tion of nutraceuticals and biopharmaceuticals or non-edible industrial products that impede use of the crop for food (see Box 1-9).

          On balance, despite the economic success of some transgenic crops and their swift adoption by large and medium-scale agricultural producers in some regions, thus far transgenic crops in LAC have not contributed adequately to satisfying the goals of sustainability, poverty reduction and equity. Leading social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean have openly stated their opposition to transgenic crops and in particular to intellectual property rights and genetic use restriction technology (sterile seed technology) which, they argue, threaten the rights of local producers to keep and use genetic resources (Vía Campesina, 1996; Desmarais, 2002). Despite the opposing positions on transgenics, there does appear to be consensus in the region as to the pressing need to apply and adhere to precautionary regulations in the process of generating and adopting this technology. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity, is the first international agreement for the control of modern biotechnology and applies the precautionary principle to the use and transnational movement of transgenic crops (Eggers and Mackenzie, 2000). Of the countries in LAC that are growing transgenic crops, Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras have not ratified the agreement.6

Nanotechnology. Another component of the new technology is nanotechnology. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter on a nanometric scale (one nanometer equals one one-millionth of a meter). In LAC, the use of nanotechnologies has not yet become widespread, nor are there government initiatives in the area of research and development to produce particular applications for the region.

          Nanotechnology is thought to offer society opportunities. The possible applications in agriculture include integrated pest and disease management at the molecular level, as well as technologies that improve the capacity of plants

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⁶ http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety/signinglist.aspx?sts=rtf&ord=dt.

to absorb nutrients. One can already find intelligent sensors and systems on the market for applying slow-releasing inputs at the molecular level used in agriculture to fight viruses and other pathogens. There are also the so-called nanostructured catalytic materials, which bolster the efficiency of pesticides, including herbicides, possibly contributing to reduced chemical use in agriculture. Nonetheless, nanotechnology also poses major environmental and possibly health risks, as well as social, economic and ethical challenges (ETC, 2007). Nanoproducts could enter the human body or the environment and have unpredictable effects. Research studies on the impacts of nanoproducts are almost non-existent, so very little is known of the possible consequences of releasing these products in the environment. As nanoproducts are still not widely dispersed in the environment, they present an excellent opportunity to implement the precautionary principle, in order to assess potential impacts before the products are released.

Biofuels/Agrofuels. The global trend towards diminished world oil reserves plus the steadily increasing demand for fuels from non-renewable resources had induced a marked interest in the last decade (1996-2006) in identifying alternative fuel sources. In this context, major efforts have been made to optimize the use of plant biomass as an alternative renewable source for the production of bioenergy.

          Traditional sources of biofuels have been used on a small scale with little technology, such as the direct fuel of firewood and manure for generating bioheat. The most widely used modern bioenergy has been microbial fermentation of manure to obtain biogas, which provides heat and electricity on rural properties. And more recently, on a larger scale are liquid biofuels, alcohol and biodiesel, obtained from crops such as sugarcane, soybean, castor-oil plant, oil palm, cassava, maize and beets, among others, more specifically called agrofuels. The possibility of producing biofuels holds out one of the great hopes in the world for reducing dependency on fossil fuels such as gasoline, gas oil and kerosene.

          The Americas have traditionally held a leading place in the production of sugarcane, which has been a leading crop in the bioconversion of biomass to fuel (IEA, 2004). In LAC,