Biotechnology and Biosafety
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Biotechnology provides powerful tools for the sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as the food industry. When appropriately integrated with other technologies for the production of food, agricultural products and services, biotechnology can be of significant assistance in meeting the needs of an expanding and increasingly urbanized population. While there is little controversy about many aspects of biotechnology and its application and their potential benefits to farmers and consumers, the subject of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and agriculture is highly controversial. Genetic engineering has the potential to help increase production and productivity in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but it poses also potential risks, which have to be carefully considered. These risks fall into two basic categories: the effects on human and animal health and the environmental consequences, with special reference to biodiversity. A science-based, case-by-case evaluation system is therefore needed that would objectively determine the benefits and risks of each individual GMO, before a decision is made on its release. Whereas European and North American countries have been in the forefront in developing regulatory systems for GMOs, the majority of developing and transition countries lack them, although many are now being established.
FAO was mandated by its member countries to assist in capacity building in biotechnology and harmonization of biosafety regulations, to give science-based advice and guidance in biotechnology, and provide access to neutral and balanced information to help to improve agricultural productivity in developing countries and economies in transition.
In line with its mandate, FAO has been providing a neutral forum to develop international instruments of governance, of which some have direct relevance to the regulation of GMOs such as:
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FAO has been involved in the development of a conceptual framework for policy advice in bio-technology and biosafety and developed jointly with International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) and UNEP-GEF (the United Nations Environment Programme/Global Environment Facility) a web-based decision-support tool box for biosafety implementation systems.
The development and enforcement of a regulatory frame-work for GMOs may need to be coordinated within cross-sectorial national approaches to the management of biological risks in food and agriculture. This concept 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 GMOs and their products. The biosecurity concept was endorsed by the member countries, which recognized FAO's important role in capacity building in cross-cutting areas such as biotechnology in developing countries and countries with economies in transition by the
Information exchange and dissemination are impor-tant activities of FAO for creating awareness on agricultural biotechnology development, application and regulation. It is important that member countries know which biotechnologies are available, what they can be used for, how and in which broader strategy they can be applied, and what the cost-benefit implications of using them are. In this regard FAO hosts a and provides regularly biotech information to almost 3300 subscribers through the e-mail newsletter FAO-Biotech-News.
The was established in 2000 to provide an open forum that will allow a wide range of parties, including governmental and non-governmental organizations, policy-makers and the general public, to discuss and exchange views and experiences about specific issues concerning biotechnology in food and agriculture for developing countries. Eleven e-mail conferences were hosted by the Forum from 2000 to 2004, with active participation from developing countries and countries in transition.
FAO published the to provide a consolidated, comprehensive and yet accessible list of terms and acronyms that are used regularly in biotechnology for food and agriculture and that represent a convenient reference source for researchers, students and technicians. In the development of the Glossary a largely participatory approach was used, attempting to involve in the review process also the audience of the Glossary. It contains 3196 terms and related definitions. The Glossary is now available also in French and Spanish.
is a database meant to gather, store, organize and disseminate, updated baseline information on the state-of-the-art of crop biotechnology products and techniques, which are in use, or in the pipeline in developing countries. The database includes about 2000 entries from 70 developing countries, including countries with economies in transition.
FAO established a number of partnerships with other international organizations involved in biotechnology and biosafety issues to make use of synergies in fulfilling its mandate such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) related to biosafety; the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in relation to intellectual property rights; the World Health Organization (WHO) in relation to food safety; the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the Global Forum on Biotechnology; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for training, research, capacity building activities in agricultural biotechnology as part of the programme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division; the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) for regional training in methods for varietal verification and GM seed detection; and the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) on development of a web-based decision-support toolbox for biosafety implementation systems.
In the European region, FAO conducted subregional surveys in the Balkans and Caucasus to assess the status and identify needs of transition countries in the area of agricultural biotechnology and biosafety. The issue of biosafety is important for both subregions as GMOs have already been released, either deliberately through commerce or accidentally through food-aid. The legislation governing GMOs in either of the two subregions is incomplete. Testing facilities are also generally inadequate and there is limited means of establishing whether GMO contamination exists in food and feed. It is considered that in both the Balkans and in the Caucasus, organic production could represent a potential market for agricultural produce given that agrochemical input in both subregions has been minimal as it has often been unavailable and when available has been too costly. Unmonitored and uncontrolled release of GMOs would threaten organic production.
Technical and financial assistance has been forthcoming for developing national legislation in several instances, but more help is required. Given the generally under-developed communications networks in the Balkans, but particularly in the Caucasus and Moldova, improved networking represents a potential, though partial, solution to the problem of limited access to up-to-date information on biotechnology and biosafety that currently characterizes the sub-regions. Major policy thrusts in the sub-regions have been directed towards agrarian reform, but the revival of agricultural research and education, including biotechnology, has remained, with certain exceptions, elusive to date. The countries stand to benefit from external support to develop and harmonize capacity in biotechnology research and education and to develop appropriate IPR and biosafety policy and legislation ().
As a follow-up to the survey, FAO organized a sub-regional workshop in 2003, in Yerevan, Armenia to discuss with decision makers and research managers the outcome of the assessment, analyse the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats for agricultural biotechnologies to contribute to food security and rural development in the Caucasus region and Moldova, and identify gaps. Recommendations for joint action were formulated in the area of human resource development, regulatory framework development and implementation, and sub-regional collaboration. Member countries have requested FAO to provide technical assistance in this area and a project on capacity building is currently under development. FAO’s technical assistance in the area of biotechnology focuses on helping to strengthen national capabilities in agricultural biotechnology, biosafety and risk analysis geared towards increasing and sustaining agricultural production, including marginal conditions, natural resources, biosafety and risk-analysis
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Agricultural Research and Biotechnology Officer: Nevena ALEXANDROVA
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