The 36th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) takes place from 28 April to 2 May 2008 in Ottawa, Canada. Item nr. 5 on the provisional agenda is "Labelling of foods and food ingredients obtained through certain techniques of genetic modification/genetic engineering". See the meeting agenda at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/current.jsp (in English, French and Spanish); some background to the CCFL`s work on labelling of GM foods at http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/biotechnology_labelling_en.asp (in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for further information.

As part of its Fisheries Technical Paper series, FAO`s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department has just published "Assessment of freshwater fish seed resources for sustainable aquaculture", edited by M.G. Bondad-Reantaso. The 628-page publication is organised in two parts. Part 1 contains the proceedings and major recommendations of an expert workshop held on 23-26 March 2006 in Wuxi, China with 3 major themes: key issues concerning (i) seed quality, genetics, technology and certification; (ii) seed networking, distribution, entrepreneurship and certification; and (iii) development of the freshwater fish seed production sector that will benefit rural fish farmers. Part 2 contains 3 regional syntheses; 21 country case studies; 5 thematic reviews and 3 contributed papers on freshwater fish seed resources for sustainable aquaculture. One of the thematic reviews, by G.C. Mair and entitled "Genetics and breeding in seed supply for inland aquaculture", covers the application of genetic technologies in aquaculture. See http://www.fao.org/tempref/docrep/fao/010/a1495e/a1495e00.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.

The December 2007 newsletter from the Animal Production and Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory is now available. The 27-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming projects, publications and events. The editorial highlights their activities related to small ruminant reproduction and breeding. See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/aph/public/ap-nl-47.pdf (703 KB) or contact [email protected] to subscribe to the newsletter.

The January 2008 newsletter from the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory is now available. This 43-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications. See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/pbg/public/pb-nl-20.pdf (1.2 MB) or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

The report is now available of the 4th meeting of the Compliance Committee under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which took place on 21-23 November 2007 in Montreal, Canada. See the 8-page report, together with the other meeting documents, at http://www.cbd.int/doc/?mtg=bscc-04. See more about the Compliance Committee at http://www.cbd.int/biosafety/issues/compliance.shtml or contact [email protected] for further information.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity has just published the 3rd issue of its Biosafety Protocol News. This 14-page issue focuses on experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of the identification and documentation requirements in the context of paragraph 2 of Article 18 of the Protocol. See http://www.cbd.int/doc/newsletters/bpn/bpn-02-03-en.pdf (1 MB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recently published "Trade-related measures and Multilateral Environmental Agreements", prepared for UNEP by the Center for International Environmental Law. The 31-page paper aims to contribute to ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by analyzing Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) trade-related measures in the context of the overall objective of the MEAs. It provides a detailed review of the main provisions and specific trade-related measures found in six MEAs, including the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. See the paper (371 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

On 20-25 August 2006, the International Plant Breeding Symposium was held in Mexico City, Mexico, organised, among others, by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Twenty-two of the 28 papers presented at the symposium have now been published as a special supplement to the journal Crop Science, freely available on the web. One of the papers is entitled "Assessment of the national plant breeding and associated biotechnology capacity around the world", by E.P. Guimaraes and co-authors from FAO. See http://crop.scijournals.org/content/vol47/Supplement_3/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

As part of its IFPRI Discussion Papers series, the International Food Policy Research Institute has just published "Genetically modified food and international trade: The case of India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines" by G. Gruere, A. Bouet and S. Mevel. The aim of this 48-page paper is to study the potential effects of introducing GM food crops in these four countries in the presence of trade-related regulations of GM food in major importers. See http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/dp/ifpridp00740.asp or contact [email protected] for more information. IFPRI Discussion Papers contain preliminary material and research results and are circulated in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment.

Every year, the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) offers a number of fellowships to developing country crop science researchers wishing to broaden their skills by conducting research outside their home countries/institutions. Applications for 2008 fellowships are now open, under six different themes (including `the use of relatedness information in linkage disequilibrium mapping: pedigree information versus molecular marker information` and `marker-based estimation of coancestry measures in genebank collections`). Deadline is 29 February. See http://www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php?i=967 or contact [email protected] for more information.

FAO`s Plant Production and Protection Division has just published "Biotechnology tools for conservation and use of plants: A school play for senior students", with the story line, script and graphic design by R. Speedy and character illustration by I. Steele and R. Speedy. The 144-page play, for high school students aged 15 to 16 years, tells the story of maintenance and use of cassava. Through it, the play introduces students to the main concepts in plant genetic resources and the various biotechnology tools (such as tissue culture, micropropagation, cryopreservation and marker-assisted selection) used for their conservation and for crop production and long term food security. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai212e/ai212e00.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

From 28 February to 3 March 2006, FAO organised an expert consultation on "Biosafety within a biosecurity framework: Contributing to sustainable agriculture and food production" in FAO Headquarters, Rome. Its main purposes were to a) identify and analyse potential safety issues associated with current and future applications of new biotechnologies in various sectors relevant for sustainable agriculture and food production and b) develop recommendations for FAO to appropriately address these, in particular regarding optimal risk analysis approaches. Prior to the consultation, a background paper entitled "FAOs role in biosafety within a biosecurity framework: Scope and relevance of `biosafety` as a contribution to sustainable agriculture and food production" was made available to participants. The report of the consultation, which includes the background paper, is now available on the web. See the report or contact [email protected] for more information.

At the biennial FAO Conference, the Edouard Saouma Award is given to a national or regional institution which, in the course of the biennium preceding the Conference, has implemented with particular efficiency a project funded by the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), one of the main instruments through which FAO provides technical assistance directly to its Member countries. On 17 November 2007, the opening day of the 34th Session of the FAO Conference, the Edouard Saouma Award 2006-2007 was given by the FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf to Argentinas Secretariat for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock (SAGPyA) for its work on the TCP project to evaluate post-harvest management of Living Modified Organisms and identification of strategies for implementation of Article 18.2a of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. See a summary of the project (Document C 2007/INF/8, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information.

Adopted by 109 country delegations at the International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, held in Interlaken, Switzerland on 3-7 September 2007, the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources and the Interlaken Declaration on Animal Genetic Resources, which recognizes the need for prompt action to ensure these resources are well managed and address their erosion, are now both available on the web, in a single publication. The Global Plan of Action includes 23 Strategic Priorities that are grouped into 4 areas: characterization, inventory and monitoring of trends and associated risks; sustainable use and development; conservation; and policies, institutions and capacity-building. For each Strategic Priority, specific Actions are proposed and some of them are directly or indirectly related to applications of agricultural biotechnology, such as to "develop technical standards and protocols for phenotypic and molecular characterization" and to "establish or strengthen national and regional facilities for ex situ conservation, in particular cryogenic storage". See the publication (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish and with Russian forthcoming) or contact [email protected] to request a copy. In November 2007, the FAO Conference also adopted a resolution endorsing the Global Plan and the Interlaken Declaration.

On 22-26 October 2007, the VI Latin American and Caribbean Congress of Agricultural Biotechnology (REDBIO 2007) was held in Vina del Mar, Chile. A number of news stories from this meeting are now available on the REDBIO website, including one based on the presentation by Elcio Guimaraes of an FAO study on the global situation regarding national plant breeding and biotechnology capacities as well as one on the Vina del Mar declaration, read and approved by the participants at the congress. See http://www.redbio.org/ or contact [email protected] for more information. REDBIO is the Technical Co-operation Network on Plant Biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean, based at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile.

"Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture", a 664-page book edited by D. Molden and published by Earthscan and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in early 2007, is now available on the web. The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CA) is a critical evaluation of the benefits, costs and impacts of the past 50 years of water development, the water management challenges communities face today, and the solutions people have developed around the world, and uses scenarios to explore the consequences of a range of potential investments. Its scope is water management in agriculture, including fisheries and livestock, and the full spectrum of crop production. It aims to inform investors and policymakers about water and food choices in light of such crucial influences as poverty, ecosystems, governance and productivity. Some of the book`s 16 chapters consider the role of biotechnologies, such as chapter 7 on `Pathways for increasing agricultural water productivity` and chapter 14 on `Rice: feeding the billions`. See http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/Publications/books.htm or contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information. The CA is co-sponsored by FAO, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and organised through the CGIARs Systemwide Initiative on Water Management, convened by IWMI, which initiated the process and provided a secretariat to facilitate the work.