The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) will hold its third public meeting on Dec. 4-5 in Washington, D.C. The committee will continue working to develop a report examining the impacts of agricultural biotechnology on American agriculture and USDA over the next 5 to 10 years.

At the meeting, the committee will discuss issues and concerns related to the impact of plant biotechnology products over the next five to 10 years, will consider preliminary presentations related to animal biotechnology products and will discuss the challenges posed to industry by foreign labeling and traceability requirements for biotechnology products.

The meeting will take place in the Vista C Room at the Wyndham Washington Hotel, 1400 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., both days.

Because of limited space, if you would like to attend the meetings, please register by contacting Ms. Dianne Harmon at 202-720-4074, by fax at 202-720-3191 or by e-mail at dharmon@ars.usda.gov at least five days prior to the meetings.

The AC21 consists of 18 members representing the biotechnology industry, the seed industry, international plant genetics researchers, farmers, food manufacturers, commodity processors and shippers, environmental and consumer groups along with academic researchers, including a bioethicist.