OECD NEWS RELEASE | November 2, 1999
PARIS - In response to a request from the G-8 industrialised countries last July, the OECD is intensifying its work on biotechnology and food safety with a view to reporting back to the G-8 heads of state and government at their next summit meeting in July 2000.
One important element in this work is consultation with civil society, and in particular with representative non-governmental organisations. With this in mind, OECD Secretary-General Donald J. Johnston has invited a number of representatives of civil society to a consultative meeting at OECD headquarters in Paris on Saturday, 20 November 1999. The meeting will start at 9.30 a.m. and is expected to run all day. It will be open to the media.
The purpose of the meeting is to explain new OECD initiatives and, more importantly, to hear the views of various stakeholders. NGOs from a wide range of geographic locations are being invited to outline their views on biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms, and other aspects of food safety at an early stage of the OECD's preparation of its report for the G-8 summit. The consultation will focus on three main topics - consumer concerns, environmental concerns and agro-food sector concerns.
Representatives of consumer, environmental, business and science groups have been invited to address these areas.
In order to make known details of its work and gather the widest possible range of views for the consultation, the OECD has also opened an Internet site (http://www.oecd.org/subject/biotech) which invites submissions from anyone with an interest in this subject.
This meeting is part of the OECD's ongoing exchange with civil society, with a view to ensuring that OECD policy advice to governments accurately reflects the concerns of a wide range of stakeholders. Recent consultations with civil society have included matters related to electronic commerce, corporate governance and trade.
