In This
Issue:
BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL
TO TAKE EFFECT
The
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) says that the Cartegena
Protocol on Biosafety, the first legally binding international
agreement governing the movement of living modified organisms across
national borders, will take effect on 11 September 2003. This was
made possible after the Republic of Palau became the 50th country
to ratify it.
The
Protocol, adopted by the member governments of the Convention on
Biological Diversity on 29 January 2000 after more than five years
of negotiation, aims at ensuring adequate safety in the transboundary
movement and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting
from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the
biological diversity and human health. CBD Executive Secretary
Hamdallah Zedan said that it is a vital tool for sustainable development
and the safeguarding of biodiversity.
At the
date of entry into force, the CBD says that certain provisions
will take effect immediately:
- Countries
shipping LMOs for intentional introduction into the environment
will have to give prior notification of the first shipment to
an importing country that is a party to the Protocol.
- Member
countries of the Protocol will also be required to use the Biosafety
Clearing House (BCH) to fulfill a number of specific obligations.
The BCH is a largely Internet-based facility established under
the Protocol to ease communications and exchange of information
between the Parties.
- All
shipments containing LMOs for international introduction into
the environment will be clearly identified as such in the accompanying
documentation which must specify the identify and characteristics
of the specific LMOs contained in each shipment.
Additional
information about the Protocol is available at http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety or http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety/faqs.asp
MINISTERS TO
ADDRESS ISSUES IN AGRI PRODUCTIVITY
The
biggest cost of not taking advantage of safe, accessible productivity-enhancing
technologies are borne not by the world's affluent, but by the
world's poorest. This is a main issue raised by a fact sheet developed
by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the Ministerial
Conference and Exposition on Agricultural Science and Technology
to be held in Sacramento, California on June 23-25, 2003.
The
factsheet adds that agricultural productivity can be increased
through technology. However, the answers are not always the latest,
biggest, and most expensive technologies. Many conventional technologies
and systems that are already widely used can be adapted by many
of the world's poorest countries. The goal is not technologies
that make developing countries more dependent on the developed
world, but more independently able to feed their own people. Hence,
many technologies, including new biotech varieties, are being developed
by scientists in the developing world.
Ministers
of Agriculture from Uganda, the Philippines, Georgia, Mexico, Lebanon
and Spain will be among the speakers at the opening plenary of
the Ministerial Conference. The agenda also will include experts
from the private industry as well as U.S. government officials.
The conference will focus on the role that science and technology
can play in increasing agricultural productivity and reducing hunger
and malnutrition in developing countries. Conference sessions will
address access to technologies, new scientific research, the relationship
between regulation and innovation, and the creation of partnerships
to help developing countries adopt productivity-enhancing, environmentally
sustainable technologies.
Information
about the Ministerial Conference is posted on the Web at http://www.fas.usda.gov/
icd/stconf/conf_main.htm.
To download
the factsheet, visit http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/06/fsministerial.htm
INDIA TO APPROVE
GM POTATO
India
is set to give the go-signal to the commercial growing of a genetically
modified (GM) potato within the next six months. BBC News quotes
India's Department of Biotechnology Secretary Manju Sharma as saying
that the potato contains a third more protein than normal, including
essential high quality nutrients. It was created by adding a gene
from the protein-rich amaranth plant.
Dr.
Sharma adds that the "protato", as it has been called,
is planned to be incorporated into the government's free midday
meal program in schools. This will target the problem of blindness
due to vitamin A deficiency among children in India.
Read
more on India's GM potato at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2980338.stm
In another
BBC article, Pallab Ghosh says that farmers in Gujarat, India are
illegally crossbreeding Monsanto's insect-resistant cotton with
local plants to create their own genetically GM varieties. A BBC
investigation confirmed widespread use of pirate seeds in Gujarat,
one of the first Indian states to grow Bt cotton.
Trade
in illegal seed is becoming a major concern forcing Monsanto's
Indian partner to lodge an official complaint with the Gujarat
government.
The
full article is available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2998150.stm
SAC SAYS CO-EXISTENCE
OF GM AND NON-GM POSSIBLE
GM can and should co-exist with non-GM forms of agriculture. This is a major
point raised by a comprehensive study using computer modeling techniques conducted
by Scottish Agricultural Colleges (SAC) in the United Kingdom.
The
SAC study shows that UK farm incomes could be increased by £50
million/annum and that this benefit could also be accrued with:
- No
widespread changes in the types and areas of crops grown
- No
reduction in organically cropped area
- No
changes in labor force
Commenting
on the results, Paul Rylott, acting chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology
Council, an industry body, said "This study gives real added
value to the current GM debate and shows clearly that GM crops
can and should co-exist with other forms of farming practice to
the mutual benefit of the economy of the countryside and to the
environment in which farmers live and work."
Rylott
concluded that "The ability of UK farmers to be able to choose
this technology could have a significant economic benefit to their
business (£70 -80/ ha) and as the study shows, this benefit
can be accrued without negative effects on other farming systems
and neighbors."
More
on the Scottish Agricultural Colleges at http://www.sac.ac.uk
NEW METHOD FOR
ASSESSING PUBLIC OPINION ON GMOs
A new
method for assessing public opinion on genetically modified (GM)
crops is currently being tested in the United Kingdom. These public
debates are similar to those previously held in New Zealand and
Netherlands to assess public opinion on GM crops. The series of
debates, which concludes in mid-July, will be one of the basis
for the UK government's upcoming decision on the commercialization
of GM crops.
The
six public debates are also designed to start off smaller debates
among community organizations, and hopefully reach out to people
who are still undecided about transgenic crops but are willing
to know more. The results of these smaller debates are collected
through a questionnaire which they can answer personally, or complete
on the "GM Nation?" website.
The
organizers of these public debates, which include representatives
from the industry and the academia, observed, however, that more
funding and better planning is required for this new research method
to succeed.
The
news releases can be found in Nature, Vol 423, or downloaded at http://www.nature.com/nature.
FIRST MEETING
FOR UNIDO GLOBAL BIOTECH FORUM
Representatives
from 15 African countries and 20 regional organizations recently
attended the first of four regional meetings in preparation for
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Global Biotechnology Forum in Concepcion, Chile in 2004. The consultative
meeting focused on the critical needs of African farmers with small
land holdings, and the benefits that can be derived from local
biological diversity.
The
African stakeholders also discussed the: region-specific constraints
they encounter, projects for the introduction of appropriate biotechnologies,
mechanisms and resources which favor the introduction of desirable
technologies, and the merging of regional priorities into the larger
biotechnology-for-sustainable-development agenda.
Biotechnology
priorities were also assessed during the consultative meeting.
According to the delegates "institutional priorities point
at the lack of coherent strategies, scarcity of funds, insufficient
research and development infrastructure, and weak capabilities
for risk assessment and management. Although these deficiencies
need to be addressed by appropriate national programs, regional
efforts through enhanced cooperation and coordination could enhance
the capacity of individual countries to overcome some of the constraints."
UNIDO
will facilitate the endorsement of three proposals that were drafted
by the participants in response to the pressing needs identified.
The next Regional Consultative meeting will take place in Brasilia,
Brazil, for the Latin America and Caribbean Region on July 22 to
25, 2003.
For
more details, email G.Tzotzos@unido.org or C.Linke@unido.org.
EUROPABIO SUPPORTS
SWISS VOTE AGAINST GM MORATORIUM
Europabio
applauds the decision by the Swiss Parliament to reject the moratorium
on genetically modified (GM) crops. According to Simon Barber,
Director of the Plant Biotechnology Unit at Europabio, this decision
can be considered as a "positive political move in Europe." This
also signifies increasing support for the technology.
Swiss
parliamentary procedures state that both Lower and Upper Houses
should reach a consensus before any decisions could be made into
a law. With regard to this issue, the Lower House recently voted
to reject the GM moratorium by a vote of 77 against 70. Last month,
this part of Parliament had originally voted in favor of the moratorium
at 83 to 78.
More
on Europabio at http://www.europabio.org.
GM DECAF COFFEE
Japanese
scientists may yet produce a genetically modified (GM) coffee plant
that has reduced caffeine content. The demand for decaffeinated
coffee is increasing because of consumer preference for a brew
that has less stimulatory effects. At present, coffee is decaffeinated
via expensive industrial processes which compromises the flavor.
Shinjiro
Ogita of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology and colleagues
used RNA interference to reduce the activity of a key enzyme, theobromine
synthase, in caffeine synthesis in coffee. Their research showed
a reduction in about 30-80% of this enzyme as well as 50-70% less
caffeine content in experimental young leaves.
Theoretically,
transgenic coffee beans should yield coffee beans that are essentially
normal apart from their low caffeine content at maturity. The team
believes that their method will not only shorten the breeding period,
which is more than 25 years for conventional crossing, but also
opens the way to develop new species of coffee plant.
Currently,
the same RNA-based technique is being used on C. arabica which
produced high quality Arabica coffee and accounts for about 70%
of the world market.
A brief
communication about this work is available in the June 19 2003
issue of Nature, Vol. 423. For more information email Shinjiro
Ogita at sano@gtc.aist-nara.ac.jp.
PEW INITIATIVE
RELEASES NEW AGRI-BIOTECH MATERIALS
The
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology has released a new fact
sheet and web database on agricultural biotechnology. The new fact
sheet entitled "2001-2002 Legislative Activity Related to
Agricultural Biotechnology" documents state and federal legislative
activity relating to agricultural biotechnology during the said
period.
The
new database, Legislation Tracker, on the other hand, archives
legislation, ballot initiatives, and town hall resolutions introduced
during the 2001-2002 US legislative sessions.
The
fact sheet can be downloaded at http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/factsheets/
legislation/factsheet.php, while the database is
available at http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/
factsheets/legislation.
ANNOUNCEMENT
FAO-BIOTECHNEWS
IN FRENCH AND SPANISH
FAO-BiotechNews,
an e-mail list containing news and events items that are relevant
to applications of biotechnology in food and agriculture in developing
countries, is now also available in French and Spanish.
To subscribe
to the French version, send an e-mail to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org leaving
the subject blank and entering the following one-line text message:
subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Fr-L. For the Spanish version, do the
same except the message should read:subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Esp-L.
For
further information, contact FAO-Biotech-News@fao.org | 
