El principio precautorio y el caso de los organismos genéticamente modificados en Argentina

Abstract

Since it inception, at the Rio de Janeiro summit in 1992, the precautionary principle has evolved in terms of its interpretation and application. Both have made some progress in relation to genetically-modified organisms (GMO) and its consequences for the domestic and international markets in Argentina. As regards the normative framework, Argentina does not dispose yet of well-established rules as to how the principle should be applied. This opens up the debate about the political standing of the principle. As for as international trade is concerned, Argentina is an important GMO producer but, when incertitude is the key element regarding the application of precaution, crucial discrepancies about the possibility of transforming the principle in to a political tool, rather than in to a legal tool emerge. In the case of the municipal ordinance on compulsory identification of genetically-modified food, the lack of experience about conditions of application of the precautionary principle might have led to justify it on the grounds of European directives.