In This
Issue:
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. |