Argentina made public an international declaration on agricultural applications of precision biotechnology within the framework of the 73rd Meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which took place on Thursday (1.11.2018) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The proposal is an indispensable tool for agricultural innovation whose use gives farmers access to products that increase productivity while preserving environmental sustainability.
The primary objective of this declaration to the international community is to call for coordinationn efforts to ensure that regulatory approaches to gene editing are science-based and internationally harmonized, thereby mitigating unnecessary barriers to the adoption of new agricultural products.
The text highlights the role of innovation led by the public sector and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in boosting the use of these technologies.
In particular, the declaration It calls for the recognition that the products of these new biotechnologies can be adequately addressed by existing regulatory frameworks and safety standards, in such a way as to avoid arbitrary distinctions with respect to equivalent products obtained through other production methods.
The declaration was supported by thirteen countries and regional blocs. from the American, Asian and African continents. The text was presented on behalf of a group of signatory countries that included Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Paraguay, whose delegations took the floor to support the presentation. At the same time, after the text was released, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay immediately announced that they would join as co-sponsors. In addition, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Vietnam, Jordan and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) They made interventions highlighting the importance of the issue raised by Argentina.
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures are basic rules relating to food safety, animal health and plant preservation.
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