Agricultural Biotechnologies: Новости

Новости

FAO priority areas for inter-disciplinary action

08/10/2002

For the 9th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, held on 14-18 October 2002 at FAO Headquarters, Rome, FAO prepared a report on its priority areas for inter-disciplinary action (PAIAs). FAO has recently selected 16 PAIAs as part of an overall effort to, inter alia, strengthen the capacity for inter-disciplinary planning within FAO. This report provides a brief overview of the main activities undertaken by the 6 PAIAs that are most relevant to the Commission`s work, including the PAIAs on Biotechnology and Biosecurity. See document 9/02/14.3 (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish) at http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/docs9.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

FAO and agricultural biotechnology

07/10/2002

The September 2002 edition of the Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) News Report includes an item by John Ruane from FAO`s Working Group on Biotechnology, describing the three major roles that FAO carries out to assist its members (currently there are 183 FAO member countries plus one member organisation, the European Community) and their institutions in making decisions on biotechnology and related issues. See http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2002/sep02.pdf or send a blank e-mail to [email protected] to receive the ISB News Report by e-mail (26 KB).

UN Statement on the use of GM foods as food aid in Southern Africa

06/10/2002

The UN Secretary-Generals special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa, Mr. James Morris released this joint statement, concerning donations of foods for use in Southern Africa, some of which contain genetically modified organisms, on behalf of the Directors-General of FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf, and the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland and the World Food Programme at which he serves as Executive Director. The statement concludes: "The United Nations agencies involved will seek to establish a long-term policy for food aid involving GM foods or foods derived from biotechnology. The ultimate responsibility and decision regarding the acceptance and distribution of food aid containing GMOs rests with the governments concerned, considering all the factors outlined above. The United Nations believes that in the current crisis governments in southern Africa must consider carefully the severe and immediate consequences of limiting the food aid available for millions so desperately in need". See http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/8660-en.html (in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.

Consultative process - Reducing hunger using agricultural science

05/10/2002

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, a new international consultative process on the risks and opportunities of using agricultural science to reduce hunger and improve rural livelihoods in the developing world was launched. The initiative is expected to last until mid-2003 and is being undertaken by the World Bank and its partners. The five co-chairs of the consultative process are Robert Watson (World Bank, former head of the UN`s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Louise Fresco (Assistant Director General, Agriculture Department of FAO), Seyfu Ketema (Executive Secretary of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)), Rita Sharma (Ministry of Agriculture, India) and Claudia Martinez Zuleta (former Deputy Minister of Environment, Colombia). It will look at the risks and opportunities of a broad range of issues, including biotechnology. See http://www.agassessment.org/index.html or contact [email protected] for more information.

UNECA - biotechnology policy research report

04/10/2002

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) released a policy research report entitled Harnessing Technologies for Sustainable Development to coincide with the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The key messages of this 167-page document are that "If effectively harnessed, new and emerging technologies can help catalyze Africas transition to sustainable development by lowering the incidence of disease, reducing food insecurity, and decreasing vulnerability to environmental damage by allowing more flexible crop management systems. However, the expected benefits of both medical (red) and agricultural (green) biotechnology can only be realized if a number of key challenges are addressed, including the extent to which the technologies are relevant to Africa, are pro-poor and mitigate biosafety and related risks. Biotechnology should be viewed as one part of a comprehensive, sustainable poverty reduction strategy, and not as a technological quick fix for Africas hunger and poverty problems". See http://www.uneca.org/harnessing/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

WHO Director General - GM foods

03/10/2002

A press release from the WHO Regional Office for Africa reports that the WHO Director General, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, said that "currently available evidence showed that genetically modified (GM) foods are "not likely to present human health risk", and that therefore "these foods may be eaten" " and that "Southern African countries should consider accepting GM food aid in the face of the humanitarian crisis facing the region". She was speaking on 27 August at a three-day meeting of health ministers from ten southern African countries in Harare. See http://www.afro.who.int/press/2002/pr20020828.html or contact [email protected] for more information.

UNIDO - biosafety course

02/10/2002

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in collaboration with the University of Concepción, Chile, is launching the first academically accredited Diploma in Biosafety by distance learning. The course, consisting of a faculty of international scientists, starts on 23 September 2002 with two weeks of on-campus lectures. Lectures will be conducted in English. It will make use of the latest distance learning techniques and electronic multimedia developed by UNIDO. For more information see http://binas.unido.org/UDEC_biosafety or contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Biotechnology and the public good

01/10/2002

Joel Cohen, from the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), and Per Pinstrup-Andersen, from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), published an Opinion Article on 27 AUgust 2002 in SciDev.Net entitled "Biotechnology and the public good" which, among other things, emphasises the need for "strong publicly-funded agricultural research focused on solving the problems facing poor farmers and consumers". See http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=2708200210362353&t=C&authors=Joel%20I.%2 or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

ISNAR-FAO workshop on biosafety

03/09/2002

An expert workshop on "Policy Planning and Decision Support: the Case of Biosafety" took place at FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy on 14-16 May 2002. The workshop was organised by the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR - one of the 16 Future Harvest centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and FAO, and discussion centred on a web-based decision-support system, developed jointly by ISNAR and FAO, that is being designed to assist national policy-makers and research directors to formulate policy and regulatory frameworks to respond to safety issues regarding applications of modern biotechnology in food and agriculture. This workshop, dealing with biosafety, is the first in a series focusing on specific issues and aiming to help FAO member countries meet international and regional obligations concerning agricultural biotechnology. About 40 participants, including representatives from the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Global Environmental Facility and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation as well as national experts, attended the workshop. See http://www.isnar.cgiar.org/ibs/biosafety.htm for a brief summary of the workshop or contact [email protected] or [email protected]for more information.

GMOs and food processing in ASEAN member countries

02/09/2002

A report on "Biosafety policy options and capacity building related to genetically modified organisms in the food processing industry of ASEAN" by Sakarindr Bhumiratana, dated June 2002, is now available on the web. This report is the result of a project initiated under the auspices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee on Science and Technology and was prepared with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. See the UNIDO website (PDF, 412 KB, 45 pages) or contact [email protected] for more information.

IFPRI - biofortification

01/09/2002

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the 16 Future Harvest centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, has recently published the IFPRI 2001-2002 Annual Report. It highlights IFPRI`s research in 2001, covering a range of topics including biofortification - breeding plants for vitamin A and other micronutrients (on pages 42-44). See http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/books/ar2001/ar2001_research.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

Biotechnology policy documents of FAO members

04/08/2002

FAO is in the process of putting together a comprehensive list of biotechnology policy documents of FAO members (there are currently 183 member countries plus one member organisation, the European Community). The current list, on the FAO Biotechnology site, includes 15 documents from 11 members. The majority are national policy documents, but regional (within country) documents are also included. In addition to the application of biotechnology to food and agriculture, most documents also tend to consider applications to other areas, such as pharmaceuticals and human health care. The list includes the title, date, weblink and language(s) of the documents, as well as an indication of their size. We welcome any comments, especially about additional information or new documents. See http://www.fao.org/biotech/country.asp or contact [email protected] if you wish to receive the 2-page list by e-mail or to give your comments.

IPRs in plant varieties

03/08/2002

The July 2002 article in the FAO Legal Papers Online series is by Laurence R. Helfer and entitled "Intellectual property rights in plant varieties: An overview with options for national governments". Although not directly related to agricultural biotechnology, it is worth noting because of the indirect consequences of the topic on plant biotechnology. FAO Legal Papers Online is a series of articles and reports on legal issues of contemporary interest in the areas of food policy, agriculture, rural development, biodiversity, environment and natural resource management. See http://www.fao.org/Legal/Prs-OL/lpo31.pdf (PDF, 62 pages) or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

Antibiotics as animal growth promoters

02/08/2002

A recent review in AGRIPPA, entitled "Antibiotic growth-promoters in food animals", considers the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and then examines some of the alternative methods (such as in-feed enzymes, competitive exclusion products or probiotics) for efficient meat production without compromising product quality or safety. The article by Peter Hughes and John Heritage was published in June 2002 in AGRIPPA, which is an FAO web-based journal for electronic publishing of peer reviewed and edited documents. See http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/ARTICLE/AGRIPPA/555_EN.HTM (52 KB) or contact [email protected] to request a copy of the article.

FAO Biotechnology Glossary

01/08/2002

The web-based searchable version of the FAO Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture has recently been provided with additional on-line features (e.g. the definitions now include a list of clickable related terms). See http://www.fao.org/biotech/index_glossary.asp or contact [email protected] for more information.

Archives of GMOs and Gene Flow conference

08/07/2002

The FAO e-mail conference entitled "Gene flow from GM to non-GM populations in the crop, forestry, animal and fishery sectors" ran for 5 weeks and finished on 5 July 2002. Almost 400 people subscribed to this moderated conference and 118 messages were posted, focusing primarily on the crop sector, by 61 different people from 25 countries. The messages came from participants in North America (41% of the total), Europe (21%), Asia (18%), Africa (12%), Latin America and the Caribbean (4%) and Oceania (4%). 32 % of messages were sent by participants in developing countries. The greatest proportion of messages came from people working in universities (32%), research centres (24%), NGOs (17%) and private companies (13%). The messages are available by subject and date at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/c7logs.htm or can be requested in e-mail form (217 KB) from [email protected].

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