Some Firms Seek Regulation To Squeeze Out Their Rivals.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPONT)

Byline: Dr. Henry I. Miller and Gregory Conko

America learned long ago that what's good for General Motors isn't necessarily good for the country.

This axiom applies equally to the biotechnology industry, which has lobbied for -- and gotten -- stultifying regulation that constrains R&D, inflates prices, and deprives consumers of new agricultural and food products.

Long before the first gene-spliced plants were ready for commercialization, a few agrochemical and biotechnology companies, led by Monsanto and Calgene, approached policy-makers in the administration of President Reagan and requested that the EPA, USDA, and FDA create a regulatory framework specific to gene-spliced products.

The policies recommended by the industry, that were predicated on the myth that there's something fundamentally novel and worrisome about gene-splicing …