COM 0883.041 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

JAN-23-2008 12:40 HARC AND, all the field testing is regulated and the product must be proven to be substsi tiel'y equivalent (quality testing) before deregulation is provided and commercialization can prcce.-d. This is not required of any other new plant product. Commercialization Now assume one has a plant that is tested and shown to have a trait someone values. Bi:Soro a genetically engineered plant becomes commercially available industry/farmers have to be 4 illi 19 to go through any intellectual property licensing process if applicable, and any applicable regulatory process before the new plant will progress further. This is what is commonly refers ed to as technology transfer: from the research community to the user community, and is apo iaal le to all new products developed, not just agriculture. It is not uncommon for products it. any economic sector to be dropped at this stage. The reason for this is there needs to be ;rout compelling economic outcome associated with a product to justify its adoption. The I43s;1.11 national agricultural grant system focuses on basic research of wide and/or regional applica)it.ty and not on the commercialization of individual products. Private sector involvement (or loco I public agency) and significant financial resources are required for commercialization. The point here is that just because there is research on a particular product does not mean tl tai it will end up as a commercial product. This is as true for an agriculture product as well as fn a v other product in our society. In the case of coffee there are already commitments by the :ocal research community to consult with the industry if and when there ever is a produc. wi cr potential to commercialize. There is no current threat; any potential threat is years au d hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) away. As for testing experimental plants, t r, existing federal requirements address the security of the tests; in addition, the federal agents sea; state concurrence in these tests. I urge you not to be distracted by these side issues, which farmers can and should work out among themselves, and to concentrate on the highest priority to all of Hawaii's agriculture . A hidi is to provide the incentives for all farming operations to produce a stable, reliable food supply t our citizens, and to preserve what good agricultural lands we have left. Please join witl v0.1 fellow council members and support local and state legislation that will support all 'ar it producers, not the narrow interests of a few. We strongly urge you to vote NO on this resolution as there is no rope issue here. Howe ve r, there is a real threat to the growing concerns of small tech entrepreneurial businesses the v Hawaii is too risky a place to do business in cutting edge science.. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment in this important area. Hawaii Agriculture Research Center January 24, 2008 Pa;;e :t To%a. P.007