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The Administration's Responsibility to the Consumer¹

Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC 20500

Biotechnology offers the promise of good jobs that produce products fulfilling the public's need for food, fiber and pharmaceuticals. It could provide a growing market for American products abroad, and it also offers the potential of environmentally sound solutions to some current problems. Government is therefore accountable for implementing policies to protect the public health, while at the same time promoting the growth and development of the industry. Such policies should stimulate research, ensure the safety of new products, protect the environment, encourage business to innovate and invest and lead to a literate public capable of holding those high technology jobs. Stewardship of the federal government's $70 billion annual investment in science and technology entails the following: 1) setting an overall policy framework and managing the effort efficiently within that framework; 2) supporting the conduct of fundamental science critical to achieving the stated goals; and 3) providing an environment that encourages private investment in innovation and technology development.

KEY WORDS: • biotechnology • government • science and technology policy

¹ Presented as part of the Symposium: "Consumer Issues in Biotechnology: Genetically Engineered Foods" given at the Experimental Biology '95 meeting, Atlanta, GA, on April 10, 1995. This symposium was sponsored by the American Institute of Nutrition, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, Georgetown University and the Office of Agricultural Biotechnology, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Guest editor for the symposium publication was John D. Fernstrom, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed.