On 7-9 November 2005, a "High-level policy dialogue on biotechnology for food security and poverty alleviation: Opportunities and challenges" was held in Bangkok, Thailand, organised by FAO, the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). Its main objective was to "facilitate appropriate policy decisions by developing countries in Asia and the Pacific with respect to application of biotechnology in their food and agriculture sector in addressing poverty and hunger, in accord with the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals". For more details, plus the Opening Statement by He Changchui, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, see http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/meetings/2005/Nov07/Nov07.htm or contact [email protected].

On 24-28 October 2005, an international plant health risk analysis workshop was held in Niagara Falls, Canada, organised jointly by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. One of the nine workshop sessions was devoted to "risks associated with living modified organisms". Presentations and documents from the workshop are now available on the web. See https://www.ippc.int/id/58455 or contact [email protected] for more information. The IPPC is an international treaty relating to plant health whose Secretariat is located in FAO Headquarters.

REDBIO has been carrying out a series of case studies on the management of appropriate agricultural biotechnology for small producers in individual countries. The 53-page study for Colombia (by I. Schuler and L.A. Orozco), entitled "Manejo y gestión de la biotecnología agrícola apropiada para pequeños productores: Estudio de caso Colombia", has now been published. Studies have previously been published for Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. 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. See http://www.redbio.org/estud_casos.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

On 14-17 January 2002, FAO, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Institution de Recherche et Enseignement Supérieur Agricole (IRESA), Tunisia, organised an international workshop on "Food barley improvement" in Hammamet, Tunisia. Proceedings of the workshop, edited by S. Grando and H. Gómez Macpherson, are now available, entitled "Food barley: Importance, uses and local knowledge". During the workshop, participants presented the status of food barley in their respective countries, including descriptions of traditional and new uses of barley, varieties, research activities (e.g. use of hybridisation, mutation breeding and doubled haploids in Peru), and the importance of food barley as compared to feed and malting barley. See http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/Publications/Price_List/book3/food%20barley.pdf (1.13 MB) or contact [email protected] for more information.

The 60th General Assembly of the United Nations has approved two biotechnology-related draft resolutions. The draft resolution on the Convention on Biological Diversity (agenda item 52 (h)) was approved on 9 December while the draft resolution on science and technology for development (agenda item 54 (b)) was approved on 13 December 2005. See the resolutions (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) at http://www.un.org/ga/60/second/draftproposals.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

The 33rd session of the biennial General Conference of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was held on 3-21 October 2005 in Paris, France. Among the decisions made, the General Conference approved the establishment in India of the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Education and Training. The Centres aim is to "network existing expertise in the region, boost capacity-building strategies and address Asian countries common research and development challenges and goals within the field of biotechnology". The Government of India will provide the funds required for the establishment of this Centre, which is expected to be fully functional within the next 5 years. See the news story (in English and French) or contact [email protected] for more information.

On 23-27 January 2006, the 4th meeting of the "Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity" takes place in Granada, Spain. Item 10 of the provisional agenda is "Potential socio-economic impacts of genetic use restriction technologies on indigenous and local communities". Documents for the meeting are available at http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meeting.aspx?mtg=WG8J-04 (most are in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information. Article 8(j) of the Convention refers to traditional knowledge, innovations and practices and provides that: Each contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: Subject to national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices.

As part of the series on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology, the OECDs Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology has recently published the "Consensus document on the biology of Papaya (Carica Papaya)" and the "Consensus document on the biology of Pleurotus spp. (Oyster Mushroom)". Each document is intended for use by "regulatory authorities and others who have responsibility for assessments of transgenic organisms proposed for commercialisation, and by those who are actively involved with genetic improvement and intensive management of the genus". See http://appli1.oecd.org/olis/2005doc.nsf/linkto/env-jm-mono(2005)16 and http://appli1.oecd.org/olis/2005doc.nsf/linkto/env-jm-mono(2005)17 respectively or contact [email protected] for more information.

The learning module "Law and policy of relevance to the management of plant genetic resources", first published in 2003, has now been revised and published, together with a regional learning plan "Review of regional policy instruments, developments and trends". This second edition is edited by S. Bragdon, C. Fowler, Z. França and E. Goldberg and produced by the CGIAR System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP), the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The learning module is aimed mainly at those who have practical management and/or policymaking responsibilities for plant genetic resources. It provides the trainer with all the information and materials required for planning and implementing a five-day workshop, subdivided into 13 sessions, where Session 10 deals with "Phytosanitary and biosafety measures". The regional learning plan has been designed to complement the base learning module and, as a trainers tool, it is complete with region-specific agreements, trends analysis, hand-outs, overheads, case studies and group exercises for four regions: Latin America; Sub-Saharan Africa; Central and West Asia and North Africa; and developing countries of Asia, the Pacific and Oceania. See http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/training/policytrainingmodule/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

The summary document of the FAO e-mail conference entitled "The role of biotechnology for the characterisation and conservation of crop, forest, animal and fishery genetic resources in developing countries" has now been published. It provides a summary of the main issues discussed during this moderated e-mail conference, hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum from 6 June and 4 July 2005, based on the 127 messages posted by the participants, over 60% coming from people in developing countries. Crop and animal genetic resources received most attention during the conference and, of the different biotechnologies, most discussions were about molecular markers, in particular their use for characterisation of genetic resources. See http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C13/summary.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy.

On 21-24 June 2005, the ECOWAS (Economic Community for West African States) Ministerial Conference on Biotechnology was held in Bamako, Mali. The FAO statement at the conference, by Mr. Oloche A. Edache, the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, is available on the web; see http://www.fao.org/world/regional/raf/about/raf_adg_bamako_june2005.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information. Main conclusions and recommendations from the conference are available at http://www.coraf.org/English/se.php (in English and French) or contact [email protected] for more information.

As part of its ESA Working Papers series, FAO`s Agricultural and Development Economics Division (ESA) has just published "From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution: How will the poor fare?" by P. Pingali and T. Raney. The ESA Working Papers series presents ESA`s ongoing research and papers are circulated to stimulate discussion and comments. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/af276e/af276e00.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy of the paper.

In May 2004, FAO launched the International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health. Developed by FAO, and in association with the organisations responsible for international standard setting in sanitary and phytosanitary matters, this portal provides a single access point for authorised official international and national information across the sectors of food safety, animal and plant health. Information can be browsed in a number of ways, including by cross-sectoral themes such as biotechnology, for which there are currently just under 700 records, classified by commodity, geography, information type and information source. From the end of November 2005, the portal will also contain links to Biosafety Clearing House decisions. See http://www.ipfsaph.org/biotechnology or contact [email protected] for more information.

Unasylva is an international journal of forestry and forest industries published by FAO in English, French and Spanish. The latest issue (nr. 221) is dedicated to poplars and willows, containing articles adapted from presentations to the 22nd session of the International Poplar Commission held in Santiago, Chile from 28 November to 2 December 2004 that focused on enhancing the contribution of poplars and willows to sustainable forestry and rural development, particularly in developing countries and those with economies in transition. One of the articles is on "Poplars in biotechnology research" by H. Marchadier and P. Sigaud. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0026e/a0026e00.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

The Animal Production and Health Sub-programme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has recently published two new books. "Molecular diagnostic PCR handbook", edited by G.J. Viljoen, L.H. Nel and J.R. Crowther, "gives a comprehensive account of the practical aspects of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and strong consideration is given to ensure its optimal use in a laboratory environment. This includes the setting-up of a PCR laboratory, Good Laboratory Practice and standardised PCR protocols to detect animal disease pathogens". The second book, entitled "Applications of gene-based technologies for improving animal production and health in developing countries", edited by H.P.S. Makkar and G.J. Viljoen, provides a compilation of peer-reviewed scientific contributions from an international symposium convened in October 2003 by the Sub-programme in cooperation with FAO`s Animal Production and Health Division. For either of the publications, contact [email protected] for more information, while libraries of research institutions, including universities, in developing countries can request a copy from [email protected].

At its second meeting in 2005, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety decided to establish an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Risk Assessment. The first meeting of the Group takes place on 15-18 November 2005 in Rome, Italy. See the meeting documents at http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meeting.asp?mtg=TEGRA-01 or contact [email protected] for further information.