In
This Issue:
EC
RELEASES STRATEGY FOR BIOTECH
The Commission of the European Communities has released its "Life sciences
and biotechnology - a strategy for Europe" report to the Council, the European
Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
The Commission, together with the Council, was asked by the European Council
in Stockholm in March 2001 to "examine measures required to utilize the full
potential of biotechnology and strengthen the European biotechnology's sector's
competitiveness" as a knowledge-based economy.
The EU proposes in the report a strategy for Europe to benefit from the positive
potential of life sciences and biotechnology, to ensure proper governance,
and to meet Europe's global responsibilities.
In addition, the Commission also recommends a 30-point action plan of concrete
measures by the Commission and the Community, as well as recommendations for
other public and private actors. These include the following:
-
Investing
in people by strengthening a broad education and understanding
of life sciences, as well as developing a skilled workforce
-
Enhancing
support for research, technological development, demonstration
and training activities
-
Creating
self-sustaining networks of biotech company managers
-
Creating
a strong, harmonized and affordable European intellectual property
protection system
-
Strengthening
the capital base for the biotech industry
-
Supporting
a commercial biotechnology web portal for Europe
The
full report is available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/biotechnology/pdf/policypaper_en.pdf
GM
CROPS TO BENEFIT EGYPTIAN FARMERS
An advance report from the Agricultural Policy Reform Program (APRP) in Egypt
concludes that farmers who will plant genetically modified (GM) crops will
benefit from reduction in pesticide application and concomitantly lesser production
costs.
Lawrence Kent of APRP and Motaz Moniem, APRP associate consultant, studied
the potential benefits of GM crops for Egypt. This was a response to the request
of the Secretariat of the National Biosafety Committee to quantify the potential
benefits of five GM crops where research by the Agricultural Genetic Engineering
Research Institute (AGERI) is most advanced. These crops include cotton, squash,
potato, tomato and corn.
Highlights of the researchers' results include:
-
Farmers
who plant GE cotton will no longer need to spray for leaf worms
or bollworms, allowing them to decrease their expenditures on
pest management by 160-360 LE per feddan. They can also expect
increases in harvests by 5 to 10 percent. As a result, adopters
can expect their net income to increase by 460 LE per feddan
per year, even after paying a premium for the GE seed.
-
Farmers
who plant GE squash will no longer need to spray pesticides to
slow the spread of problematic viruses. By switching to GE squash,
a farmer can expect an increase in net income of 325 to 535 LE
per feddan, even after paying for the GE seed.
-
Farmers
who plant GE potatoes will no longer need to spray pesticides
against the potato tuber moth (PTM), one of several problems
harming potato yields. By switching to GE potatoes, the farmer
can expect to reduce his expenditures on pest control by 76 LE
per feddan on average (during the summer). He can also anticipate
yields that are 2 to 10% higher. Overall, a farmer who switches
can expect an increase in net returns of 213 to 423 LE per feddan,
taking account of the higher price of GE seed.
-
Farmers
who plant GE tomatoes will no longer need to spray pesticides
to control the whitefly which is a carrier for the devastating
tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TLCV). By switching to GE tomatoes,
a farmer can expect to reduce his expenditures on pest control
by 700 to 1,755 LE per feddan. He can also anticipate yields
that are 7 to 15% higher.
For
more information contact: Motaz A. Moniem, Research Assistant / Associate
Consultant Agricultural Policy Reform Program (APRP) Reform, Design
and Implementation Unit (RDI), USAID at Tele: +202-3375712, 3370473
or cellular: +2010 617 3477
NO
SIMPLE DESCRIPTION OF PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT BIOTECH
Innovative technologies, like agricultural biotechnology, are evolving or in
a stage of flux. Hence, the public potentially see and value them differently
over time. "As a result, there can be no simple description of the public's
opinion about biotechnology", say Baruch Fischhoff and Ilya Fischhoff of Carnegie
Mellon University and Princeton University, respectively.
The tandem raised this view in their paper "Publics' Opinions About Biotechnologies" published
in the Agbioforum Journal. Fischhoff and Fischhoff noted that suveys eliciting
opinion about biotechnology applications point to the following conclusions:
-
People
distinguish among biotechnologies
-
Different
people have different views about biotechnologies
-
People
have limited knowledge about biotechnologies and know it
-
People
have strong opinions about how biotechnologies are managed
-
People
have complex evaluative schemes and respond to evidence
The
study suggests that "citizens respond reasonably, should they receive
relevant information, in comprehensive forms, from trusted sources,
than have appropriate opportunities to express their opinions".
The complete paper is available at http://www.agbioforum.org/Default/vol4no34ar2fischhoff.htm
BIOTECH PRODUCT
SALES INCREASE
UK consulting firm Phillips McDougall AgriService reports in Chemical Week
that sales of biotechnology-based products which include genetically modified
(GM) crops jumped 12.9% in 2001. This accounts to about US$ 3 billion in sales.
In contrast, sales of conventional crop protection products declined by 7.4%
($ 25.8 billion) in the same period.
Most major agricultural chemical companies suffered sales declines in conventional
agchems. Some medium-size companies reported sales increases compared to 2000,
however, largely due to acquisitions of product lines.
Most of the leading crop protection companies have made significant investments
in the GM seed industry, but only Aventis, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and
Syngenta currently derive sales from the biotechnology market, Phillips McDougall
says.
The overall value of the worldwide seeds market, including conventionally bred
seed and GM crops, has grown from $ 15.3 billion in 1996, to $ 16.7 billion
in 2001. The contribution from conventional products has declined by more than
10% over that time, and conventional sales slipped approximately 3.2%, to $
13.4 million in 2001 alone, Phillips McDougall adds.
BLAIR
HITS PROTESTERS WHO BLOCK SCIENCE INITIATIVES
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair says he promises to break down the "anti- science
fashion" in Britain, declaring that the Government will never give way to misguided
protesters who stand in the way of medical and economic development. Blair
is expected to give a speech on this subject on May 24, 2002, advanced excerpts
of which were given in an interview with UK's The Times.
The Prime Minister opined that there should be a more mature attitude to science
in Britain. He called for an end to the air of suspicion and mistrust that
sometimes surrounded the work of scientists and the misplaced fears and ignorance
it often generated. Blair said there were huge opportunities in science, for
medical progress and for dealing with some of the great environmental and economic
challenges.
The Prime Minister said that actions of protesters have resulted in work being
held up on research into genetically modified foods. He decried the regular
description of GM foods as "Frankenstein foods". "It is time to defend science,
to make clear that the Government is not going to allow misguided protests
against science to get in the way of confronting the challenges of making the
most of our opportunities."
Blair is expected to promise increasing investment in research and development.
His interview with The Times is available at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-301724,00.html
STUDY
ON THE CO-EXISTENCE OF GM CROPS WITH CONVENTIONAL AND ORGANICS
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) released a report on the "Co-existence of GM
crops with conventional and organic crops". It is the first study to address
the European Commission's commitment to "ensure the viability of conventional
and organic farming and their sustainable co-existence with GM crops".
Co-existence was defined by the research as the "principle of freedom of choice
for economic operators to apply different agricultural production systems".
Three crops were selected as case studies, namely oilseed rape for seed production,
grain maize used for feed production and potato for direct consumption and
food processing.
The study stated that "in general, there is a trend to expect lower levels
of adventitious presence of GM crops on organic farms" since they already have
segregation systems in place. It was also stated that "all farm types, organic
as well as conventional, could achieve a hypothetical 0.3% threshold for GMOs
in seed production by changing farming practices" however a 0.1% threshold
would be more difficult to reach.
EuropaBio, the European association for bio-industries issued a press release
regarding the JRC report. The press release said that "some of the scenarios
and assumptions made in the study suggest that further introduction of GM crop
production in Europe could raise the cost of traditional and organic growers
because of the incidence of adventitious presence of GM material". The report's
authors state that the key findings have to be taken with care since the models
are not yet fully validated. Europabio further states that "the report confirms
that for different farming systems to co-exist with a minimal impact on farming
practices, legislators need to set reasonable thresholds for GM material found
in non GM crops".
The Joint Research Centre is the European Union's scientific and technical
research laboratory and an integral part of the European Commission. It provides
scientific advice and technical know-how to support EU policies.
The JRC report can be downloaded at http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/default.asp?
sIdSz=our_work&sIdStSz=focus_on
ANNOUNCEMENT:
INTERNATIONAL BIOMARKET IN THE UK
The Third Rothamsted International BioMarket - 'BioProducts from Plants and
Microbes' at Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts, UK will be held from November 5-7,
2002.
This
international commercial networking meeting will interest research
entrepreneurs, business incubator managers, investors, patent agents
and others interested in developing and commercializing added value
products and services from plants and microbes.
For
further details about the Third International BioMarket, please visit http://www.biomarket.iarc.ac.uk or
email biomarket@bbsrc.ac.uk |
