Theme 4: Conclusions and recommendations

Dear Colleagues,

The ideas proposed at this 2004 conference (see attached file named Needs and Modalities, available at http://www.ris.org.in/srrao.pdf) clearly specify the details to consider as conclusions and recommendations of this Forum.

As I stated yesterday under this Theme 4 (http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/theme4_art18.shtml?threadid=1144), such details are what I felt are important to specify as an outcome of this Forum.

In this context and for more information, see this more recent FAO report (see http://www.apcoab.org/documents/bs_pub.pdf) even if it is specific to the Asia-Pacific region and does not address national obligations under Article 18 and related implementation initiatives/measures.

From: gunasutra@yahoo.in

Posted on behalf of Dennis Stephens & Gary Martin:

The Biosafety Protocol Article 18.3 On Line Forum has generated interesting discussion from a wide range of interested persons.

The issue of standards is also of great interest to the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC) – a Coalition of 22 trade organizations involving more than 8000 companies operating in more than 80 countries involved in the production, handling, transporting, exporting, importing and processing of grains, oilseeds, pulses, special crops and their derived products. IGTC members are involved in a high percentage of the more than 300 million tonnes of grain traded each year from areas of food surplus to areas of food deficits.

As a result the IGTC is focused only on grain destined for food, feed or for processing.

Over the past 15 years an increasing percentage of these grains are being produced through modern biotechnology. Today more than 50% of the soybean hectares are seeded to biotech crops, 30% of the corn, 12% of the cotton and 5% of the canola. In total more than 800 million hectares of LMO crops are seeded each year and this number continues to increase each year. Much of this grain enters international trade for food, feed or for processing.

Therefore we are not discussing a new phenomena or something that might happen in the years ahead. The simple fact is a high percentage of the grain that enters world trade today is produced through modern biotechnology. And this percentage continues to increase each year. But these commodities have been deemed safe by the governments involved for food, feed or for processing and as stipulated under Article 18.2(a), these commodities are not intended for intentional introduction into the environment.

IGTC members are not involved in performing risk assessments. We accept the decisions of governments. It is the export governments that have performed extensive risk assessments before they say that the seed may be sold to farmers to produce grain for food, feed or for processing. And it is importing governments who declare that the LMOs can enter the country for food, feed or for processing. The grain industry’s challenge is to produce and move these approved products from areas of surplus to areas of deficit in the most cost efficient manner possible.

All grain traded today internationally is traded against a standard. Normally these standards are created by governments or industry trade associations and shipments are inspected by governments or third party inspection companies. Usually the basic standards are established in countries of export as they reflect quality criteria inherent in specific geographic areas. But the contracts also often incorporate specific quality requirements desired by the importer. As products produced from modern biotechnology entered the commercial industry 15 years ago, the international grain industry decided to treat them under the umbrella of internationally acceptable grain standards and grading systems developed by industry and governments that were in use for non-LMO products.

The IGTC is concerned that the development of a new international standard for products produced through modern biotechnology under Article 18.3 would result in further complexity in the handling, transport and documentation of LMO commodities for food, feed or for processing. This increase in complexity would lead to increase costs and inhibit trade and utilization of crop biotechnology. This would be dramatically negative to the sustainable provision of food, energy and economic security at a time when economies are already challenged by the increasingly scarce resources of land and water and a rapidly expanding global population for which agriculture and trade hold so much promise and potential.

The IGTC would be very pleased to participate in educational and communications opportunities to provide detailed information on the effectiveness and use of existing standards and practice employed within the international grain trading system.

Dennis Stephens and Gary Martin on behalf of the IGTC