Regional Consultation on Biotechnology and Biosafety

The Regional Consultation on Biotechnology and Biosafety for Agriculture and Environment in the West Asia and North Africa Sub-region was held in the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria. The workshop was organized to develop, through a participatory approach, a proposal for an integrated regional framework on biotechnology and biosafety involving many stakeholders. Representatives and scientists from ministers of agriculture and of the environment of 16 countries, and three international organizations participated in the workshop.

The Director General of ICARDA Dr. Mahmoud Solh emphasized in his opening remarks the potentials of biotechnology in meeting the increasing food demand in developing countries in a sustainable way. Its use must be nutritionally and environmentally safe, he said. Representatives of co-sponsoring organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization's Dr. Kakoli Ghoh and Dr. Fe Chon Chong of the United Nations Energy Programme/ Global Environment Facility UNEP/ GEF, also expressed their views and expectations of the workshop. The workshop concluded with the participants' unanimous agreement to form a follow-up committee composed of all stakeholders. This committee will be tasked to develop a regional project for GEF’s consideration to enhance capacity in biotechnology and biosafety as well as to harmonize biosafety regulations across West Asia and North Africa.  

Details of the press release can be viewed at: http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/News/2007/12Sep07/12Sep07.htm.