Agricultural Biotechnologies
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Here are all the FAO press releases in recent years that specifically focus on biotechnology.

Press Room

©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
08/03/2002

Rome/Geneva -- A Task Force of the Codex Alimentarius Commission has reached agreement on a final draft of "Principles for the risk analysis of foods derived from biotechnology," the UN Food and Agriculture Organzation (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today.

©FAO/Antonello Proto
14/05/2001

Stockholm - Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can help to increase the supply, diversity and quality of food products and reduce costs of production and environmental degradation, as the world still grapples with the scourge of hunger and malnutrition, Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a speech in Stockholm today. The environmental risks of biotechnology should, however, be openly addressed and the new technology should not be allowed to widen the gap between rich and poor nations, he said.

Cover - X9602E
03/05/2001

Rome - "Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), like all the new technologies, are instruments that can be used for good and for bad in the same way that they can be either managed to the benefit of the most needy or skewed to the advantage of specific groups," the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf said today.

©FAO/Roberto Faidutti
12/04/2001

Rome/Geneva - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have published new recommendations to strengthen the process used to protect consumers from the risk that some genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could pose for a small percentage of people with food allergies.

©FAO/Jon Spaull
02/04/2001

Rome -- The joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission's Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology have made significant progress in setting standards for foods derived from biotechnology, the two UN agencies announced today. Codex Alimentarius is the body charged with the development of international standards for food safety and consumer protection.

©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
15/03/2000

Rome - Biotechnology provides powerful tools for the sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry and can be of significant help in meeting the food needs of a growing and increasingly urbanized population, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its first statement on biotechnology, published today. In the case of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), however, FAO called for "a cautious case-by-case approach to determine the benefits and risks of each individual GMO" and to address the "legitimate concerns for the biosaftey of each product and process prior to its release."

©FAO/Giuseppe Bizzarri
14/03/2000

Chiba, Japan/Rome, Italy  -- As controversy continues to swirl around genetically modified foods, the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission's Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology met for the first time "to develop standards, guidelines, or other principles, where appropriate," for these products, the two UN agencies announced today.

©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
21/01/1999

Rome - Biotechnology is a powerful tool to feed an increasing world population, but its "positive and negative potential" should be carefully evaluated, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today. "All concerns must be clearly balanced, respecting ethical aspects but reflecting the actual and potential possibilities of increasing food supplies and alleviating hunger," FAO said in a report prepared for the Committee on Agriculture.

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