Search

The article presents information on the reaction of the human beings when they face any kind of risk, need for diligence, undertaking of necessary precautions and the building of the proper foresight in the formulation of a strategy. It informs that the due diligence is a precept rather characteristic of Anglo-American common law and finds particular application in regard to prosthetic devices, pharmaceutical and other biotechnological products. It further informs that the few guarantees against short-lived precautions were present and Protestants fared badly in France.

This paper examines the role of the precautionary principle (PP) in transforming the French regulatory landscape for genetically modified organisms used in food and agriculture over the last decade. Despite few explicit references to the PP, we argue that it has been instrumental. The changes do not result from a linear top-down process, as in the application of a new law. Instead, the PP has acted as a point of articulation for debates in different public arenas; through these debates, the PP has been progressively translated into pragmatic practices. New boundaries have been drawn between risk assessment and risk management practices. This has facilitated the progressive emergence of a distinct arena of scientific expertise and opens the possibility for the reciprocal emancipation of public decision and scientific expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]