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Abstract
Many developing countries are currently in the process of designing regulatory systems that should allow
them to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for agricultural development, while also managing
the food safety and environmental risks potentially associated with these technologies. Various regions of
the developing world are seeking to establish regional systems of biotechnology regulation. However,
considerable costs are associated with biotechnology regulation, and biosafety specialists are scarce. In
addition, there is no consistent understanding of how regional systems of biotechnology regulation can be
designed to be effective and efficient, while also fulfilling the principles of good governance, such as
transparency, voice and accountability, control of corruption, and avoidance of special interest capture.
There are a wide variety of possible regional approaches, differing with regard to the level of
centralization, the scope of the regional system, the types of regional institutions and processes, and the
types of financing mechanisms. Here, based on findings in the fields of environmental and fiscal
federalism and transaction costs economics, we develop a conceptual framework for the assessment of
regional systems of biotechnology regulation. The framework specifies design options and assessment
criteria, and identifies major trade-offs and their mediating factors. We use the case of West Africa to
illustrate this framework, and refer to the European Union for comparison. Our analysis indicates that
involving regional experts, stakeholders and policy-makers in the design of a regional regulatory system
will help fill knowledge gaps and generate conclusions regarding the trade-offs involved in regional
biotechnology regulation.