Nagoya, Japan
11 October 2010.
Today starts the Fifth Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The Cartagena Protocol is an important instrument, because it can help international sharing of the benefits of modern biotechnology, to which Parties have agreed in article 19 of the Convention on Biodiversity. This same article is the legal basis of the Cartagena Protocol.
Tens of thousands biotechnology researchers in thousands of public research institutes in developing and developed countries strive towards alleviating poverty, sustainable agricultural production, assuring food safety and quality and conservation of the environment. However, these same public sector scientists express concern that these efforts will be futile if regulations such as the Cartagena Protocol are not implemented in a balanced and science-based manner. They call on the negotiating Parties at MOP5 to constantly assess how the implementation of the Protocol will affect crucially important public research, to ensure that the Protocol will indeed contribute to sharing the benefits of this technology.
Current agricultural practices need to become more sustainable. Modern biotechnology has shown relevant benefits that need to be integrated in agricultural practices to address the giant challenges that the world community faces:
- Develop new agricultural technologies to feed the 1 billion undernourished people, of the currently 6.8 billion global population
- Double the food production by 2050 to meet the needs of an expected world population of 9.2 billion, and meet the higher demand for protein-rich meals, using more efficiently resources, such as water, fossil fuel and nitrogen
- Reduce the environmental footprint caused by agriculture, such as the massive loss of topsoil, soil and water pollution by agrochemicals, and deforestation
- Mitigate climate change and provide well adapted crops to cope with its effects on agricultural production.
Executive Secretary of the Public Research & Regulation Initiative (PRRI), Dr. Stefan Rauschen, says it is a daunting task for public researchers to bring the results of their research to the farmers if regulations require millions of dollars to get GM crops approved, which is unaffordable for public research institutes.
Dr. Behzad Ghareyazie, President of the Biosafety Society of Iran emphasizes that governments in developing nations, including Muslim countries, should assist the access to modern biotechnologies. “Biased, excessive regulation is one of the barriers to access the benefits of advanced technologies. Iran was the first country to commercialize an insect resistant rice to lower the need for intensive use of environmentally harmful insecticides”.
Dr. Margaret Karembu, Director of ISAAA Africenter strongly believes that Africa should not be deprived of modern biotechnology. “Africa is the only continent in the world where food production per capita is decreasing and where hunger and malnutrition afflicts at least one in three people. Modern biotechnology can make a decisive contribution to improve harvest and alleviate hunger and poverty in Africa. The adoption of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso for example, is expected
to bring an income gain of over US$100 million per year and at least 50% reduction in insecticide sprays. Burkinabe women farmers are already experiencing additional benefits from saved time and labour used in fetching water for spraying to increasing their acreage on food crops during the cotton season, which was a big challenge before. Priority crops in Africa such as cowpea, cassava, sorghum, and banana are being developed by African public researchers, with the potential to increase crop productivity by resisting devastating plant diseases and to alleviate human malnutrition through biofortification. African countries are concentrating efforts to properly regulate all of these GM crops”.
“The Philippines benefitted hugely from GM adoption and there is not one verifiable report that suggests harm to human health and the environment after more than 7 years of cultivation of GM maize in a cumulative area of more than 1 million hectares, says Dr. Desiree Hautea, from the Institute of Plant Breeding at University of the Philippines Los Banos”. Dr. Hautea is looking forward to the commercialization of the first public sector-developed GM crop in the Philippines, the insect resistant Bt eggplant, to shrink the excessive use of pesticides, and to improve income and productivity of resource-poor farmers. She is optimistic that the science and evidence based decision-making that has been established in her country, will continue to be upheld.
Dr. Lúcia de Souza from the Brazilian Biosafety Association (ANBio) says that GM crops in Brazil were estimated to have already spared 12.6 billion liters of water and 104.8 million liters of diesel, resulting in a reduction of 270.4 thousand tons of CO2 emissions. More needs to be done to increase the number of improved crops available to farmers such as cassava and beans, to extend benefits to developing countries. Latin American scientists from institutions of excellence in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru have joined in the Regional Project LAC Biosafety (GEF/WB/CIAT) to strengthen their capacities and maximize the benefits for sustainable agriculture.
Around the world, GM crops contributed US$ 51.9 billion during the period 1996-2008 due to substantial yield gains and reduction in production costs. Environmental benefits include savings on pesticides, water, fossil fuels and decreased emissions of green house gases. It is unacceptable to see that millions of people go to bed hungry every day. Researchers and regulators around the world should make it their common goal to promote a sustainable approach in agriculture that ensures every person is adequately fed and poverty is alleviated in the world.
For more information on PRRI, visit www.pubres.org or email info@pubresreg.org.
About the Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI)
PRRI was established in 2004 with the objective to offer public researchers involved in modern biotechnology a forum through which they are informed about and involved in relevant international discussions, such as the Meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol. Goal of participation in such meetings is to inform the negotiators about the objectives and progress of public research in modern biotechnology, to bring science to the negotiations, and to inform the negotiators about concerns public researchers may have.
PRRI is an initiative of public sector scientists who conduct research in modern biotechnology for the public good. PRRI members are scientists in academia, government research institutes and international organizations from all over the world.
PRRI has received financial supported from governments, the European Commission, international organizations, and the private sector.
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