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As the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recovers from delays to its World Food Summit at the hands of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, the world's agricultural gene banks fret over GM contamination and government 'biocrats' gird their loins to fight for an International Undertaking intended to protect world seed security.
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Mientras que la FAO (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación) se recupera de las demoras impuestas a la Cumbre Mundial de la Alimentación por el ministro italiano Silvio Berlusconi, los bancos genéticos globales están molestos por la contaminación transgénica y los biócratas de los gobiernos se ponen a la defensiva ante el debate sobre un Compromiso Internacional sobre Recursos Genéticos, cuya intención es proteger la seguridad alimentaria mundial.
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Asunto: Desde hace ya cinco años, la preocupación del público sobre la ingeniería genética se ha enfocado insistentemente en los cultivos y los alimentos transgénicos. Sin embargo los avances en el mapeo del genoma humano han creado nuevas oportunidades para la industria farmacéutica. Mientras las perspectivas de clonación humana y las terapias a partir de células troncales acaparan los encabezados y desvían nuestra atención, las compañías están trabajando en agendas más estratégicas.
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Issue: For five years now, public concern about genetic engineering has been riveted on GM crops and foods. But, advances in mapping the human genome have spawned new pharmaceutical industry opportunities. While the prospects for human cloning and stem cell therapies grab the headlines and divert our attention, the companies are pursuing more strategic agendas. Although the majority oppose reproductive cloning, public and policy opinion is 'soft.' Industry's latest and most lucrative market - Human Performance Enhancement drugs - 'HyPEs' - are not even on the policy agenda.
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ETC Group (pronounced etcetera) is the new name for the former Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). The full legal name will be Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration . The official name change took place September 1st as the organization began its 16th year of activity.
Etcetera: We had hundreds of name suggestions, Pat Mooney, Executive Director reports, referring to the name contest launched on the RAFI website earlier this year. A surprisingly large percentage of the suggestions were actually complimentary, Hope Shand, Research Director, recalls. The most common suggestion was not to change our name at all. (The change was advised in order to secure the advocacy group s non-profit status in the United States. The ETC Group is incorporated both in Europe and in Canada, with headquarters in Winnipeg.
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"ETC Group" (con la intención de que se pronuncie “Etcétera”) es el nuevo nombre de la Fundación Internacional para el Progreso Rural (RAFI por sus siglas en inglés). El nombre completo es “Grupo de acción sobre Erosión, Tecnología y Concentración”. El cambio ocurrió oficialmente el 1º de septiembre, al comenzar el 16avo año de actividades de RAFI.
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Delta & Pine Land (D&PL), la compañía de semillas “rebelde” que insiste en sus intenciones de comercializar la maligna tecnología Terminator, está en problemas. Delta & Pine Land anunció (2001) que su presidente renuncia y que la compañía eliminará 7 por ciento de su fuerza de trabajo y cerrará una de sus instalaciones en Arizona.
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Delta & Pine Land, the maverick seed company that vows to commercialize the notorious Terminator technology, is in trouble. Delta & Pine Land announced (2001) that its president is quitting, the company will eliminate 7 percent of its work force and they are shutting down a facility in Arizona.
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La Concentración del poder corporativo es el rasgo característico de la economía global actualmente. La industria de las “Ciencias de la Vida” está convergiendo en nuevas estructuras corporativas, lo cual tiene profundas implicaciones para cada aspecto del comercio de comestibles, para la agricultura y la salud.
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Issue: Concentration in corporate power is the defining feature of today’s (2001) global economy. The “life sciences” industry is converging into new corporate structures that have profound implications for every aspect of commercial food, agriculture, and health.
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It's official. The US Department of Agriculture announced this week that it has concluded negotiations to license the notorious Terminator technology to its seed industry partner, Delta & Pine Land (D&PL). As a result of joint research, the USDA and D&PL are co-owners of three patents on the controversial technology that genetically modifies plants to produce sterile seeds, preventing farmers from re-using harvested seed. A licensing agreement establishes the terms and conditions under which a party can use a patented technology. Although many of the Gene Giants hold patents on Terminator technology, D&PL is the only company that has publicly declared its intention to commercialize Terminator seeds.
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The world's leading seed trade association, ASSINSEL (International Association of Plant Breeders for the Protection of Plant Varieties, Nyon, Switzerland) may have succumbed to political pressure from the USA and four other OECD governments. The trade group has reversed its position in support of a new global treaty to safeguard the exchange of research seed for food security. The policy turnabout apparently came during the trade group's annual meeting in Sun City (popularly known as 'Sin City' because of its casinos). ASSINSEL is expected to tell governments at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome next Monday (June 25th) that it, '...does not support the current IU [International Undertaking, the treaty] text...'. The statement will come as a shock to European governments and to diplomats from Africa, Asia, and Latin America attending the Undertaking's final negotiating round June 25-30.
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RAFI offers a detailed, critical analysis of re-structuring options for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and advice for farmer-led food security. Is CGIAR prepared to make major structural and governance changes in order to salvage public sector agricultural science?
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The last-ever Mid-term Meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has shuffled into extinction in Durban, South Africa. The fate of the outmoded Green Revolution centers - the South's most important scientific research system, remains in limbo. The 'donorsaurs' (as its 58 funding governments and foundations have been dubbed) are faced with a number of unresolved challenges.
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A rare tiff with the seed and biotech industries over intellectual property will leave the USA and Australia outside looking in on a new agricultural genetic resources treaty. Next steps: the FAO Commission in June and the World Food Summit in November?
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A new US patent, awarded to Monsanto on 16 January 2001, has blind-sided biotech scientists and threatens to knee-cap public sector research because it gives Monsanto exclusive monopoly rights on a crucial method of identifying modified plant cells in the laboratory.
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Negotiations on the revised International Undertaking at FAO will profoundly affect the world's ability to respond to climate change. Failure will lead to a rapid reduction in the exchange of plant breeding stocks between countries and institutions. Agricultural research will be severely damaged. RAFI looks at the major issues and controversies under discussion in the final rounds of negotiations.
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