April 7, 2000 / Agence France Presse
PARIS -- The Group of Eight (G8) summit in Japan in July will, according to
this story, be asked to set up a global forum to help assess the safety and
impact of genetically-modified foods. The proposal was announced Friday by
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the
29-nation club of wealthy industrialised countries, which has been asked by
the G8 to help clarify the debate on transgenic foods.
Sir John Krebs, a top British scientist who authored the proposal, was
quoted as saying, "Worldwide, many people are eating GM foods (especially in
North America and China) with no adverse effects on human health having been
reported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature." But, he warned,
"There could, in theory, be long-term effects on humam health that have not
yet been detected because GM foods have been available for less than 10
years." He recommended that an "international forum" be set up "to provide
governments with a state of the art assessment of scientific knowledge about
GM technology."
The social and environmental impacts of the novel foods would be part of the
remit, he insisted. Krebs was further cited as saying it was up to others
to decide the nature of the forum, but said it should be controlled by
governments and stressed it must be "inclusive," implying that it should not
be restricted to wealthy countries or the biotech industry, adding, "People
want to know how decisions are reached and to be consulted."
(posted without permission)
