20. As the November 2001 "World Food Summit: Five Years Later" approaches, food security remains elusive. Over 800 million people remain seriously malnourished, including at least 250 million children. So a central objective of our poverty reduction strategy remains access to adequate food supplies and rural development. Support to agriculture is a crucial instrument of ODA. We shall endeavour to develop capacity in poor countries, integrating programmes into national strategies and increasing training in agricultural science. Every effort should be undertaken to enhance agricultural productivity. Among other things, the introduction of tried and tested new technology, including biotechnology, in a safe manner and adapted to local conditions has significant potential to substantially increase crop yields in developing countries, while using fewer pesticides and less water than conventional methods. We are committed to study, share and facilitate the responsible use of biotechnology in addressing development needs.
30. Fully aware of the paramount importance of food safety to our peoples, we will continue to support a transparent, scientific and rules-based approach and will intensify our efforts to achieve greater global consensus on how precaution should be applied to food safety in circumstances where available scientific information is incomplete or contradictory. We value the ongoing dialogue between governments, scientists, consumers, regulators, and relevant stakeholders in civil society. This must be based on the principle of openness and transparency. We recognise our responsibility to promote a clear understanding by the public of food safety benefits and risks. We shall strive to provide consumers with relevant information on the safety of food products, based on independent scientific advice, sound risk analysis and the latest research developments. We believe an effective framework for risk management, consistent with the science, is a key component in maintaining consumer confidence and in fostering public acceptance.
31. We welcome the outcome of the recent Bangkok conference on new biotechnology food and crops and the ad hoc meeting of regulators from OECD countries and Russia. We encourage the relevant international organisations to follow up the conference, as appropriate, within their own respective mandates. Furthermore, we welcome the establishment of the joint FAO / WHO Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators. We also appreciate the work of the Inter-Academy Council in publicising balanced professional views on the science of food safety. All these meetings demonstrate our commitment to a process of dialogue aimed at strengthening public confidence in food safety.
41. Food safety continues to be a high priority for consumers and governments. We agree that a science-based and rules-based approach must remain the basis for policy at both the national and international levels. In cases where the scientific evidence is insufficient and precaution is applied to address risks to food safety, measures taken should be subject to review and on-going risk analysis, consistent with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. In co-operation with other international organisations, and in light of its recognised areas of expertise, OECD's programme of work will contribute to analysis and policy dialogue on wider issues of food safety.
42. The life sciences and biotechnology are increasingly relevant for the improvement of the quality of life, human health and the quality of the environment. These advances also pose important ethical, social, economic and safety challenges for individuals and societies. We stress the importance of biological diversity -- its study, preservation and sustainable use, and the equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources -- and of making biodiversity data available to all. We welcome OECD's contributions in these areas, notably on Biological Resource Centers, and the establishment of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) endorsed by the OECD Science Ministers' meeting in June 1999. We also look forward to progress in OECD's work on issues arising from the mapping of the human genome.
43. We welcome the forthcoming conferences which will deepen international understanding of biotechnology issues: the joint UK/OECD Conference New Biotechnology, Food and Crops: Science, Safety and Society to be held in Bangkok in July 2001, and The Environmental Impacts of Living Modified Organisms to be hosted by the United States in NovemberCommuniqué of the G8 Heads of Government meeting at Okinawa, July 2000
55. Maintenance of effective national food safety systems and public confidence in them assumes critical importance in public policy. We are committed to continued efforts to make systems responsive to the growing public awareness of food safety issues, the potential risks associated with food, the accelerating pace of developments in biotechnology, and the increasing cross-border movement of food and agricultural products.
56. The commitment to a science-based, rule-based approach remains a key principle underlying these endeavours. The on-going work in international fora to develop and refine such an approach needs to be accelerated. In particular, we attach strong importance to the work of the CODEX Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the principal standard-setting body in food safety, and encourage its Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology to produce a substantial interim report before completion of its mandate in 2003. We also support the efforts of the CAC's Committee on General Principles to achieve greater global consensus on how precaution should be applied to food safety in circumstances where available scientific information is incomplete or contradictory.
57. Policy dialogue, engaging all stakeholders and including both developed and developing countries, must be intensified to advance health protection, facilitate trade, ensure the sound development of biotechnology, and foster consumer confidence and public acceptance. The report by the OECD Ad Hoc Group on Food Safety and the work of the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds and the Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight of Biotechnology represent a useful step in this direction. We welcome the further work agreed by OECD ministers. We note with approval that the OECD will continue to undertake analytical work and to play an effective role in international policy dialogue on food safety, maintaining its engagement with civil society and seeking to share its work in this area with countries outside the organisation's membership. Drawing on its comparative advantages, the work of the OECD will effectively complement the activities of other international organisations, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WHO. We also encourage the FAO and WHO to organise periodic international meetings of food safety regulators to advance the process of science-based public consultations.
58. In pursuing this dialogue we will pay particular attention to the needs, opportunities and constraints in developing countries. We will work to strengthen our support for their capacity building to harness the potentials of biotechnology, and encourage research and development as well as data and information sharing in technologies, including those that address global food security, health, nutritional and environmental challenges and are adapted to specific conditions in these countries.
59. Open and transparent consultation with and involvement of all stakeholders, including representatives of civil society, supported by shared scientific understanding, is a key component of a credible food and crop safety system. We note the proposal to establish an independent international panel put forward at the recent OECD Edinburgh Conference. Building on the success of that Conference, we will explore, in consultation with international organisations and interested bodies including scientific academies, the way to integrate the best scientific knowledge available into the global process of consensus building on biotechnology and other aspects of food and crop safety.
36. Biotechnology is of growing importance to our societies because of its far-reaching consequences for, inter alia, human health and healthcare, agro-food production and sustainable development. Deepened international understanding and co-operation in managing the benefits and risks are necessary if the potential economic, environmental and social benefits are to be realised and new regulatory issues resolved. Public confidence, in particular, needs to be retained and enhanced through transparent policies. OECD will continue to contribute to this process of understanding across the broad range of biotechnology issues, and will seek to engage countries outside its membership in this work. Ministers invited OECD to consider holding a conference in 2001 to address the environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms.
37. Food safety is a fundamental objective for all governments. Ministers affirmed their commitment to a science-based and rules-based approach. How precaution should be applied to food safety in circumstances of scientific uncertainty is being discussed to promote understanding of the various view points on the subject and to achieve greater global consensus on this issue, in particular in the Codex Alimentarius Commission. OECD has undertaken substantial work on biotechnology and other aspects of food safety, including work requested by the G8, contributing to international understanding on different policy approaches. Consultation with interested parties, notably with NGOs and the Edinburgh Conference on GM foods in February this year, has been very successful. The OECD will continue to undertake analytical work and to play an effective role in international policy dialogue on food safety, maintaining its engagement with civil society and seeking to share its work in this area with countries outside the Organisation's membership. Drawing on its comparative advantages, the work of the OECD will effectively complement, without duplication, the activities of other international organisations, in particular the FAO and WHO.
21. Biotechnology offers great opportunities but also represents significant challenges and has given rise to public debate on its implications. Ministers stressed the importance of safeguarding human health and the environment while enabling people to enjoy the benefits that flow from advances in biotechnology. Scientific research is essential to the process. The OECD should continue to examine the various dimensions of this issue, including in the discussion at the forthcoming CSTP ministerial and in other fora.
11. Because trade is increasingly global, the consequences of developments in biotechnology must be dealt with at the national and international levels in all the appropriate fora. We are committed to a science-based, rules-based approach to addressing these issues.
43. In the light of increasing importance of issues concerning food safety we invite the OECD Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight of Biotechnology and the OECD Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds to undertake a study of the implications of biotechnology and other aspects of food safety. We invite OECD experts to discuss their findings with our personal representatives. We ask the latter to report to us by the next Summit on possible ways to improve our approach to these issues through international and other institutions, taking into account the reflections underway in other fora.
9. Rapid scientific and technological development in the life sciences call for approaches to policy design that involve greater interaction between the various stakeholders without sacrificing the basic principles of scientific validation. The definition of such approaches by governments greatly benefits from enhanced international co-operation. In this context, Ministers noted the statement on biotechnology by the OECD Council Meeting at Ministerial level on 26-27 May 1999. Ministers acknowledged the important contributions made by the CSTP Working Party on Biotechnology in the areas of health, industrial sustainability and the development of scientific infrastructure. They encouraged it to build upon its experience to strengthen international co-operation in policy making in the area of life sciences thereby contributing to ensuring that potential benefits from scientific and technological advances in this field can be reaped at domestic and global levels.
11. Ministers also welcomed the newly started activity of the CSTP Working Party on Biotechnology on Biological Resource Centres (BRCs) which aims at ensuring international co-ordination and complementarily of biotechnology infrastructures.
13. Some regulatory provisions may limit the contribution of S&T to economic growth and sustainable development by hampering scientific advances and the generation and commercial exploitation of new technologies. Ministers stressed that appropriate regulatory reform could unleash innovative capacity by encouraging innovative behaviour and the diffusion of knowledge. Highlighting the active role they have to assume in the promotion of such reform by governments, they noted that new regulatory frameworks need to take account of social and environmental objectives, promote diversity of technological choices and command public understanding and confidence. This is particularly the case in the areas of rapid change such as the application of biotechnology to health and agriculture.
Work on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology
Work on the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds
