A/HRC/34/48 regulations.49 Considering their probable grave effects on health and the environment, there is an urgent need for holistic regulation on the basis of the precautionary principle to address the genetically engineered production process and other new technologies at the global level. III. Legal structure A. Human rights law 40. The right to adequate food provides a guarantee for food that is necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living. In addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it has been codified in article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in its general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food, substantiates the right to adequate food, stating that it must not be construed in a narrow or restrictive sense, and declaring that adequacy denotes not just quantity but also quality. The Committee further considers that the right implies food that is free from adverse substances, and asserts that States must implement food safety requirements and protective measures to ensure that food is safe and qualitatively adequate. Under even the narrowest interpretation of article 11 and general comment No. 12, food that is contaminated by pesticides cannot be considered as adequate food. 41. In its general comment, the Committee furthermore asserts that sustainability is intrinsically linked to the notion of adequate food, implying that food must be accessible for both present and future generations. As outlined in the present report, pesticides are responsible for biodiversity loss and water and soil contamination and for negatively affecting the productivity of croplands, thereby threatening future food production. 42. The right to adequate food embraces the notion that its realization must not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights. Therefore, arguments suggesting that pesticides are needed to safeguard the right to food and food security clash with the right to health, in view of the myriad negative health impacts associated with certain pesticide practices. 43. Indeed, article 12 of the International Covenant provides a right to the highest attainable level of health and obligates States to take measures to improve all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene. In its general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee embraces the notion that the right extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as safe food, potable water, safe and healthy working conditions and a healthy environment. It also notes that the obligation to improve industrial and environmental hygiene essentially entails the right to a healthy workplace, including the prevention and reduction of exposure to harmful substances, and the minimization of the causes of health hazards inherent in the workplace. With regard to pesticide exposure, human rights law underlines the obligation on States to ensure that people live and work in safe and healthy environments and have access to safe and clean food and water. As such, exposure to pesticides, whether at work, as a bystander or via residue found on food or in water, would violate a person’s right to the highest attainable level of health. 44. Moreover, articles 11 and 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women address women’s right to protection of health and safety, 49 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects (Washington, D.C., 2016). 11