Agriculture and Biotechnology in Pacific Countries

The Pacific countries are small in land mass and therefore represent one of the most fragile ecosystems. Due to the isolation of these island counties, these are home to unique species of plants and animals as well as crop varieties and landraces. Biosafety issues in the Pacific countries, therefore, require special attention to take these factors into account. The issues are shared with other small island nations such as the Caribbean countries. Although most Pacific countries do not have scientific capacity to develop genetically modified organisms (GMOs), they are inadvertently introduced from the developed world. As the countries do not have appropriate capacity to monitor the introduction and commerce of GMO’s, it is imperative to establish biosafety legislation and capacity by pooling the resources within the Pacific countries.