Friday, February 21, 2014

Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops 2013 Seminars in China, Korea and Japan

Since 1996, during the first year of commercialization of biotech crops, ISAAA has released the annual “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops”, a Brief documenting the latest information on the global status of commercially approved biotech crops. Year after year, ISAAA prepares the Brief and supports its free distribution to developing countries to provide information and knowledge to the scientific community and facilitate a more informed and transparent discussion regarding the potential role of biotech crops in contributing to global food, feed, fiber and fuel security, and a more sustainable agriculture.

The 2013 Global Status Brief is the 18th such publication in its series, and documents the global database on the adoption and distribution of biotech crops in 2013, when 18 million farmers from 27 countries worldwide planted 175.2 million hectares of biotech crops. Below are summaries of the country launches held for ISAAA's 2013 Global Status Brief.

CHINA

The 2013 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops Brief was launched at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in Beijing, China, on February 14, 2014. The launch was held during the Crop Biological Breeding Industrialization Summit 2014, an event attended by more than three hundred participants from China’s scientific and academic community, government agencies, private sector and media. The summit featured a seminar by Dr. Clive James, author of the Brief and ISAAA’s Founder/Emeritus Chair. ISAAA’s Chair Dr. Paul Teng, discussed Food Security: A Defining Issue for Asia.

Dr. James at the media conference in Beijing on February 13.

On February 13, a day before the summit, the Brief was also launched at its first media conference in Beijing, attended by 40 journalists from 35 media outlets. Dr. James was interviewed by China’s CCTV News, China Business Journal, China Economic Observer, Caixin Media, QQ.com, China National Radio, Health News, and Science News Bi-weekly. Journalists from international media outlets such as Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg News Week also interviewed Dr. James.


SOUTH KOREA

In Seoul, South Korea, Dr. James presented to members of the media the 2013 global status of biotech crops. Around 20 journalists from Seoul attended the media seminar, and asked Dr. James about the status and development of commercialized biotech crops in Europe, climate change and biotech crops, and the possible solutions to public mistrust and awareness about GM crops.

Dr. James delivers his presentation to members of the media in Seoul.

JAPAN

Around 100 participants attended the media seminar in Tokyo, Japan, with Dr. Masahiro Suzuki of the Council for Biotechnology Information in Japan as seminar chair.

Dr. James gives an overview of his presentation to the audience in Tokyo.

For more information about ISAAA's Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2013, visit the website at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/default.asp. Various information resources, including the Executive Summary, Top Ten Facts about Biotech/GM Crops in 2013, Powerpoint Slides, Infographics, and videos are all available for download from the same link.

For more information about ISAAA, visit http://www.isaaa.org/.

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