Report Highlights:
The second international conference on coexistence between GM and non-GM based agricultural supply chains took place in Montpellier, France, in mid November 2005. It was coorganized by the French National Institute of Agronomy (INRA) and the European Commission Directorate General Joint Research Center (JRC). The Commissioner for Agriculture emphasized the high priority of the coexistence legislative framework on her agenda, and the JRC announced that their research program will be finalized in December 2005. A large number of papers were presented on gene flow modeling, national implementation, organization and costs of coexistence. France's coexistence legislation is still pending.
Introduction and Summary
On November 14-15, 2005, the second international conference on coexistence between GM and non-GM based agricultural supply chains (GMCC-05) was held in Montpellier, France.The event was co-organized by the French National Institute of Research in Agriculture (INRA) and the European Commission Directorate General Joint Research Center (JRC).The first GM/non-GM coexistence conference (GMCC-03) was held in Denmark in 2003.The EC, in conjunction with the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, will organize the next coexistence conference in Vienna (Austria) in April 2006.
This conference focused on both European and non-European coexistence situations and consequent agronomic and economic research findings.There were no policy statements made apart from opening remarks by EU agricultural Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel.There were no demonstrations of anti-biotech lobbyists, although some were present.
At the Montpellier meeting, EU Agriculture Commissioner Fischer-Boel, in her opening remarks, made clear that biotech coexistence is high on her agenda.She insisted that the legislative framework on biotech coexistence at the EU and Member State levels continue to be developed.Fischer-Boel declared that the EU Commission (EC) is currently working on a report to consolidate actions among Member States on coexistence, to be presented to the European Council in early 2006.She stressed the importance for the EC of mutual exchanges and information sharing among the Member States.She said that this would help establish a scientific basis to allow for the development of a coexistence framework that would provide choices for farmers and guarantees for consumers.In addition, the Commissioner underlined the political importance of resolving the liability issue.