Crop Biotech Update

A weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA), and AgBiotechNet

September 19, 2003

In This Issue:

Southern African Countries Agree on GM Policy
US Consumers’ Knowledge About GM Foods Still Low
French Scientists Issue Petition Against GMO Destruction
Juma: Openly Address S&T Issues with Publics
EU Trade Barriers Affect Developing Countries
Male Sterility in Plants Unlocked
Larson: Biotech Too Important to Ignore
Announcement:
Standards for GM Food Safety Crucial
CORDIA-EuropaBio Convention 2003
Chinese Consumers Generally Positive to GM Foods
 

SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES AGREE ON GM POLICY

Fourteen nations from Southern Africa have come up with common guidelines on the regulation of genetically modified organisms and other products resulting from biotechnology. The 14 member states are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The guidelines were adopted last month at a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) meeting and cover areas such as policy development and regulation of GM crops and GM food, the handling of food aid, and measures to increase public awareness of biotechnology and biosafety.

The guidelines assert that the region should develop mutual policy and regulatory systems that are based on either the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, or the African Model Law on Biosafety. The heads of member states also agreed to develop national biotechnology policies and strategies, and to increase their efforts to establish national biosafety regulatory systems. Member states were also urged to commission studies on the implications of biotechnology for agriculture, the environment, public health and socio-economics.


FRENCH SCIENTISTS ISSUE PETITION AGAINST GMO DESTRUCTION

Some 1,500 French scientists including Nobel prize winners Pierre-Gilles de Gennes and Jean-Marie Lehn, have signed a petition calling for an end to activists destruction of genetically modified crop trials. They noted that almost half of the trials in France have already been destroyed causing a significant blow to research.

Reuters News Service quotes Alain Toppan, director of research of Biogemma, a French biotech company, as saying that "We have to return to scientific criteria. These acts of destruction are not part of the debate.”

Biogemma and US-based Monsanto field trials are some of the companies that have suffered from the destruction of crop trials. In July, Biogemma was reported to have threatened to stop further research in France because of attacks to its fields.


EU TRADE BARRIERS AFFECT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

A new report titled “EU Trade Barriers Kill” was recently released by the Centre for the New Europe (CNE). Authored by Stephen Pollard, Alberto Mingardi, Cecile Philippe, and Dr. Sean Gabb, this new report explores the impact of the European Union (EU) trade regulations and barriers on the developing world.

According to the report, trade barriers imposed by the EU limits the access of developing countries to the European market, which is considered the richest in the world. The EU trade barriers are said to slow down the development of the poorest countries in the world, and one of these is Africa.

The authors say that “if Africa could increase its share of world trade by just one percent, it would earn an additional £49 billion a year. This would be enough to lift 128 million people out of extreme poverty. If the poorest countries as a whole could increase their share of world exports by five per cent, that would generate £248 billion or $350 billion, raising millions more out of extreme poverty.”

The EU, the United States, Japan and Canada account for 75% of the world’s output. These countries are the supposed destinations for exports from the poorest countries. While these countries are discussing world trade liberalization, they are said to have kept their domestic markets closed to agricultural and textile exports from the developing world.

The authors conclude that “for the European Union to open its markets to the poorest countries of the world is the moral, humane thing to do. It is also directly of benefit to the true interests of European consumers and producers, and the interests of everyone.”

Read the full report at http://www.cne.org/pub_pdf/2003_09_04_EU_barriers_kill.pdf.


LARSON: BIOTECH TOO IMPORTANT TO IGNORE

Science-based regulation of agricultural biotechnology contributes to the free trade of safe biotech applications and to the appropriate use of this technology to promote development. Hence, biotechnology is one of the most promising new technologies and is too important for the world to ignore. So says Alan Larson, United States Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs.

In a paper entitled “ Trade and Development Dimensions of U.S. International Biotechnology Policy”, Larson adds that restrictions on the development and use of biotechnology-derived products threaten the international trading system and are preventing developing countries from exploring the technology’s potential to improve people’s lives.

Larson says that the only way to maintain a free and fair trading system, is for products traded in that system to be regulated in a logical, objective and science-based manner. Only when such a system is in place can “we have confidence in the safety of the products we trade. How biotechnology-derived crops are treated in the international system will have consequences not just for biotechnology but also for all new technologies.”

Read the full article online at http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0903/ijee/larson/htm.


STANDARDS FOR GM FOOD SAFETY CRUCIAL

Food safety assessment is not just about science, but also about perceptions, concerns, and standards about how to assure “safety.” Thus, agreements on reasonable standards of safety for developing countries will be critical. This is the main point raised by Joel Cohen and colleagues in a brief issued by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

This agreement, according to the authors, will allow for and encourage exchange of data, which will help ensure that data requirements are manageable among countries. Hence, there is a need to assure capacity building for biotechnology and biosafety. Such competency will enable countries to conduct independent research and create sufficient infrastructure to allow scientifically defensible decisions regarding food safety issues “colored by each country’s perceptions and circumstances.”

Download the IFPRI brief entitled Food Safety and GM Crops: Implications for Developing Country Research, one in a series on Food Safety in Food Security and Food Trade, at
http://www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus10/focus10_16.pdf


CHINESE CONSUMERS GENERALLY POSITIVE TO GM FOODS

Majority of consumers surveyed in Beijing, China had little or no knowledge of biotechnology but their attitude toward genetically modified (GM) foods was generally positive. This was the major finding of a survey conducted by Quan Li and colleagues from the Washington State University.

Respondents were positive toward GM foods like GM rice and GM soybean oil with product-enhancing attributes. A positive opinion toward biotechnology significantly increased consumers’ willingness to pay for both GM products, while for GM soybean, higher levels of consumers’ self reported knowledge also increased their willingness to pay.

The researchers conclude that the marketing outlook for GM foods in China is optimistic. Since younger people are more willing to buy GM food products with certain attributes, the Chinese market is perceived to be even more open to GM foods in the future.

The full paper is available online at http://www.agbioforum.org/v5n4/v5n4a03-wahl.htm.


US CONSUMERS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GM FOODS STILL LOW

The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology released a survey which showed that, after two years, US consumers’ knowledge about genetically modified (GM) food are still low, and their perceptions about their safety are still divided.

The survey findings also showed that having the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review and approve GM products increases US consumers’ confidence about GM food. But public support slowly decreases as the uses of GM technology shifts from plants to animals.

The major findings of the survey are as follows:

  • Thirty-four percent (34%) of US consumers have heard a great deal about GM food (a 10 point decline in 2001’s percentage of 44%). While, 36% have heard about the uses of biotechnology in food production (a 9 point decline in 2001’s 45%).
  • Twenty-four percent (24%) of consumers say that they have eaten GM foods, while 58% believe that they have not. This is despite estimates that 70 to 75% of processed food in the groceries contains GM food.
  • Forty-eight percent (48%) of consumers polled say that they will support the introduction of GM foods into the US food supply (a 10 point decline in 2001’s 58%), while 25% supported its introduction. Twenty-seven percent (27%) perceive GM foods as safe.
  • Sixty-four percent (64%) of consumers oppose a ban on GM foods, but are strongly supportive of a regulatory process that directly involves the FDA. And 89% believe that GM foods should be placed in the market only after the FDA has determined its safety.
  • Fifty-eight percent (58%) of consumers polled oppose the genetic modification of animals, and were comfortable with the use of the science in the improvement of plants. Medical and personal safety issues are the most widely accepted uses of genetic modifications.

The survey was conducted by The Mellman Group, Inc., and Public Opinion Strategies, Inc. last August 5 to 10, 2003 via telephone interviews with 1,000 US consumers. The survey report can be downloaded at http://pewagbiotech.org/research/2003update/2003summary.pdf.


JUMA: OPENLY ADDRESS S & T ISSUES WITH PUBLICS

Much of the debates about agricultural biotechnology is steered by myths and misinformation and not by science. Hence, the scientific community, with stronger support from governments, must do more to openly address science and technology issues with their publics. This is the opinion shared by Calestous Juma, professor and director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

In an article entitled “Biotechnology in the Global Communication Ecology” published in the Economic Perspective, Juma avers that addressing the issue of biotechnology communication requires an improved understanding of the changing ecology of communication. This ecology includes a complex networks of information sources and opinion leaders.

Juma adds that enhancing the capacity of leadership to address science and technology issues will contribute to the effective management of public debates over new technologies in general and biotechnology in particular. It is necessary, he says to rethink strategies for advancing the role of biotechnology in society. “The scientific community will need not only to demonstrate a clear sense of leadership, but also to adapt its communication methods to suit the growing complexity and diverse needs of the global community,” he concluded.

View the full article online at http://usinfo.State.gov/journals/ites/0903/ijee/juma.htm


MALE STERILITY IN PLANTS UNLOCKED

A plant geneticist, Sally Mackenzie, at the University of Nebraska is said to have discovered the genetic key to the male sterility of a wide range of crops. Sterile plants make it easier to breed improved varieties that yield and perform better. They also help to produce hybrid seeds more economically. Sterility in plants also solves the concerns that genetically modified (GM) plants could possibly spread their pollen to their wild plant relatives.

Mackenzie and her colleagues found a gene in the cell’s nucleus that controls genetic changes in the mitochondria, which are the cell’s energy producers and also contains the plant’s DNA. By inserting a foreign DNA into this gene, changes were observed in the mitochondria – and one of these pinpointed what triggers male sterility.

The plant geneticist added that after removing the foreign DNA that caused the genetic change, the plant remained sterile. Thus, removal of the foreign DNA will no longer make the plant transgenic, and lessen concerns about it being genetically modified. The news release is available at http://ard.unl.edu/rn/0903/4_5.pdf.


ANNOUNCEMENT:

CORDIA-EuropaBio Convention 2003

EuropaBio will hold a biotech event on December 2 to 4, 2003 in Vienna. Entitled “CORDIA – EuropaBio Convention 2003,” the event will feature 400 speakers discussing all the aspects of biotechnology, particularly healthcare biotech, and new genetically modified crops and their impact on European agriculture and the environment. For more information, visit http://www.cordiaconvention.com

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