Dear Subscribers, Here is Update 1-2014 of FAO-BiotechNews. As usual, we welcome any feedback you have about this Update. We also encourage you to tell your colleagues about FAO-BiotechNews. The newsletter is published in six different versions, one per language i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish. If any of your colleagues wish to subscribe, they can send a message to [log in to unmask] indicating which e-mail addresses are to be subscribed and in which language they wish to receive the newsletter. Alternatively, they can subscribe themselves. Instructions for people to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves are provided at the end of this message. Finally, to ensure that updates of FAO-BiotechNews will not be treated as spam or be moved to your junk folder, we encourage you to add [log in to unmask] to your Junk e-mail Safe Senders list. With best wishes John John Ruane The Coordinator of FAO-BiotechNews, 8-4-2014 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) E-mail address: mailto:[log in to unmask] FAO Biotechnology website http://www.fao.org/biotech/en/ (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) *** NEWS *** (http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-news/en/) 1) FAO technical consultation on low levels of GM crops in international food and feed trade On 20-21 March 2014, FAO held the "Technical consultation on low levels of genetically modified (GM) crops in international food and feed trade" at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. In 2013, FAO carried out an international survey to gather information on the extent and nature of problems incurred with low levels of GM crops in traded commodities and the results of the survey were used to conduct further analyses on trade, economic impact and relevant food/feed regulatory issues. Prior to the meeting, FAO prepared two technical background documents entitled "Low levels of GM crops in food and feed: Regulatory issues" and "Low levels of GM crops in international food and feed trade: FAO international survey and economic analysis", as well as a simple compilation document of the survey results, entitled "The results of the FAO survey on low levels of genetically modified (GM) crops in international food and feed trade". A press release about the FAO survey, published on 13 March, is available at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216311/icode/ (in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). All relevant technical documents (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and all the presentations made at the technical consultation are also available for download at http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/a-z-index/biotechnology/llp/. Contact [log in to unmask] for further information. 2) Ten lessons from biotechnology experiences in developing countries The Asian Biotechnology and Development Review has just published the article "Ten lessons from biotechnology experiences in crops, livestock and fish for smallholders in developing countries" by J.D. Dargie, J. Ruane, and A. Sonnino. FAO recently commissioned a unique series of 19 case studies where agricultural biotechnologies were used to serve the needs of smallholders in developing countries. Most involved a single crop, livestock or fish species and a single biotechnology. Based on the case studies, this article presents ten general and interrelated lessons which can be used to inform and assist policy-makers when deciding on potential interventions involving biotechnologies for smallholders in developing countries. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/as351e/as351e.pdf (200 KB) or contact [log in to unmask] to request an electronic copy. 3) FAO 'themes' webpage - Biotechnology From the Themes webpage, visitors to the FAO website access a primary entry point for a number of specific topics, communicating what FAO is doing in relation to the subject area and including links to in-depth information. The topics focus on prominent areas of FAO's work, at both an overarching theme level and in some cases on more specific areas that are of particular interest to specialists, media, the general public, academia and other audiences. The topics include aquaculture, biodiversity, livestock and the environment, south-south cooperation, trade, water and more. Biotechnology has recently been included as a new topic. See http://www.fao.org/biotechnology/en/ or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 4) FAO/IAEA Animal Production and Health Newsletter 59 The January 2014 newsletter from the Animal Production and Health Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is now available. The 43-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of past and upcoming training courses, meetings, projects, news stories and publications. See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/aph/public/newsletters-aph.html or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 5) FAO/IAEA Plant Breeding and Genetics Newsletter 32 The January 2014 newsletter from the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is now available. This 32-page newsletter, issued twice a year, gives an overview of their past and upcoming events (meetings, training courses etc.), ongoing projects and publications. See http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/pbg/public/newsletters-pbg.html or contact [log in to unmask] to request a copy. 6) Report of 2013 Aarhus Convention/Cartagena Protocol round table On 16-17 October 2013, the Aarhus Convention and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety jointly organized a round table in Geneva, Switzerland, on access to information, public participation and access to justice regarding living modified organisms/genetically modified organisms (LMOs/GMOs). Its outcomes are expected to facilitate further implementation of the Aarhus Convention's Almaty Amendment on GMOs and to contribute to the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol's programme of work on public awareness, education and participation concerning LMOs. See the round table documents and the advanced edited version of the report at http://www.unece.org/gmo_2013.html or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 7) Cartagena Protocol - Online forum on techniques for engaging the public Article 23 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety requires that Parties shall, in accordance with their respective laws and regulations, consult the public in the decision-making process regarding living modified organisms and shall make the results of such decisions available to the public, while respecting confidential information in accordance with Article 21. In order to facilitate exchange of views and information regarding the techniques of public participation in the context of the Protocol, the Secretariat is holding an online discussion from 28 April to 9 May 2014 on "Techniques for engaging the public". The outcomes will be summarized in a background document for the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP 8). Parties, other governments and relevant organizations are invited to nominate individuals involved in, or responsible for, promoting public participation to participate in the Forum. See http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/portal_art23/pp_forum_discussion.shtml or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 8) OECD Biotechnology Update 26 The latest issue (December 2013) of the OECD Biotechnology Update, prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Internal Co-ordination Group for Biotechnology, is now available. The 33-page newsletter provides updated information on the diverse activities at OECD related to biotechnology. See http://www.oecd.org/env/ehs/biotrack/oecdbiotechnologynewsletterupdates.htm or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. 9) ICARDA doubled haploid wheat manual The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has recently published "Methods and applications of doubled haploid technology in wheat breeding", by W. Tadesse, S. Tawkaz, M.N. Inagaki, E. Picard and M. Baum. Doubled haploids are genotypes produced through induction of haploids followed by chromosome doubling. Wheat cultivars produced using doubled haploid systems have been released for cultivation in both developed and developing countries. This 25-page manual aims to be a useful guide for wheat breeders, geneticists, biotechnologists, students and technicians. See http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/biodiversity-and-integrated-gene-management or contact [log in to unmask] for more information. *************************** This newsletter contains news and events items relevant to agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries. Its main focus is on the activities of FAO, other UN agencies/bodies and the 15 CGIAR research centres. Items from the newsletter may be reproduced, provided that the source (FAO-BiotechNews, http://www.fao.org/biotech/) is given. 1. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews, send an e-mail message to [log in to unmask] with only the following one line in the body of the message (i.e. leave the subject line blank and have no other text, such as an e-mail signature, in the message): subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-L firstname lastname Firstname and lastname refer to the person's first and last name. For example, if the subscriber's name is John Smith, then the line should be: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-L John Smith 2. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews-Ar (i.e. the Arabic language version of FAO-BiotechNews), do the same as for FAO-BiotechNews above except the message should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Ar-L firstname lastname 3. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews-Cn (the Chinese version), do the same except the message should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Cn-L firstname lastname 4. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews-Fr (the French version), do the same except the message should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Fr-L firstname lastname 5. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews-Ru (the Russian version), do the same except the message should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Ru-L firstname lastname 6. To subscribe to FAO-BiotechNews-Esp (the Spanish version), do the same except the message should read: subscribe FAO-BiotechNews-Esp-L firstname lastname Copyright FAO 2014 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the FAO-BiotechNews-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=FAO-BiotechNews-L&A=1