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USA – COEXISTENCE REPORT AVAILABLE
New pew initiative/NASDA workshop report on "peaceful coexistence"
13 October 2006. Source: CropBiotech Update
The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the National Association of State
Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) held in Boulder, US, on March 2006, a workshop aimed at identifying potential options for advancing “peaceful coexistence” of conventional, biotech and organic crops in the market place. Participants to the
workshop included representatives from state and federal governments; GE, conventional, and organic farmers; the European Union, seed companies, food processing and marketing companies, academia and the biotech industry.
Highlights of the report include:
- Growers of conventional and organic crops have at times been denied market access when unable to meet market specifications.
- The lack of standardized, internationally accepted marketing standards, testing methodologies, and protocols pose a significant challenge to the operation of agricultural marketing chains.
- Overcoming the challenges and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by fostering “peaceful coexistence” will require a combination of market, research, farmer-to-farmer communication and Federal, state and local government efforts.
To read the report “Peaceful Coexistence among Growers of: Genetically Engineered, Conventional and Organic Crops”, visit http://pewagbiotech.org/events/0301.
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