Agricultural Biotechnologies: Новости

Новости

Agricultural commodity markets - GM crops

05/03/2003

FAO`s Committee on Commodity Problems held its 64th Session at FAO Headquarters, Rome on 18-21 March 2003. One of the reports prepared for the meeting was entitled "Major developments and issues in agricultural commodity markets" which reviews some of the major factors that have influenced international agricultural markets during the past few years, including the development of genetically modified crops. See http://www.fao.org/UNFAO/Bodies/ccp/ccp64/ccp64-e.htm (document CCP 03/7 - in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish) or contact FAO for more information.

Biosafety Clearing-House

04/03/2003

At its first meeting in December 2000, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety recommended the development of a pilot phase of a Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH). This was launched in April 2001. Version 2.0 of the pilot phase of the BCH has now been launched (1 February 2003). New developments include, inter alia, improved search facilities and faster download times, expansion of the capacity-building databases, additional help functions and access to more databases. See http://bch.biodiv.org or contact [email protected] for more information.

Making Global Trade Work for People

03/03/2003

This 376-page book entitled "Making global trade work for people" presents an independent reassessment of the current system of global trade and looks at ways that it can be improved to contribute more effectively to human development. Chapter 11 includes discussions of the links of TRIPS (the World Trade Organization`s agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) with human development, with a focus on issues such as technology (including biotechnology), food security, biological resources and traditional knowledge. The book is the product of the Trade and Sustainable Human Development Project commissioned in mid-2000 by the United Nations Development Programme, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation (the Ford Foundation, Heinrich Böll Foundation and Wallace Global Fund joined the effort subsequently). See http://www.undp.org/dpa/publications/globaltrade.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

Trade in GM food

02/03/2003

A discussion paper entitled "Trade in genetically modified food: A survey of empirical studies" by C. Pohl Nielsen, S. Robinson and K. Thierfelder has just been published by the International Food Policy Research Institute, one of the 16 research centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The paper surveys analyses of the current and potential economic impact of GM technology, under different scenarios concerning how the world trading system and national markets handle GM commodities. This is number 106 of the TMD (Trade and Macroeconomics Division) Discussion Papers, which contain preliminary material and research results, and are circulated prior to a full peer review in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. It is expected that most Discussion Papers will eventually be published in some other form, and that their content may also be revised. See http://www.ifpri.org/divs/tmd/dp/tmdp106.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

Biosafety meeting report

01/03/2003

The International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) has just published "A framework for biosafety implementation: Report of a meeting", edited by M.A. McLean, R.J. Frederick, P. Traynor, J.I. Cohen and J. Komen. It is the report of an expert consultation convened by ISNAR entitled A framework for biosafety implementation: A tool for building capacity. that was held in Washington DC, United States on 23-26 July 2001. See http://www.isnar.cgiar.org/publications/pdf/bioframework.pdf (PDF, 491 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

Abbreviated summary - GMOs and gene flow

06/02/2003

An abbreviated summary of discussions from the FAO e-mail conference entitled "Gene flow from GM to non-GM populations in the crop, forestry, animal and fishery sectors" has just been published. This was the seventh conference hosted by the FAO Electronic Forum on Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture and it took place from 31 May to 6 July 2002. The 2-page document is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C7/shortsum.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy. A more detailed summary, including references to specific e-mail messages, was published previously and is available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C7/summary.htm.

Bananas - biodiversity and crop improvement

05/02/2003

In a press release entitled "Bananas not on verge of extinction", FAO responded (30 January) to recent media reports that bananas may be extinct within 10 years and urged producers to promote greater genetic diversity in commercial bananas. FAO pointed out that small-scale farmers around the world grow a wide range of bananas that are not threatened by the disease currently attacking bananas sold mostly in Europe and North America. The press release continues "Fortunately, small-scale farmers around the world have maintained a broad genetic pool which can be used for future banana crop improvement. Banana is essentially a clonal crop with many sterile species, which makes progress through conventional breeding slow and difficult. Because of this, new breeding methods and tools, including biotechnology, will be helpful to develop resistant bananas for cultivation. This does not necessarily mean the use of transgenics". See http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/13120-en.html (available in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.

HINARI - scientific journals

04/02/2003

The Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) was launched in January 2002 to provide access to the major journals in biomedical and related social sciences to public institutions in developing countries. Currently, there are 28 participating publishers and over 2,000 journals involved. While the majority deal with human health, some of the journals focus on agriculture and biotechnology. Access to the journals is free for public institutions in 69 countries (with a gross national product (GNP) per capita below US $1000) and, since January 2003, is available at reduced prices for 43 countries with GNP per capita between $1000-3000. HINARI is part of the Health InterNetwork, a World Health Organization (WHO) led public-private partnership initiated by the United Nations` Secretary General Kofi Annan at the UN Millennium Summit in the year 2000. See http://www.healthinternetwork.org/index.php or contact [email protected] for more information.

Africa and sustainable development

03/02/2003

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has recently published a book called "Supporting Africas efforts to achieve sustainable development: Dialogues at the Economic and Social Council". The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and to the United Nations, devoted the high-level part of its annual session in July 2001 to Africa. This 268-page publication brings together the key results of the debates, as well as the panel discussions and papers commissioned in its preparation. The section on agriculture and food security in the context of poverty reduction includes presentations by Jacques Diouf, FAO Director General, on "Meeting basic needs" and by Gordon Conway, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, on "Food for all in Africa: Biotechnology, sustainable agriculture and farmer participation". See http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/SupportingAfrica`sEfforts.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

GURTs - UPOV

02/02/2003

At the invitation of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) prepared on 10 January 2003 a memorandum on genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs). UPOVs comments are limited to the effect of GURTs on the sharing of benefits arising out of new plant varieties in comparison to the protection provided by the UPOV Convention and do not refer to other possible effects of GURTs. See http://www.upov.int/en/news/index.html (available in English, French, German and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.

Successes in African Agriculture

01/02/2003

MSSD (Markets and Structural Studies Division) Discussion Paper 53, entitled "Successes in African agriculture: Results of an expert survey", by E. Z. Gabre-Madhin and S. Haggblade, has just been published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (January 2003), one of the 16 research centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research . The paper presents an analysis of results of a survey of experts on African agriculture in which they were asked to identify the instances they considered most important in advancing the state of African agriculture. The successes include breakthroughs in maize breeding across Africa, sustained gains in cassava breeding and successful combat of its disease and pests, control of the rinderpest livestock disease, booming horticultural and flower exports in East and Southern Africa and increased cotton production and exports in West Africa. The paper also attempts to identify key ingredients that appear necessary for building on these individual cases and expanding them into broad-based agricultural growth. MSSD Discussion Papers contain preliminary material and research results and are circulated prior to a full peer review in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. See http://www.ifpri.org/divs/mssd/dp/papers/mssdp53.pdf (320 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

Technical Consultation on Biological Risk Management in Food and Agriculture

20/01/2003

The FAO Technical Consultation on Biological Risk Management in Food and Agriculture was held on 13-17 January 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand. Biological risk management in food and agriculture is referred to as Biosecurity by FAO and covers food safety, plant life and health, animal life and health and the environment, including the introduction and release of genetically modified organisms and their products. The meeting`s objective was to further explore the scope and relevance of Biosecurity as a holistic approach to managing risks associated with food safety, animal and plant health and the environment. The agenda and working papers are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish. See http://www.fao.org/es/ESN/food/meetings_biosecurity_en.stm or contact [email protected] for more information.

Shaping the future of agriculture

19/01/2003

In an article entitled "Shaping the future of agriculture" published in January 2003 on the website of FAO`s Agriculture Department, Louise Fresco, the head of Department and FAO Assistant-Director General, responds to questions about world poverty and hunger, globalisation and biotechnology in the context of the food and agriculture sector. See http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0301sp1.htm (in Arab, Chinese, English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

GURTs - Call for views

18/01/2003

International organisations, smallholder farmers, indigenous and local communities are invited to submit to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at their earliest convenience but no later than 31 January 2003, their views on the potential impacts of Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs) on smallholder farmers, indigenous and local communities and on Farmers` Rights. The views submitted will be compiled in a document to be used for a meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on GURTs to be held on 19-21 February 2003, in Montreal, Canada. See http://www.biodiv.org/doc/notifications/2002/ntf-2002-113-gurt-en.pdf (which also contains a list of relevant documentation prepared by the Secretariat of CBD and FAO) or contact [email protected] for more information.

WHO - Biotechnology, human health and development

17/01/2003

The second draft of the World Health Organization summary report "Modern food biotechnology, human health and development: An evidence based study" (see FAO-BiotechNews Update 3-2002) is now available for comments. This draft report, accessible through the internet by password only, was open for an interactive discussion, from 6 January to 31 March 2003. For further information, contact [email protected].

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety - ratification status

16/01/2003

In a letter dated 7 January 2003, Philemon Yang, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP), and Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, update the ICCP National Focal Points about the status of ratification of the Protocol and remind them of the further action that would be required to realising the entry into force of the Protocol without much more delay. See http://www.biodiv.org/doc/notifications/2003/ntf-2003-01-cpbs-en.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

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