*EPF411 06/22/00
Text: OECD Issues Reports on Biotechnology and Food Safety
(Reports sent to G8 countries, posted to OECD web site) (550)

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has complied with a request by the Group of Eight industrial countries (G8) to report on the implications of biotechnology and other aspects of food safety, and these reports are now available at www.oecd.org/subject/biotech/index.htm

An OECD press release said the materials include reports on the safety of novel foods and feeds, the harmonization of regulatory oversight in biotechnology, and a summary of the conference on genetically modified foods held earlier this year in Edinburgh.

Following is the text of the release:

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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
June 21, 2000

OECD REPORTS ON BIOTECHNOLOGY AND FOOD SAFETY TO G8

Public concern over biotechnology and other aspects of food safety has exploded in the last few years. The possibility of adverse effects on human health or negative impacts on the environment, as well as ethical considerations, have overshadowed the potential benefits of GM foods - at least in the mind of the public.

To address these concerns, OECD Member governments and the Heads of State and government of the G8 countries asked the Organisation to "undertake a study of the implications of biotechnology and other aspects of food safety." The OECD has been building expertise on biotechnology for more than a decade and was able to apply a science and rules-based approach to their research.

The following reports have been sent as a package to the Group of Eight industrial countries and are now available on OECD's Internet site (http://www.oecd.org/subject/biotech/index.htm). To complete the process, there will be a second virtual consultation on the Internet with the NGOs who have participated in the process so that they may also comment on the results of the work.

- Report of the OECD Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds describing the consumer safety issues that are addressed by government safety assessors when they evaluate new GM foods.

- OECD Working Group for the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology report on environmental safety concerns associated with GM foods.

- OECD Ad Hoc Group on Food Safety report on what is being done at the national and international level to address current and emerging food safety issues.

- Summary report of the Consultation with Non-Governmental Organisations, November 1999. Representatives of some 50 bodies from civil society, including the scientific and business communities, focused on three topics: consumer concerns, environmental concerns and agro-food concerns.

- Chairman's report and the rapporteurs' summary on the OECD Conference on "GM Food Safety: Facts, Uncertainties and Assessment", hosted by the United Kingdom in Edinburgh, 28 February - 1 March 2000. Almost 400 participants from many developed and developing countries, and from civil society, government, industry and science, including both supporters and opponents of GM food, considered the scientific issues in the assessment of GM foods.

Journalists may contact Peter Kearns, (tel: 33 1 45 24 16 77) in the Environment Directorate, or Helen Fisher (tel: 33 1 45 24 80 97) in OECD Media Relations Division for more information.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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