www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

In the report ?Withering on the vine: will agricultural biotech's promises
bear fruit?? Gregory Jaffe, Director of the Center for Science in the Public
Interest (CSPI) Biotechnology Project, presents the results of a study
comparing the number and type of biotech crops approved for
commercialization in the U.S. between the years 1995 and 2000, and the
subsequent five years, February 2006.

The report concludes that despite a two third decrease in the number of
applications filed since the year 2000, the time required for federal
agencies to complete their review of biotech crops had doubled. In addition,
most of the products filed after 2000 were not novel applications of the
technology, but involved the use the same genes already approved for
previous applications.

These ?trends should worry those who believe that agricultural biotechnology
can be used safely and can benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment
in the United States, other developed countries, and in developing
countries? says Jaffe. In order to reverse this trend, the CSPI makes five
recommendations:

1. The federal government needs to ensure a more efficient review process,
and include the adoption of streamlined regulatory procedures for crops
engineered with genes already used in previous applications.

2. Public investment should be streamlined into research on traits and crops
not pursued by the private sector, with aims of increasing the output of
novel biotech applications.

3. The federal government needs to increase public investment in risk
assessment and safety studies for crops ready for commercialization.

4. GM crops that address the specific needs of farmers in developing
countries need to be developed. The U.S. and other developed nations need to
increase public funding for agricultural research on such crops, and
agricultural biotechnologies should invest part of their profits to
developing technology beneficial to developing countries.

5. Steps should be taken to improve public acceptance of agricultural
biotechnology.

To read the full article in pdf, access:
[cspinet.org]

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