9-Misc: OECD conference calls for international biosafety co-operation

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TITLE:  OECD Conference Calls for International Co-operation on Safety
        Assessments in Biotechnology
SOURCE: OECD Press Release
        http://www.oecd.org/oecd/pages/home/displaygeneral/0,3380,
        EN-document-590-17-no-12-22647-0,FF.html
DATE:   December 3, 2001

----------------- archive: http://www.gene.ch/genet.html -----------------


OECD Conference Calls for International Co-operation on Safety Assessments 
in Biotechnology

03/12/2001 - Living modified organisms contribute to a safer, more secure 
global food supply but their effects on the environment require continuing 
scientific investigation. That was the consensus of the OECD/US 
international conference: Living Modified Organisms and the Environment. 
Some 250 scientists, representing stakeholders from 45 OECD and non-OECD 
countries, called for more interaction between science and society. They 
stressed the importance of addressing the human needs of their countries 
while at the same time protecting the environment.

The conference examined the growing body of knowledge worldwide on the 
environmental impacts of commercially grown genetically modified crops and 
identified areas of common understanding as well as issues which have yet 
to be resolved.

Rita Colwell, Director of the US National Science Foundation, said that 
science needs to better understand the relationship between agriculture, 
ecosystems and GMOs in order to realise the opportunities the technology 
offers while at the same predicting and preventing risks. OECD Secretary-
General Donald Johnston challenged the scientists at the conference to 
identify and bridge knowledge gaps in order to achieve a balance between 
opportunity and safety. He emphasised that public dialogue is the 
prerequisite for the introduction of new technologies.

Reviewing the present trends in commercial transgenic crops, the conference 
recognised that, in many countries, agriculture is embracing biotechnology. 
But more scientific knowledge is needed to establish the way in which 
ecosystems will respond to these developments over the long term. Advances 
in genomics and informatics have the potential to expand the frontiers of 
agricultural production and allow better safety assessment.

Experience is increasing with a case-by-case approach to safety 
assessments. This approach reflects the differences in agro-ecological and 
socio-economic conditions among OECD countries and between OECD and non-
OECD countries. However the structure of risk assessment and the issues 
they address have many points in common across OECD countries and beyond. 
While recognising similarities in approaches, and diversity in cultures and 
environment, the challenge now is to work together to further international 
co-operation on safety assessments so that full use can be made of global 
experiences in national regulatory systems.

Continued international co-operation is also essential in the area of 
capacity building for science-based and evidence-based biosafety 
management. Such capacity building should involve cost-effective methods of 
institutional development.

The conference agenda, participants, presentations and rapporteurs' 
summaries are available on the web site http://www.oecd.org/ehs/raleigh.


For further information on this conference and the OECD's work on 
biotechnology, journalists should contact Helen Fisher, OECD Media 
Relations Division (tel. [33] 1 45 24 80 97).


Also available:

L'OCDE prˇconise une coopˇration internationale dans le domaine de 
l'ˇvaluation de la sˇcuritˇ en biotechnologie (French)



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|                   GENET                     |
| European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering |
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