.

FAO-BiotechNews - Update 3-2007
(Excerpts of relevance to seed professionals)
Source: http://www.fao.org/biotech

GMOs in crop production - Environmental effects

On 18-20 January 2005, FAO hosted an expert consultation in Rome, Italy, on "Genetically modified organisms in crop production and their effects on the environment: Methodologies for monitoring and the way ahead". Proceedings of the consultation, edited by K. Ghosh and P.C. Jepson, are now available on the web, consisting of the report plus a selection of papers presented by invited speakers. The consultation recommended that all responsible deployment of GM crops needed to comprise the whole technology development process, from the pre-release risk assessment to biosafety considerations and post-release monitoring, and that a continuous engagement of stakeholders is essential for success of the process. Two distinct strategies were developed that could be used as the basis for efficient monitoring programmes.
See http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0802e/a0802e00.htm or contact kakoli.ghosh@fao.org to request a copy.

Biotechnology and the Cartagena Protocol - Implications for cereal trade

The 31st Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Grains and the 42nd Session of the Intergovernmental Group on Rice are being held in a joint meeting on 14-17 May 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the papers prepared for the meeting is entitled "Biotechnology in crop production and the Biosafety Protocol - Implications for cereal trade", whose aim is to present an overview of modern biotechnology in crop production, with a particular reference to genetically modified organisms, discuss the international instruments of relevance in this area and highlight the challenges and implications for cereal trade.
See ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/011/j9312e.pdf or contact IGG-Rice-and-Grains-2007@fao.org for more information. These Intergovernmental Groups were established by FAO's Committee on Commodity Problems and their last Sessions were held in 2004.

CGRFA 11th Regular Session documents

The 11th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) takes place on 11-15 June 2007 in Rome, Italy. Documents for the meeting are now available on the web, some of which are directly related to biotechnology, namely "Progress on the Draft Code of Conduct on Biotechnology as it relates to genetic resources for food and agriculture: policy issues, gaps and duplications" (document CGRFA-11/07/13); "Guiding principles for the development of CGIAR Centres' policies to address the possibility of unintentional presence of transgenes in ex situ collections" (document CGRFA-11/07/14 Rev.1); "The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Final Version" (document CGRFA-11/07/Inf.6); as well as a report from FAO providing an overview of the main activities being undertaken in six of FAO's Priority Areas for Inter-Disciplinary Action (PAIAs), including the Biotechnology PAIA, that are most relevant to the work of the CGRFA (document CGRFA-11/07/20.3). See http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/cgrfa11.htm (documents will eventually be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish) or contact cgrfa@fao.org for more information.

The SPS Agreement and biosafety

As part of its FAO Legal Papers Online series, the FAO Legal Office has recently published "The SPS Agreement and biosafety" by M. Spreij. This paper was presented at a regional training workshop on drafting secondary biosafety regulations held on 10-13 October 2006 in Hanoi, Vietnam, organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It includes a general introduction to the World Trade Organization (WTO), its objectives, functions and structure, and to the relevant WTO Agreements in the biosafety area, notably the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement). In addition, it presents the findings of the Panel Report in the recent biotechnology dispute and identifies some areas of potential conflict between the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and WTO rules, in particular the SPS Agreement. The concluding remarks contain some practical considerations on drafting biosafety legislation. See http://www.fao.org/Legal/prs-ol/lpo65.pdf or contact devlaw@fao.org to request a copy or to provide any comments.

Archives of e-mail conference on biotechnologies and water scarcity

The FAO moderated e-mail conference entitled "Coping with water scarcity in developing countries: What role for agricultural biotechnologies?" is now finished. It ran from 5 March to 1 April 2007, about 430 people subscribed and 78 messages were posted by 50 people in 24 different countries. About two thirds of the messages came from developing countries. Topics discussed included the development of drought tolerant crops, through marker-assisted selection or conventional breeding; genetic modification and alternatives to genetic modification in solving water scarcity; use of bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi inoculants; and the use of biotechnologies for treating wastewater to be used in agriculture.
The messages are available at http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/c14logs.htm or can be requested as a single e-mail (size 128 KB) from biotech-admin@fao.org

ABNETA website

In March 2006, the Agricultural Biotechnology Network in Africa (ABNETA) was launched in Nairobi, Kenya. The initiative, run by the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum in collaboration with FAO, aims to help biotechnologists access information, communicate and collaborate with each other as well as key stakeholders. Its website has been recently expanded and updated, now including webpages explaining what biotechnology is and how some of the different biotechnologies work; links to relevant websites and ABNETA and FAO resources; and to a database (people or organisations can now register) built to facilitate networking among research personnel, breeders, NGOs, donors and other stakeholders around Africa.
See http://www.abneta.org or contact david.priest@fao.org for more information.

Manual of seed handling in genebanks

As part of Bioversity International's Handbooks for Genebanks series, "Manual of seed handling in genebanks' by N.K. Rao, J. Hanson, M.E. Dulloo, K. Ghosh, D. Nowell and M. Larinde has just been published. Publication of the 147-page manual is a joint initiative of Bioversity International, FAO and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), sponsored in part by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). The manual, which is accompanied by a self-learning module, is intended for genebank staff, especially technicians who handle orthodox seeds, and attempts to give simple explanations of procedures for the day-to-day management of seed-handing in genebanks. One of the many topics addressed in the manual is seed testing for inadvertent introduction of transgenes.
See http://www.fao.org/waicent/FaoInfo/Agricult/AGP/AGPS/publ.htm (in English and French) or contact michael.larinde@fao.org for more information.

Plant breeding and biotechnology capacity in the Caucacus

On 21-22 February 2007, a regional workshop was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, on "Assessing and designing strategies to strengthen national plant breeding and biotechnology capacity in the Caucasus", organised by FAO in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The 4-page report of the workshop is now available. See
http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/docs/Workshop%20Draft%20Report%2004%20Regional%20230207.pdf or contact elcio.guimaraes@fao.org for more information.

FAO/IAEA Plant Breeding and Genetics Newsletter 18

The January 2007 newsletter from the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory is now available. This 20-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications.
See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/pbg/public/pb-nl-18.pdf (706KB) or contact k.allaf@iaea.org to request a copy.

Cartagena meetings reports: Liability/Redress - Compliance

Reports of two recent meetings held under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety are now available. The first, the 3rd meeting of the ad hoc Open-ended Working Group on Liability and Redress in the Context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, took place on 19-23 February 2007 in Montreal, Canada.
The 88-page report, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, is available with the meeting documents at http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meeting.asp?mtg=BSWGLR-03. The second, the 3rd meeting of the Compliance Committee under the Protocol on Biosafety, took place on 5-7 March 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 9-page report, together with the meeting documents, is available at http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meeting.aspx?mtg=BSCC-03. Contact secretariat@biodiv.org for any further information.

WTO panel report on biotechnology: UNCTAD document

The 11th annual session of the UNCTAD Trade Commission took place on 19-23 March 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland. One of the documents, entitled "WTO panel report on the EC-biotech case: Considerations for trade and development", prepared for the session deals with the World Trade Organization (WTO) panel report in the "European Communities - Measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products" case.
See http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=4061&lang=1 or contact simonetta.zarrilli@UNCTAD.org for more information.
The UNCTAD Trade Commission is an intergovernmental forum that meets once a year and provides guidance for the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the area of international trade in goods, services and commodities.

GMO field trials in OECD countries

A new webpage of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) has compiled links to websites of some OECD member countries and the European Commission containing publicly available information on field trials of transgenic organisms.
See http://www.oecd.org/document/41/0,2340,en_2649_37437_38235049_1_1_1_37437,00.html or contact icgb@oecd.org for more information.

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated - Fair use notice

Other news from this source