Europe has constructed an international framework for biotechnology products
which requires approval at a joint level and subsequent approval and implementation at the country level.
UNEP has been conducting training for underdeveloped countries.
The UN has promulgated a voluntary code for risk assessment on a regional basis. The
Voluntary International Code of Conduct (VICOC) for the Release of Organisms into the
Environment in 1991 which stipulated that member countries need:
- Appropriate scientific and technical expertise;
- National assessment and decision making structure(s);
- Specific scientific advisory bodies;
- Mechanisms to gather information on local agronomic and environmental conditions;
- Systems for the provision of information to, and education of, the public.
