-gene Technology Law Analysis

In recent years the rate of technological advance in the modem biotechnology has become very rapid. The development of the modem biotechnology, especially transgenic technology, has raised many problems that are not negligible although it provides considerable benefits in many areas of the industry. Based on some cases, laws applied by some countries and international law, the purpose of the present paper is to make some analyses of the impact of development and application of the transgenic technology on the domestic and international legal system.For one thing, we should recognize that the controversy over the patent protection of transgenic technology between countries is not simply a problem of the patent law. In fact, the patent laws applied by many western countries have become the tools of policy to protect their domestic interests of trade and maintain their advantages of technology. The phenomenon that the level of patent protection is getting higher and higher is not an objective trend, but a choice of policy. Now China has become a member of WTO and we should make our wise choice, that is to say, facing the trend of western patent laws, we should not only ensure the conformity of Chinese patent law with our obligations provided in the TRIPS Agreement but also provide the proper level of the patent protection of transgenic technology according to the development of domestic industry.For another, the present paper makes some analyses of the safety management of the transgenic technology. In fact, since the transgenic technology came into this world, the controversy over the safety of transgenic technology is very heated. One key point of the controversy is the precautionary principle, this means, in cases where relevant scientific evidence is insufficient, a country has rights to take some safety measures. Both the Convention on Biodiversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafery have confer a member the right to apply the precautionary principle. In recent years, China has also developed a legal system to apply the safety management of the transgenic technology. This will help us improve the situation of Biosafety in China.In addition, there is a conflict between MEAs and WTO. In fact, the conflict reflects the conflict between the different value and interest of the environmental protection and the trade liberalization. Since the relationship between the rules of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and WTO has not been clarified, and other international laws don not help resolve the problem, the solution would be in dispute in the future. No matter what measures we would adopt to resolve the problem, we should bear in mind that to achieve the goal of sustainable development, we should make our efforts to balance the environmental objectives and trade objectives and ensure the trade and environment agreements mutually supportive.