News around the world

European Commission approves Biotech maize
The European Commission has approved a genetically modified maize (NK603) for import, feed use, and industrial processing in the European Union on 19th of July this year. A submission to EU authorities to authorise cultivation of NK603 in the EU is not a part of this decision.

The GM field maize is approved for import and food use in Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States and was first approved in 2000.

- NK603 is a genetically modified maize developed by the Monsanto Company, a EuropaBio member company
- Opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on NK603 maize
- EU Commission press release

International plant genetic resources treaty enters into force
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, an essential legally binding global instrument encouraging sustainable agriculture, has entered into force on 29th of June 2004. 55 countries have now ratified it.

"This is the start of a new era," said FAO Director-General, Dr Jacques Diouf. "The Treaty brings Governments, farmers and plant breeders together and offers a multilateral framework for accessing genetic resources and sharing their benefits. Humankind needs to safeguard and further develop the precious crop gene pool that is essential for agriculture."

- The Interational Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- The Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture


AFIC released survey report
The Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC) recently released a survey entitled "Communicating with Consumers on Food Biotechnology: Report of the Asian Food Information Centre 2003 Qualitative Research Results".

This research was conducted using focus group discussion methods in the Philippines, China and India to assess the perception of adults toward biotechnology foods. The primary goal of this survey was to test and develop appropriate educational messages on issues relevant to food biotechnology.

The majority of consumers adopted an open-minded position towards biotechnology foods and did not reject them per se. Many participants in the discussions clearly had very limited knowledge about food biotechnology but interestingly, increasing knowledge levels were associated with increasingly positive acceptance of biotechnology foods.

For more information on AFIC, please click here.


To download a pdf version of BICalert, please click here.

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