STANDARDS FOR GM FOOD SAFETY CRUCIAL
September 19, 2003
Crop Biotech Update
Food safety assessment is not just about science, but also about
perceptions, concerns, and standards about how to assure safety. Thus,
agreements on reasonable standards of safety for developing countries will
be critical. This is the main point raised by Joel Cohen and colleagues in a
brief issued by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
This agreement, according to the authors, will allow for and encourage
exchange of data, which will help ensure that data requirements are
manageable among countries. Hence, there is a need to assure capacity
building for biotechnology and biosafety. Such competency will enable
countries to conduct independent research and create sufficient
infrastructure to allow scientifically defensible decisions regarding food
safety issues colored by each countryıs perceptions and circumstances.
Download the IFPRI brief entitled Food Safety and GM Crops: Implications
for Developing Country Research, one in a series on Food Safety in Food
Security and Food Trade, at
http://www.ifpri.org/2020/focus/focus10/focus10_16.pdf