News and Events

Official Opening ceremony with dinner hosted by the ADB TA-6214-REG; the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand will be the official guest (to be confirmed), and will formally open the meeting.

Overview Session 1: “Implementing biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations”

“Introduction to the aims, contents and expected results of the forum”

Nizar Mohamed
Team leader, ADB TA 6214-REG

Key note address (50 min presentation + 30 min for discussion): Presentation on “The Cartagena Protocol and its implications for implementation of national biosafety and biotechnology legislation and policies”

Veit Koester
Chairman, Compliance Committee, CPB

Coffee break

Country experiences: Presentations from three countries on their experiences with implementing biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations

• China: “China’s experiences with developing and implementing its biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations” - representative from Ministry of Agriculture
• India: “India’s experiences with developing and implementing its biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations” - Dr. Ranjini Warrier, Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests
• USA: “The USA’s experiences with developing and implementing its biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations” - Dr. Subhash Gupta, Senior Biotechnologist, Biotechnology Regulatory Services, USDA-APHIS
• Discussions (30 min)

Lunch break

Experiences from GMS countries (15 min each) – short country reports from the six countries on their country’s experiences with biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations.

Coffee break

Plenary discussions on experiences from resource people and GMS countries.

Thematic session 2 (morning):
The SPS agreement and biosafety

Key note address (60 min + 30min questions): Presentation on “The WTO SPS agreement and biosafety”.

Dig by Gascoine
WTO consultant.

Coffee break

Focus group discussions by country (40 min) - participants from each country to meet with facilitators to identify their national questions about the SPS agreement and biosafety.

Panel: Discussion: short (10 minute) presentations from3 resource people (, USA, Canada and China), followed by plenary discussions on questions identified by each GMS country.

departure for excursion

Excursion by boat on Chao Phraya River, including a Thai-style lunch on an island on the river.

Thematic session 3 (morning):
Experiences and lessons from implementing regulations and policies on environmental risk assessment, risk management, field trials and co-existence

Key note address (1): “Canada’s experiences with carrying out environmental risk assessments, risk management and field trials”

Desmond Mahon
National focal point Cartagena protocol, Environment Canada

Key note address (2): “Argentina’s experiences with developing and implementing its policies and regulations on environmental risk assessments, risk management and field trials”

Alejandra Sarquis
Regional Specialist (Biotechnology ), IICA, and former national project coordinator for Argentina’s NBF project

Plenary Discussions

Coffee break

Focus group discussions by country (40 min) - participants from each country to meet with facilitators to identify their national questions about environmental risk assessments, risk management, field trials and co-existence.

Panel discussion: short presentations (5-10 min each) from 4 resource people (USA, Canada, India, Austria) on their experiences on environmental risk assessments, risk management, field trials and co-existence. This will be followed by plenary discussions on questions identified by each GMS country on these issues.

Lunch break

Thematic session 4 (afternoon):
Experiences and lessons from implementing Food safety regulations at a subregional level.

Key note address (1):”Experiences from Australia and New Zealand on developing and implementing joint regulations on food safety, including labelling”

Linda Graf
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

Key note address (2):”Experiences from the European Union on developing and implementing regulations on food safety, including labelling”

Patrick Deboyser
Regional Food Safety Specialist, EC Delegation, Bangkok

Plenary Discussions

Coffee break

Focus group discussions by country (40 min) - participants from each country to meet with facilitators to identify their national questions about food safety, harmonisation of regulations, and labelling.

Panel discussion: short presentations (5-10 min each) from 4 resource people ( USA, Canada, China, India,) on implementing their food safety regulations, including labelling and harmonisation.

Thematic session 5 (morning):
Experiences and lessons from implementing regulations and policies on public participation and risk communication.

Key note address (1): “The Aarhus Convention: Experiences and lessons in developing guidelines for public participation in decision-making on GMOs”

Dr. Helmut Gaugitsch
Austrian Federal Environment Agency, Austria, and former chair of Aarhus Convention working group on Biotechnology

Key note address (2): “Risk Communication: experiences from Australia”

Craig Cormick
Manager, Public Awareness, Biotechnology Australia

Plenary Discussions

Coffee break

Focus group discussions by country (40 min) - participants from each country to meet with facilitators to identify their national questions about risk communication and public participation in decision-making on GMOs.

Panel discussion: short presentations (5-10 min each) from 4 resource people (USA, Canada, India, Argentina) on their experiences on risk communication and public participation in decision-making on GMOs. This will be followed by plenary discussions on questions identified by each GMS country on these issues.

Lunch break

Session 6 (afternoon):
Overview: Experiences from implementing biotechnology and biosafety regulations and policies: lessons for regional cooperation.

Key note address: “Experiences from Latin America on regional cooperation on biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations”

Alejandra Sarquis
Regional Specialist (Biotechnology ), IICA

Panel: short presentations (5 min each) from 4 resource people (Austria, SFANZ, USA, India,) on lessons for regional cooperation from their experiences in implementing their biotechnology and biosafety policies and regulations.

Plenary Discussions

Coffee break

Plenary discussions and conclusion: on lessons for regional cooperation on biotechnology and biosafety polices and regulations