Steering Committee

An international Steering Committee (SC) has been established to act as an advisory board as well as to guide and oversee the process leading up to the conference. A first meeting of the SC was held on 10-11 July 2008 at FAO headquarters in Rome.

The meeting was attended by 52 SC members, of which 25 were invited on their own personal capacity, selected because of their scientific expertise in biotechnologies in one or more of seven main areas (crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries, food processing and safety, environment, and science and technology policy), giving also due consideration to their geographical location worldwide. In addition, 17 members attended representing relevant stakeholder groups, including UN and non-UN inter-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, private foundations and private sector organizations, and 10 individuals participated from the FAO Secretariat. See the report of the first meeting.

Professor M.S. Swaminathan, from the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India, is serving as the Honorary Chair of the SC. See the list of SC members.