"Food for the New Millennium: Innovation in
Nutrition, Safety and Biotechnology"
Lecture ot the Director-General on the occasion of
the International Food and Nutrition Conference
Tuskegee University, USA, 9 October 2000
President Dr. Payton, President of Tuskegee
University,
Madam Shirley Watkins, United States Under-Secretary of
Agriculture,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations, I wish to thank Dr. Payton, the
distinguished President of Tuskegee University for
inviting me to this important Conference, convened to
celebrate one hundred years of Tuskegee's involvement in
international agricultural development. It is indeed a
great honour and a privilege for me to participate in
this event.
The lofty goals of this distinguished gathering are
commendable as it seeks to raise awareness and encourage
action towards high nutritional standards at world level
through domestic and international food policy, research
and outreach activities, in particular by ensuring a
global technology transfer.
It gives me great pleasure to observe first hand the
remarkable progress Tuskegee University has made over the
years. From its humble founding on the Fourth of July in
1881 with 30 students in a one-room shanty, it has grown
to a student body of more than 3,200 students, occupying
5,500 acres with more than 70 buildings. The founder of
your great institution, Dr. Booker T. Washington, was
particularly concerned with the destitute, illiterate
ex-slave farming families who were earning, at best, a
subsistence existence from the land they toiled. As an
1890 land-grant institution, your mission has been to
provide teaching, research and service to the members of
your community and to the world - a mission quite similar
to that of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO).
As many of you are aware FAO was founded in October
1945 with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and
standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity
and to better the condition of rural populations. Since
its inception, FAO has worked to alleviate poverty and
hunger by promoting agricultural development and
improving nutrition in pursuit of food security which
means: "the access of all people at all times to the food
they need for an active and healthy life".
The Organization offers direct development assistance,
collects, analyses and disseminates information, provides
policy and planning advice to governments and acts as an
international forum for debate and international
agreements on food and agriculture issues, including
fisheries and forestry.
The tasks to meet these responsibilities are great.
Agriculture must feed an increasing human population that
is forecast to reach eight billion people by the year
2020. Although the rate of population growth itself is
steadily decreasing, the increase in absolute numbers is
such that, given current productivity levels, the
carrying capacity of usable agricultural lands could soon
be reached. But through the effective transfer of
existing technologies to poor rural communities and the
development of new and safe biotechnologies, there is a
prospect for enhancing agricultural productivity today
and in the future.
The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
defined biotechnology as "any technological application
that uses biological systems, living organisms or
derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or
processes for specific uses". In this light,
biotechnology therefore includes the application of
tissue culture, immunological techniques, molecular
genetics and recombinant DNA techniques in all facets of
agricultural production and agro-industry.
Biotechnology could be a powerful tool for the
sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and
forestry to be of significant help in meeting the food
needs of a growing and increasingly urbanized population.
In particular, it could provide new solutions for
continuing problems that have hindered sustainable rural
development for decades. If adequately applied,
biotechnology could increase the availability and
diversity of food. It may allow maximizing overall
agricultural productivity while minimizing seasonal
variations in food supplies. Through the introduction of
pest resistant and stress tolerant crops, biotechnology
could also offer opportunities to lower the risk of crop
failure under difficult biological and climatic
conditions. Furthermore, biotechnology could help reduce
environmental pressures from the unsustainable use of
agricultural chemicals.
Following a first generation of biotechnologies which
aimed primarily at productivity enhancement and cost
reduction, a second generation is now targeting the
increase of the bio-availability of nutrients and the
nutritional quality of the product. Examples are found in
the results of applied new biotechnological techniques in
the production of varieties of rice and canola that have
yielded additional amounts of beta-carotene. This
precursor of vitamin A is in short supply in the diets of
many, particularly in the developing world where it could
help to alleviate or reduce chronic vitamin A
deficiencies. Other research is underway to raise the
levels of other vitamins and proteins in crops, such as
potatoes and cassava. Researchers are also trying to
develop foods that can deliver certain types of
therapeutic substances, such as vaccines, that would
stimulate the body's natural defences against certain
endemic diseases.
FAO recognizes the need to take a balanced and
comprehensive approach to biotechnological development,
taking into consideration the opportunities and the
risks. To ensure continued and effective development and
coordination of activities in these areas, and following
endorsement by the 116th Session of the FAO Council, I
have established an Inter-Departmental Working Group on
Biotechnology. This group will assist FAO member
countries in optimizing the opportunities to develop,
adapt and utilize biotechnology and its products in
accordance with their needs. Such endeavour would require
that they develop their capacity in human resources,
institutions, legal framework and scientific equipment in
order to assess and manage the risks to health and
environment.
FAO is well aware of concerns expressed about the
potential risks posed by certain aspects of biotechnology
on human health and the environment. In this regard, a
cautious case-by-case approach to determine the benefits
and risks of individual Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMOs), is necessary. The legitimate concerns for the
biosafety of each product and process, prior to its
release, must be addressed. In particular, caution must
be exercised in order to reduce the risks of transferring
toxins from one life form to another, of creating new
toxins or of transferring allergenic compounds from one
species to another which could result in unexpected
impacts and reactions.
To address these concerns, the FAO Commission on
Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a permanent
intergovernmental forum established in 1989 to consider
reports on technical and policy issues regarding
biosafety, is developing a Code of Conduct on
Biotechnology to maximize the benefits of modern
biotechnologies while minimizing risks. The Code will be
based on scientific considerations taking into account
the environmental, socio-economic and ethical
implications of biotechnology.
The scope for potential action is great, but the
resources made available to FAO are limited. As a result,
FAO is fostering closer relationships with other
international bodies. An excellent example of such
collaboration is the Secretariat of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, which FAO is providing in
cooperation with the World
Health Organization. The Codex Alimentarius
Commission is an intergovernmental body consisting of 165
member countries with the mission of protecting the
health of consumers, ensuring fair practices in the food
trade, and promoting the coordination of work on food
standards.
In the area of biotechnology and food safety, the
Commission has established an Ad Hoc Intergovernmental
Task Force on Biotechnology which first met in Chiba,
Japan in March 1999. The Task Force is responsible for
the development of standards, guidelines or
recommendations, as appropriate, for foods or food traits
derived from biotechnology. These will be based on
scientific evidence and risk analysis having regard,
where appropriate, to other legitimate factors relevant
for the health protection of consumers and promotion of
fair practices in the food trade. The Codex Committee on
Food Labelling, another subsidiary body of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, is also working on the
development of recommendations for the labelling of foods
derived from biotechnology.
The work undertaken by Codex, which elaborates food
safety standards, is of great value to both the producers
and consumers. The G8 Summit Meeting in Japan last July
noted in its Final Communiqué that it attached
strong importance to the work of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, the principal global standard-setting body in
food safety. These same world leaders encouraged the
Codex Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods
Derived from Biotechnology to produce a substantial
interim report before the completion of its mandate in
2003.
In addition, phytosanitary standards to protect global
plant health fall under the purview of another FAO body,
the International
Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The purpose of
the IPPC is to initiate common and effective action to
prevent the introduction and spread of pests of plants
and plant products, and the promotion of appropriate
control measures. Thus, the IPPC is directly concerned
with the potential impact of agricultural biotechnology
on the environment. The IPPC provides the global
standard-setting mechanism for phytosanitary measures and
in this regard, has established an exploratory working
group to address issues concerning biosafety in relation
to GMOs and invasive species.
With the rapid growth of aquaculture, the fisheries
sector has also recognized that GMOs are a diverse class
of organisms that share many common features with
introduced or alien species. FAO's Regional Fisheries
Bodies have adopted, in principle, codes of practice on
the use of introduced species and GMOs. The general
principles in such codes of practice have been
incorporated into the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries. They deal with environmental assessment,
contained use, advanced notification and the application
of the precautionary approach.
I would like to take the opportunity of this
Conference to assure the international community that,
through holistic and multi-disciplinary scientific
approaches of evaluation, risk assessment, management and
communication, FAO will continue to address all issues of
concern to its constituents, regarding biotechnology and
its effects on human, plant and animal health. In view of
the importance of harmonizing regulations related to the
testing and releasing of GMOs, FAO will continue, at the
national, sub-regional and regional levels, to strengthen
its normative and advisory work, in coordination and
cooperation with other international organizations.
Harmonization of regulations would first address
protocols for risk assessment for testing and releasing
GMOs. Biosafety issues, pertaining to food safety, will
continue to be addressed in the context of the Codex
Alimentarius. As recent advances bring into agricultural
production environments a diverse set of GMO-based
technologies and transgenic animals, there will be the
need for a more systematic consideration of the biosafety
questions involved.
FAO will also continue to explore the possibility of
addressing animal and fisheries biosafety and GMOs in
cooperation with other international agencies, including
the International Office of Epizootics. FAO technical
assistance to member states will encompass advising
member governments on regulatory issues including
harmonization at regional and international levels;
offering legal advice for the establishment of any
required regulatory bodies; improving national capacity
for risk assessment; and, mobilizing donor funding as
well as cooperating with other relevant
organizations.
On the occasion of your Centennial Celebration, it is
indeed a great honour to present the activities of FAO in
this historic Thomas M. Campbell Hall, which houses the
College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural
Sciences and which was named after the nation's first
cooperative extension agent in agriculture. I would like
to commend your great institution for its past and
present achievements, in particular for successfully
sowing the seeds of knowledge in the fertile land of the
curious and open young minds of the students. I therefore
would venture to appeal to the Academic community of
Tuskegee University to join FAO in its continuing efforts
towards alleviating poverty and hunger through the
promotion of agricultural development, the improvement of
nutrition and the pursuit of food security throughout the
world. With your help, success is at the end of our
efforts, perseverance and commitment.
I thank you for your kind attention.
