Pakistan achieved high levels of Green Revolution Modern
Variety (GRMV) adoption in the Green Revolution. Pakistan out-performed
India and Bangladesh in the Green Revolution. Only China, among major
countries, out-performed Pakistan in the Green Revolution. Pakistan does
not have the food safety and environmental risk studies in place to
support a regulatory environment for biotechnology. In effect, Pakistan
is following the “precautionary principle” and applying it to science
policy. This paper argues that this is a mistake. Pakistan is paying a
“double penalty” for its inability to develop the regulatory systems
required to take advantage of genetically modified (GM) crops. Not only
does it lose the cost reductions enabled by GM crops, but because other
countries have adopted GM crops, world prices are lower as a result and
affect Pakistan’s export crops.