In This Issue:

	EP Approves Tracing/Labeling System for GMOS		Innovative Biotech Policy for Africa
	Borlaug: Agric Tech to Feed Developing World		Biotech Adoption Increases in US
	Mexico Action Summit's "Call to Action"		India-US Biotech Partnership
	McGloughlin: Ag-Biotech for Developing Countries		IITA to Work on Cassava Mosaic Disease
	Consumers International Favors Codex's Move		Announcements:
	Climate Change will Decrease Corn Production		New Publications from ISAAA
	GM Potato to Reduce Fungicide Cost in Europe		Q & A on GMOs in Europe

EP APPROVES TRACING/LABELING SYSTEM FOR GMOS

The European Parliament adopted its second reading on two genetically modified organism (GMO) Commission papers, which consolidates a trustworthy and safe approach to GMOs, GM food and GM feed. These papers establish a system for the tracing and labeling of GM food and feed products, and its placing on the markets in the EU. The EU system would also cover those GM products which have been derived from GMOs. This system also ensures the full traceability of GMOs throughout the chain - that is from farm to fork.

According to Margot Wallstrom, Environment Commissioner, the full implementation of the EU legislation on GMOs reinforces its (EU's) international credibility and could help in building public confidence in new technologies. Similarly, Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Bryne states "consumers will also have a clear choice of products to buy as GM food will now be clearly labeled. For the first time, farmers will see labels on GM feed. Europe will now have a comprehensive and transparent system of authorization and labeling that can only enhance business and consumer confidence."

Some of the provisions of the new law are as follows:

• When using or handling GM products, business operators are required to transmit and retain information at each stage of placing on the market. Information on the presence of GMOs in products must be transmitted throughout the entire chain and retained for five years. Industry must ensure that all systems are in place.

• All foods produced from GMOs, irrespective of whether there is DNA or protein of GM origin in the final product, will now be labeled.

• Current labeling requirements will now cover all food (such as soya or maize oil produced from GM soya or GM maize) and food ingredients produced from GMOs (such as biscuits with maize oil produced from GM maize).

• GM feed will be labeled in accordance with the laws applied to GM food.

• The presence of GM material in conventional food need not be labeled if it is below 0.9%.

• Adventitious GM materials should not exceed the threshold set at 0.5% unless the operator can demonstrate that its presence was unavoidable.

Related articles can be downloaded at http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/
guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/935|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display
and http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PROG=PRESS&XSL=PRESS-NEWS&L=EN&REFERER=$nt$/press/Index_en.htm

In related developments, Associated Press reports that the Bush administration believes that biotech food label requirements approved by the European Parliament are onerous, and has not changed its view that an illegal ban is still in place.

The new requirements will end a five-year moratorium on the introduction of new genetically engineered foods but US officials say that the proposed traceability and labeling does not meet US feasibility standards.

BORLAUG: AGRIC TECH TO FEED DEVELOPING WORLD

Nobel Peace Laureate Norman Borlaug said that the 21st Century challenge to agriculture is producing enough food to sustain the world's continued population growth. "The world has the technology, either available or well-advanced in the research pipeline, to feed 10 billion people. Extending the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution will provide a better diet at lower prices to many more food-insecure people," he added.

Borlaug gave a keynote address at the Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology held recently in Sacramento, California. He stressed that agricultural scientists can meet this challenge through continued research and development of technology, including biotechnology. However, he noted that some organizations that influence public policy are impeding research due to unfounded fears. For example, he noted that regulations constrain innovation especially in smaller laboratories, and that the World Bank and many bilateral donors have decreased support for public led research. Borlaug also questioned the rapid consolidation of ownership of life sciences companies and the current intellectual property system.

The Nobel Laureate likewise focused on Africa which he says remains the region of greatest concern. Africa's problems like declining soil fertility and sparse application of improved technology, coupled with the lack of roads and transport, poor education and health services, and high population growth has led to continued chronic hunger which portends an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

For additional information on the Ministerial Conference, visit: http://www.usda.gov.

MEXICO ACTION SUMMIT'S "CALL TO ACTION"

About 200 participants from both public and private sectors who attended the Mexico Action Summit in Mexico City from 2-3 June 2003 came up with an action plan for cooperation between business, governments, multilateral institutions and civil society from developing and developed countries.

The Summit was part of the continuing global momentum for sustainable development where participants explored how increased food production to feed the rural poor can be made compatible with natural resource management and biodiversity stewardship.

Pedro Sanchez, World Food Prize Laureate 2002, presented the draft Call to Action. The Call included elements on:

• The need for G8 leaders to act now to decisively address hunger and poverty and to protect and restore the world's natural environment for future generations;

• The need for the Millennium Development Goals be the framework that unites all public and private action;

• The need for new approaches to working together in the policy arena and in the scale-up of ecologically responsible and socially productive agriculture, with the aim of promoting linkages between agriculture, biodiversity and poverty elimination;

• The need to restore agriculture as the priority sector in national and international public policies; and

• The need to eliminate subsidies on agricultural products and to adequately value and promote health ecological systems that provide the basis for agricultural production and a well-nourished population.

The full report on the Mexico Summit is available online at http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/sd/sdmex/sdvol86num1.html

MCGLOUGHLIN: AG-BIOTECH FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

"Biotechnology is one tool which has a great impact on plant agriculture in the developing world. Let us not throw away the technology merely because of philosophical issues," says Dr. Martina Newell-McGloughlin, Director of the University of California System wide Biotechnology Research and Education Program. Speaking before a multi-sectoral audience in Manila, Philippines, she shared her insights on "Agricultural biotechnology: Benefits and questions today, potential and challenges tomorrow."

McGloughlin noted that the tools of biotechnology can be used to improve texture, color, flavor, growing season, stress tolerance, yield, geographical distribution, disease resistance, shelf-life and other properties of production crops. "The ability to manipulate plant nutritional content heralds an exciting new era and has the potential to directly benefit consumers and have a positive impact in developing countries," she added. Examples of GM crops that have great potential for these countries include Bt corn which reduces toxic fungi, GM rice with increased beta carotene, delayed ripened fruits like papaya and mango, and plant vaccines.

The internationally recognized authority on biotechnology said that the belief that genetically modified foods pose new or greater dangers to the environment or human health are "neither supported by the weight of scientific research nor by a great majority of the scientific community. Millions of people have already eaten the products of agricultural biotechnology and no adverse effects have been demonstrated".

McGloughlin likewise emphasized that from conception to commercial introduction, it can take up to 10 years to bring a biotech plant to the market; pass through ten separate regulatory procedures, and six separate opportunities for the public to review and comment on the regulatory process. After commercialization, the regulatory agencies still have the power to demand immediate market removal of any product feared to have unreasonable safety risks.

She concluded by saying that "we should not limit the wonderful potential of improved nutrition and quality that promise to strengthen the agricultural economies in the world."

CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL FAVORS CODEX'S MOVE

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, a food standards agency which is a joint effort of the UN World Health Organization and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, adopted three sets of standards on the safe regulations of GMOs. Consumer International sees this move of Codex as strengthening EU countries that opt for established regulatory systems concerning GMOs.

"These standards are a tremendous victory for consumers, for science, for good regulation and for common sense," says Julian Edwards, Director-General of Consumers International, which represents more than 250 organizations in 110 countries.

These three documents provide guidelines for the safe assessment of GM crops (such as maize, corn, soybeans) and GM microorganisms. Provisions were given in cases when GM food may contain new toxins or allergens, is altered nutritionally, or exhibits unexpected effects.

"Product tracing " was also endorsed as a tool for risk management, and a baseline standard, which ensures that GMOs are "as safe as their conventional counterpart," was established.

The three documents further addressed several key controversies about GM food, such as 1. the transfer of genes from commonly allergenic foods (e.g., peanuts), and 2. antibiotic resistance marker genes in GMOs that could create resistance to "clinically used" antibiotics.

See Consumers International's press release at http://www.consumersinternational.org/news/display.asp?
regionid=135&tag=C&id=261&type=news&cat=465&langid=1

CLIMATE CHANGE WILL DECREASE CORN PRODUCTION

Scientists of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) predict that climate change could potentially lead to a 10 percent drop in developing-country corn production over the next 50 years. Researchers Peter Jones and Philip Thorton of CIAT and ILRI, respectively, forecast possible annual losses of up to 10 million tons in a worst-case scenario.

The team's findings were based from weather simulations from a computer model called "MarkSim". In a report published in the journal Global Environmental Change, the researchers predict that countries such as Brazil and Mexico will be greatly affected and that, overall, Latin America would see a 25 percent reduction in corn production due to higher temperatures and decreasing rainfall. About 20 percent decrease in production will be experienced by Africa.

"The message to be derived from the data, however, is that there will be many places where yield reductions can be handled by new varieties or agricultural practices, some where yields will increase due to climate change, and still others where crops will effectively no longer grow," said Jones.

The CIAT researcher adds that their ultimate objective is "to arm the poorest and most vulnerable members of society with coping strategies geared to their locations. If we can provide quality information on local climate effects and encourage policymakers to act on this information, farmers will likely suffer less from crop losses due to climate change."

For more information, visit http://www.futureharvest.org/news/maize_model.shtml or email Peter Jones at p.jones@cgiar.org

GM POTATO TO REDUCE FUNGICIDE COST IN EUROPE

Successful introduction of a genetically modified potato, particularly late blight resistant potato, on 100 percent of European potato acreage would eliminate the need for European Union growers to use 7.5 million kilograms of fungicides, thus reducing production costs by (375 million and increasing potato production by 858 million kilograms worth (99 million. This is the forecast of Leonard Gianessi and colleagues in their case study entitled "Plant Biotechnology: Potential Impact for Improving Pest Management in European Agriculture: Potato Case Study."

One of a series of case studies recently completed by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Washington, DC, the potato case study provides a summary of the potential impacts of Bt potato in Europe.

The research team cited a University of Idaho study that estimated the potential benefit of GM late blight resistant potato in Europe. It estimated that planting it would reduce fungicide cost by $136/ha in Europe or a reduction in 25 million kilograms of fungicide. The average benefit for Europe was $212/hectare which includes yield increases, reduction in storage rots, improved quality, and reduced fungicide cost.

The full report is available online at http://www.ncfap.org/reports/Europe/Potato.pdf

INNOVATIVE BIOTECH POLICY FOR AFRICA

"There is enormous potential in bio-pharmacy in Africa, in vaccine production, in application to indigenous foods, in improving yields in raw materials such as cotton. But before biotechnology can realize its potential in Africa, governments must invest in an innovative biotechnology policy that enables them to make intelligent choices that would not depend on what the Green Peace movement wants or what the European Union advocates or what the biotechnology entrepreneurs are pushing from America. Rather, it will depend on the needs and aspirations of the peoples of Africa, their social, cultural and environmental concerns." This statement was expressed by Dr. Osita Ogbu, executive director of the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPSN) during the Scientific Revival Day in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. June 30 of every year has been declared by African leaders as a day to appreciate what science can do for the continent.

The ATPSN executive director also said that Africa must invest and build adequate national or regional capacity for biotechnology including appropriate institutions to ensure the use of the technology. "To be part of this scientific revolution, we need knowledge: requisite and organized knowledge that empowers," he added./Kenya Biotechnology Information Centre

For more on Kenya Biotechnology Information Centre visit http://www.isaaa-africenter.org

BIOTECH ADOPTION INCREASES IN US

The United States Department of Agriculture Acreage Report states that adoption of biotech varieties continues to increase. About 40 percent of this year's corn crop will be planted to biotech varieties, up from 34% in 2002. In South Dakota, 75 percent of all corn planted will be biotech. Insect resistant varieties will account for 25 percent of the crop, up from 22 percent last year, and herbicide resistant varieties will reach 11 percent.

Biotech soybean varieties will account for 81 percent of this year's crop, up from 75 percent in 2002. More than 90 percent of the crop in South Dakota will be biotech. About 73 percent of cotton will be GM varieties, or about 2 percent more than in 2002.

More details on the acreage report at http://www.cropdecisions.com/show_story.php?id=20164. For more on the USDA, visit http://www.usda.gov.

INDIA-US BIOTECH PARTNERSHIP

India and the United States will soon set up a formal framework for research collaboration in the field of agricultural biotechnology. Under the agreement, the Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will form consortium-based partnerships in areas such as policy planning, research and development, and capacity building.

Research collaboration between the two countries will dwell on the areas of soil salinity, drought and nutritional improvement. Private-public partnerships will also be promoted for the setting up of common research facilities, the identification of possible research projects, and the carrying out of detailed studies in functional genomics.

See the full story at http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=888&language=1

IITA TO WORK ON CASSAVA MOSAIC DISEASE

The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria is gearing efforts to stop the outbreak of virulent Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) in Nigeria which could lead to food shortages in the cassava belt of the country. Supporting the project are the government of Nigeria, the Niger Delta Development Commission, and the United States Agency for International Development.

IITA reports that the two viruses, which are precursors to the most destructive form of the disease, have already been found in the cassava belt of Nigeria and IITA researchers believe that prompt action is needed. In Nigeria, IITA plans to produce millions of new disease-resistant cassava plantlets and cuttings for distribution to Nigerian farmers.

The improved plants will not only resist the disease but will also slow its spread to nonresistant varieties, acting as a barrier. CMD is often carried from plant to plant by white flies that feed on the cassava leaves. The virus attacks the leaves, preventing normal photosynthesis. As a consequence, the diseased plant stops producing storage roots.

For more information, email Dr. Alfred Dixon, IITA cassava breeder, at a.Dixon@cgiar.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

NEW PUBLICATIONS FROM ISAAA

The Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) has made available on its website Pocket K No. 11 entitled "Contribution of GM technology to the livestock sector." Pocket Ks are Pockets of Knowledge on crop biotechnology products and related issues. To view or download the publication and back issues, go to http://www.isaaa.org/kc.

"NCFAP Study: Plant biotechnology has growth potential in Europe," is ISAAA's latest K (Knowledge) Sheet. This K-Sheet summarizes the results of the first three case studies released by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) which shows how GM crops can benefit European farmers. Download the summary from http://www.isaaa.org/kc.

Q & A ON GMOS IN EUROPE

Questions and answers fact sheet on the regulation of genetically modified organisms in the European Union is now available in a 27-page document at http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/
library/press/press298_en.pdf. It is divided into two sections; Part A covers legislation in force; Part B focuses on the legislative proposals on traceability and labeling put forward in July 2001.