In
This Issue:
UNDP REPORT
SUPPORTS BIOTECH
The Human
Development Report 2001 commissioned by the United Nations Development
Programme has just been officially released in Mexico City. It provides
an analysis of the potential of biotechnology and information/communications
technology for developing countries, particularly in reducing world
poverty.
Developed
countries have been urged to put aside their fears of genetically
modified organisms and help poorer nations unlock the potentials
of biotechnology. "Biotechnology offers the only or the best
'tool of choice' for marginal ecological zones, left behind by the
green revolution but home to more than half of the world's poorest
people," the Report said.
Highlights
of the Report include the following insights:
* The
potential of biotechnology has barely been exploited. While the area
planted to genetically modified (GM) crops increased from 2 million
hectares in 1996 to 44 million hectares in 2000, 98% of that was
in three countries: the United States, Canada and Argentina.
* The
current debates in Europe and the US over GM crops ignore the concerns
and needs of developing countries. Western consumers who do not face
food shortages or nutritional deficiencies or work in the fields
are more likely to focus on food safety and the potential loss of
biodiversity. Farming communities in developing countries are more
likely to focus on potentially higher yields and greater nutritional
value and reduced need for pesticides.
* Regulated
planting of biotech crops could reduce malnutrition and starvation
in developing countries. Industry and governments should therefore
increase investment to develop hardier strains of millet, sorghum,
soybeans and other crops that feed much of the world's population.
* The
benefits of GM crops to developing countries are likely to outweigh
their risks if their use is properly controlled. Developed countries
should consider their expanded use on a case-to-case basis. The risks
of GM crops would be best managed if rich and poor nations interacted
more, and also if developing countries like China were to share their
information more widely.
* While
acknowledging that risks to human health and the environment had
fueled mistrust of new technologies, language has become a political
weapon. 'Traitor technologies and 'frankenfoods', for example instill
fear and anxiety. However, there has not been a single proven death
from GM foods. While food safety is an important issue, the more
dominant issue is lack of food.
* There
should be mandatory labeling of GM crops so that consumers and nations
can make informed decisions.
* Problems
with biotechnology and food safety are often the result of poor policies,
inadequate regulation and lack of transparency. Countries like Argentina
and Egypt however, are examples of developing countries that are
moving forward in creating national guidelines, approval procedure
and research institutes to evaluate the risks of GM crops.
The full
Report can be accessed for free by visiting the UNDP website (www.undp.org/hydro).
USAID'S
BERTRAM SAYS TAKE GAMBLE ON GM FOODS
Robert
Bertram, of the US Agency for International Development, told the
Bangkok delegates that Asian nations must take a gamble on GM food
and crops, or risk not being able to feed their high populations
in the decades ahead. He added that the benefits of the new technology
far outweighed the potential risks.
Bertram
expressed the thought that the controversy over GM crops was a luxury
only rich and well-fed countries could afford. "Poor farmers
in the developing world would be puzzled by the debates taking place
in the countries of the north," he said.
IRRI'S
KHUSH ASSERTS BIOTECH IS A CRITICAL WEAPON
Gurdev
Khush of the International Rice Research Institute voiced out during
the Bangkok conference that biotechnology is a critical weapon in
the developing world's battle against hunger and malnutrition.
"We
have to use all the tools at our disposal to develop new plant varieties," the
rice breeder said. He noted that biotechnology could be used to develop
plant varieties that would boost yields and nutrition, and transform
the lives of the world's poor.
Despite
public fears over the safety of GM foods, Khush noted that GM crops
are currently under production and there have been no reported cases
or illness from these crops. "The actual needs of the hungry
far outweigh the potential risks of GM crops," he explained.
CHINA'S
PERSPECTIVE: LESS PESTICIDE POISONING DUE TO GM CROPS
Jikun
Huang, director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, said
during the Bangkok conference, that hundreds of lives are being saved
as a result of the commercial production of GM crops. The Chinese
plant scientist illustrated this by stating that 400 to 500 people
die every year from pesticide use. However, the toll is dropping
as more farmers switch to GM crops and reduce the volume of pesticides
they use.
Huang
cited a case study comparing farmers in China who cultivate GM crops
with those who plant traditional varieties. A significant decrease
in the volume of pesticides was observed among GM farmers, from 50
kilograms per hectare when they grew non-Bt crops to an average of
18 kilograms per hectare with Bt varieties. Farmers cultivating only
Bt corn suffered significantly less pesticide poisoning than those
farming only traditional crops. Farmers who grew both varieties suffered
an intermediate level of poisoning.
The China
case study will be published in the September 2001 issue of the Plant
Journal.
BIOTECH CONFERENCE
CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY ON GMOs
A three-day
international conference was held recently in Bangkok on "New
Biotechnology Food and Crops: Science, Safety and Society." Participants
recommended that stakeholders commit to greater transparency on genetically
modified organisms. They likewise called on governments to increase
their support for independent and publicly funded research into the
risks and benefits of GM foods and crops.
The conference
was organized by the United Kingdom and the Organization for Economic
Development in cooperation with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,
the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Program,
the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Government of Thailand.
More than 300 scientists, government officials, representatives of
industry, agriculture and civil society and the media from over 50
countries in five continents attended.
A final
summary will be published on the conference website (http://www.oecd.org/bangkok/)
following a further round of comments from participants. The Earl
of Selborne, the conference chair and Chairman of the UK Chemicals
Stakeholder forum stressed the need for greater transparency on the
part of all participants in the interest of a constructive dialogue
on the risks and benefits of new biotechnology. Notably, this entails
high quality, accessible and relevant science in support of risk
assessment.
Six recommendations
were forwarded for promoting increased transparency and improved
stakeholder confidence:
* Governments
and industry should prepare dossiers not just for satisfying the
regulatory process but also to meet in part their duty of accountability
to society.
* Intergovernmental
organizations and national bodies concerned with new biotechnology
should make a commitment to attend appropriate stakeholder fora.
* Organizations
should review their own approaches to transparency as well as the
approaches of other organizations with which they relate.
* Research
should be done to elaborate methods to monitor GMOs in the environment
while intergovernmental organizations should be proactive in harmonizing
guidelines in this field.
* An accelerated,
international coordinated program of capacity-building activities
should be initiated.
* Governments
should retain an acceptable balance between public and private research
funding for biosafety application.
BRITAIN'S
PRESCOTT DEFENDS GM CROPS
Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott of Britain in his opening speech during
the Bangkok conference said that "violent" protest tactics
were hampering developments of genetically modified technology. Noting
that while biotechnology had the potential to bring tremendous benefits,
the process of international negotiations had been disrupted in recent
years by these protests.
Prescott
stressed that despite the potential risks they introduced, GM food
and crops had the capacity to help humanity. He noted however, that
deep public suspicion towards GM technology was due to a lack of
transparency in research work and a widely held belief that the biotech
industry has tried to force products on an unwilling public.
"The
public's real concerns must be addressed and there must be greater
transparency of information in the labeling of GM foods to allow
genuine consumer choice", he concluded. |
