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GCP/RAS/185/JPN
- an FAO project
funded by the government of Japan
Context
 Asia
and the Pacific is home to nearly 60 percent of the world’s
people. Most Asians depend in this mainly rural region depend largely
on agriculture for food and livehood. Over the past three to four
decades, Asian farms have seen record gains in productivity brought
about by modern agricultural know-how supported by appropriate government
policies. The robust agricultural growth has underpinned the economic
prosperity enjoyed by several countries in the region. Yet, about
one-sixth of Asians still do not get the minimum food needed for
an active and healthy life with the region having some two-thirds
of the 800 million hungry people in the world.
A sustained increase in fam productivity is vital for the region
which has three-fourths of the world's farm households. The limited
availability of extra arable land means that Asian farms must step
up their yield, producing more food and income for a growing population.
The new generation of farm technologies hold great potential of
not only boosting output, but also reducing production costs, increasing
nutritional value and making agro-processing more efficient.
However, modern biotechnology, especially genetically modified
organisms (GMOs), has to be handled with great caution to avoid
the potential risks to human and ecosystem health. The development
and application of biotechnology must be accompanied by systematic
assessment and management of the potential adverse impacts on food
safety, environment and the diversity of living species that are
vital for health farm systems.
Keen to unlock the tremendous potential of agricultural biotechnology,
countries in the region are at different stages of GMO research
and development. The further development, testing and commercial
release of GM products must be subject to adequate scientific, legal
and institutional controls to protect human health, environment
and biodiversity. It is equally important that biosafety standards
and regulations are consistent across the region in view of the
growing cross-border movement of agricultural goods.
 Aware
of the importance of harmonizing biosafety checks and national capacities
to scientifically assess and manage the benefits and risks associated
with GMOs, countries in the region requested assistance from the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
With funding provided by the Government of Japan, this four-year
project will assist member countries in the region in safe harnessing
of the benefits of biotechnology in accordance with relevant global
agreements on the subject. The donor government and FAO envisage
establishing and strengthening technical cooperation among and capacity
building of Asian countries to ensure safety in the introduction
and use of GM crops, based on transparent and science-based approaches.
This will include:
- Developing and harmonizing an appropriate regulatory framework
to deal with biosafety concerns related to GM crops; and
- The collection, analysis, dissemination and exchange of information
on biotechnology and biotechnology and GM-related biosafety standards
through inventories, databases and decision support systems.
Objective
To enhance food and livelihood security in Asia through sustainable
and environment-friendly increases in the yield and quality of agricultural
produce, including, where appropriate, the safe and judicious harnessing
of modern biotechnology.
 The
use of modern biotechnology will require:
-
Strengthening of national capacities in participating countries
for the development of human resources, research and technology,
legislation, regulations, policies and programmes for biosafety.
This includes the assessment and management of potential risks
associated with GM crops.
- Establishment of an Asian Network of Biotechnology (Asian Bio-Net)
that will bring together public and private sector institutions
and stakeholders for harmonizing biosafety.
- Assessment and management standards, guidelines, measures and
methodologies. This will be done in compliance with existing international
agreements and arrangements for the sharing of information on
GM crop-related biosafety experiments at the regional and country
level. This will also promote the inter-country exchange and sharing
of information, expertise and GM crops.
Expected Output
- Development of human resources, research, and technology, infrastructure,
regulations and policies on Biosafety.
- Trained human resources for researching, analyzing and managing
biosafety risks associated with GM crops. This will facilitate
transparent, science-based and objective regulatory and policy
decisions and harmonized biosafety regulations regarding the development,
trade and commercialization of Gm crops.
- A benchmark reference document that will list the relative strengths,
weaknesses and gaps in participating countries and the region
as a whole for meeting the above objective.
- Establishment of the Asian BioNet to provide a forum for sustained
regulatory collaboration among Asian countries for the safe and
judicious use of modern biotechnology.
- National on biosafety aspects of Gm crops in the context of
agriculture and trade policies, and consistent with agreed international
standards.
- Support for research and technology development for the assessment
and management of biosafety risks related to GM crops.
Activities
- Regional Consultations to: i) identify strengths and weaknesses
of national capacities; ii) identify strengths and weaknesses
of national capacities; iii) promote harmonization of biosafety
methodologies, standards and regulations.
- Setting up of Internet-based national and regional centers for
GM crops database management and information exchange mechanisms
in line with FAO’s World Agricultural Information Centre
(WAICENT).
- National stakeholder workshops to streamline national capacities
for linking policy, technology and biosafety issues, and strengthen
research and technology development capacity on risk assessment
and management.
- Initiation of specific research and technology development to
develop methods to support scientific risk assessment of GM crops.
- Preparation of training manuals.
- National and regional training and workshops on procedures and
methodologies for biosafety risk assessment and updating of developments
on Gm crop risk and management options.
- Special group meeting to evaluate the extent of adoption of
harmonized biosafety measures, methodologies and regulations.
Institutional arrangements
The project is based at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand. It is closely linked with relevant
national institutions, regional bodies as well as international
institutions and organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Association
of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Organisation of Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), UN Development Programme (UNDP),
Rockefeller Foundation, Japan International Research Center for
Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO). The project also collaborates with
the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) project for the Development
of National Biosafety Frameworks (NBF).
Executing agency: FAO
Donor: The Government of Japan
Duration: 3 years (May 2002-April 2005)
Host country: Thailand
Participating countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam and other selected
countries in Asia and the Pacific
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