An FAO Report
July, 2003

Foreword

Biotechnology provides powerful tools for the sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as the food industry. When used in a safe manner and appropriately integrated with other technologies for the production of food, agricultural products and services, biotechnology can be of significant assistance in meeting the needs of the population in transition countries. In order to be in a position to take full advantage of the technology, countries must have the necessary infrastructure, financial support and expertise in the development, assessment and transfer of technologies including the regulatory aspects.

This report is aiming to compile and analyse the current situation of biotechnology and biosafety issues in the Balkans and the Caucasus based on consultant assessments and official information from web sites.

The countries of the Balkans were: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (TFYRM) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY, now Serbia and Montenegro). The countries of the Caucasus and Moldova group included: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova. Moldova, although not a Caucasus country, but belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States as the Caucasian countries, was included in the same subgroup.

The report provides information on the situation of agricultural biotechnology in transition countries and identifies areas requiring political, legal, financial and technical support.  

Information on biotechnology products and techniques of the countries assessed has been included in the FAO-BioDec Database and can be searched for under http://www.fao.org/biotech/inventory_admin/dep/default.asp

Complete report in MS Word format is available for download.
WARNING: very large file is 577KB and will take a long time to download
 http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2003/august/6354.doc