of intellectual property right developed specifically for new plant varieties) and patent rights. It presents the main findings of a report, “Breeding Business”, issued in the Netherlands and which examined trends in technological developments, socio/economic developments, intellectual property protection, and policy and use of genetic resources. The analysis contained in this report suggests that access to genetic variation is so crucial for further innovation in breeding that a form of breeder’s exemption within patents rights seems both justified and necessary. Options to achieve this objective can be found at three levels: via amendments to current legislation and regulations; via the improvement of the quality of patent; and via improvement of the handling of intellectual property in the industrial sector.

This section addresses the role of the private sector in agricultural Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and its capacity to drive innovation and Research and Development (R&D) — elements that are crucial to fuelling growth in the agricultural sector. The private sector plays a particularly critical role in spurring agricultural R&D, especially when combined with public sector initiatives within mature markets with strong Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to protect returns on investment. The key to a successful PPP lies in combining the different objectives and aims of the public and private sectors in order to bring about a synergy effect – a co-operative mechanism whereby both public and private sectors share the financial burdens of R&D. This synergy effect enables returns on investment by taking advantage of the private sector's technical expertise, and the public sector's knowledge of local needs and networks. This section also discusses the issues that may arise when implementing PPPs, including increased liability exposure and the potential erosion of IPR. As we demonstrate, effective PPP strategies must recognise the differences in objectives and capabilities across the public and private sectors, while acknowledging that returns on investment are essential to creating and fostering innovation. PPPs must also promote enabling, science-based frameworks in favour of prohibitive regulatory frameworks. Finally, we recommend an increase in public spending in order to foster innovation and make new technologies more widely available.