Fwd: FW: Jaques Diouf on FAO and GMOs

March 11, 2006

> Jaques Diouf on FAO and GMOs

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> style= " FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial " ><FONT

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> size=3>Editor's Note: Jaques Diouf

> acknowledges the " two hats " the FAO

> wears when it comes to GMOs: supporting the

> development of international

> standards for food and agriculture (via the Codex

> Alimentarius) and helping

> countries of the south build scientific, policy and

> research capacity while also

> recognizing the great potential of GMOs for

> improving food security. However,

> the kind of experimentation with GMOs mostly taking

> place is not the kind that

> tends to address food security issues. Furthermore

> scientific capacity --

> especially of this sort -- needs to be tempered by

> non-scientific

> considerations. Diouf suggests that an international

> regulatory framework is

> required to address the dilemmas of GMOs for food

> and agriculture. At present,

> we have the institutions meant implement such a

> framework -- namely the Codex

> Alimentarius and the Convention on Biodiversity

> (CBD) -- but neither

> function anything like the interest-free institution

> that Diouf suggests is

> required for the effective regulation of GMOs at the

> global level. Thus,

> individual nation-states play an important role in

> deciding how to proceed.

>

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href= " http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news & doc_id=11218 & st\

art=51 & control=219 & page_start=1 & page_nr=101 & pg=1 " >http://www.checkbiotech.org/ro\

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> face= " Times New Roman " ><SPAN

> style= " FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:

> Arial " >Science without conscience

> is worse than no

> science<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns

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> <FONT

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> size=2> Wednesday, September 14, 2005

> By Gargi

> Parsai Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the

> Food and Agriculture

> Organisation, has strong views on the issue of

> genetically modified organisms.

> In an interview, he says we need to put in place an

> internationally agreed

> regulatory framework.

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> 0pt " ><SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >How is India moving

> towards the World Food Summit

> goal of reducing hunger by half by 2015?

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >India has made progress

> from having 25% of its

> population undernourished in the base period used by

> the World Food Summit in

> 1992 to 21% in the period of 1999-2001, which is a

> progress. But if you are

> projecting it in cutting by half the number of

> hungry people, that is not

> sufficient. Because the population is growing at

> 1.6% you need to cut even more

> the number of undernourished people to achieve the

> goal.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >What is your sense

> of the direction in which the Indian Government is

> moving in food and

> agriculture? <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >We

> appreciate the new focus and priorities of the

> Indian Government to the rural

> sector, particularly that it has agreed to invest

> more in agricultural, water

> and rural infrastructure. We have also discussed the

> importance of contract

> farming - to allow farmers to produce under legally

> agreed conditions - and the

> whole question of productivity, which has been on

> the rise with the green

> revolution, but has stagnated. On the environment

> side is the whole question of

> reforestation but also of community forest

> development.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >What is the FAO's

> role in legislation and the regulatory framework to

> protect farmers' rights?

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >After seven years

> of long difficult negotiations, FAO member countries

> arrived at a unanimous

> decision on the International Treaty on Plant

> Genetic Resources that recognises

> the rights of breeders, farmers and research

> institutions who have improved

> seeds to a level where someone adds a gene (and

> develops a variety). We have to

> address the issue of how these will concretely

> benefit farmers and that the

> benefits would be effectively shared between the

> farmers and those who will

> invest in additional work on improving these genetic

> resources.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >What about the

> Intellectual Property Rights on varieties developed

> from resources taken from

> the common gene pool? <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >< <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >We are working on the

> need to address the issue of

> the common interpretation of the provisions of the

> International Treaty on Plant

> Genetic Resources, the Convention on Bio-diversity,

> and the provision of the

> Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

> in the WTO.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >There is a lot of

> focus on diversification. In view of your

> projections this year of a drop in

> cereal production, is that a sustainable goal?

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >There will be a drop in

> cereal production to demand

> and as a consequence an obligation to draw on the

> stocks that exist. World

> population is expected to move from six billion to

> nine billion ... by which

> year, is controversial. That would need about 60% of

> the present world

> production against constraints on land, soil, water,

> productivity and so on. To

> achieve that is no miracle. You have to invest in

> rural infrastructure,

> technology, conservation, and marketing.

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >The FAO seems to have

> changed its stance last year

> towards genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

> You've talked of wearing two hats

> on this? <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >There has

> been no change. We have always been wearing two

> hats. One is of being an

> organisation which, with the World Health

> Organisation, sets standards through

> the Codex Alimentarius (food code) for the quality

> (and safety) of food. On the

> other hand, we help developing countries build their

> institutions and train

> their people to be up to the level of scientists,

> policy makers, and research

> institutions in the developed world. Our second hat

> is that we are saying that

> biotechnology has a great potential and progress

> made on molecular biology which

> is allowing us to do gene mapping, the possibility

> of transferring genes, of

> introducing genes directly resistant to drought,

> disease and so on, is positive.

> Human progress is based on the progress of science.

> But science without

> conscience is something worse than no science.

> Therefore we have to be careful

> on how and on what we use the science and we have to

> look in advance at the

> possible problems on the environment and on human

> health.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >We, therefore, are

> saying that we need to get an internationally agreed

> framework - not a framework

> pushed by specific interests, financial interests -

> where we will discuss the

> principles to be applied to GMOs, such as the

> problem of experimentation,

> labelling, the principle of precaution and many

> other aspects where the fight is

> going on. Therefore we tell countries that each of

> them has a responsibility to

> apply the principle of precaution. And how to apply

> that principle

> scientifically needs to be addressed

> internationally.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >Up till the time this

> is done, it is up to the national governments to

> adopt national legislation to

> protect the environment and the health of people and

> to ensure that they do not

> take undue risk. But at the same time we do not also

> say that we do not want any

> science when other people are developing it and may

> end up being more powerful

> and we will have to go and buy the seed from them.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >What about the

> influence of industry on nations on these issues?

> You have the example of the

> study on rats fed on GM maize...

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >Industry is defending its

> interest and there is

> nothing wrong in that. At the same time other people

> have to defend the

> interests of their populations and environment and

> put in place the right

> regulations and practices.

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >But industry getting into

> research in corn, canola,

> cotton, and soya is not going to solve the problem

> of food security.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >Yes, but why aren't

> governments investing in products that are more

> important for their populations?

> They have to decide their national budgets and

> priority. National governments

> are responsible to their people and accountable to

> them.

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >How actively are you

> involved in the WTO negotiations? Are you consulted?

>

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >We are not involved

> in consultations because the legal framework of the

> WTO is for negotiations

> among member states. But we are recognised by the

> WTO in capacity building. Also

> all the standards that are applied in the sanitary

> and phytosanitary (SPS)

> system are the standards of the FAO and the WHO on

> the Codex and the standards

> of FAO and of the International Plant Protection

> Commission. The WTO does not

> create those standards. It applies them to deal with

> any disputes arising within

> nations that are trading in agriculture commodities.

>

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >So has the shift in

> focus resulted in budget cuts for the FAO?

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >Naturally the cut-off of

> resources of the FAO makes

> it more difficult to perform its job. We have a

> budget of regular programme to

> the tune of $ 750 million per biennial but we

> received this year per biennial $

> 150 million additionally in voluntary contributions,

> an indication of countries

> (willingness) to provide us additional resources.

> But we prefer to have the

> resources in the regular programme so that they are

> not subject to priority

> setting. <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >A recent

> National Survey in India showed that 40% farmers

> would quit farming given the

> choice and that only a minuscule knew about the

> WTO...

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >The negotiations within

> the WTO are negotiations of governments. What each

> government does to educate

> its population is a national problem. We can only

> ensure that those who go to

> negotiate are adequately trained and empowered to be

> able to defend the

> interests of their farming community. We bring all

> the data and information at

> their disposal. For example, we are saying it is not

> fair to provide up to $ 300

> billion of support to farmers in the developed

> countries against the poor

> farmers of developing countries. But each country

> would have to negotiate the

> interests of its farmers on its own.

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " >How do you view your

> partnership with India?

> <SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

> normal " >I view it with a

> lot of prospects and hope. We are happy that India

> is willing to work with FAO

> to assist other developing countries in Asia and

> Africa in particular through

> the South-South cooperation. We also want to build

> on the experience of Indian

> institutions in research, particularly in the seed

> sector so as to not have to

> re-invent the wheel in other countries.

> <SPAN

> style= " FONT-STYLE: normal " ></DIV>

> <DIV><SPAN style= " FONT-STYLE:

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> <DIV>2005 The

> Hindu</DIV>

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> policy issues affecting global food security. The

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> partnership with the Centre for

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> Council, in partnership with the Community Food

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> Year, and International Partners for Sustainable

> Agriculture. Please

> help by sending information or names and e-mail

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