July 12, 2001 -- An international conference on agricultural biotechnology in Bangkok July 10 to 12, 2001, concluded with a call for more international cooperation and publicly funded
scientific research into the risks and benefits of genetically modified (GM) foods and crops.

In an opening speech, Suwit Khunkitti, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, emphasised "the potential and the pitfalls" of new biotechnology and GM foods. Acknowledging
the wide range of opposing views on GM foods, he drew attention to the fears of small farmers in developing countries about the possible consequences for their livelihoods of the introduction of GM plant and animal products. He also stressed the need for full information for consumers.

"The rights of consumers are supreme and must be respected," he said. "Consumers have the absolute right to know what is in the food that they consume."

Herwig Schlögl, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, said that, while individual governments are responsible for regulating production and sale of GM foods, they need to
cooperate on an international basis to tackle the issues raised by new biotechnology. The OECD’s role, he explained, is to provide governments with "a platform to analyze
complex issues, using science as far as possible, and to discuss and hopefully develop common policy approaches in order to make national rule-making internationally
consistent."

"Several speakers have drawn attention to the decline in publicly funded research, and the increasing dependence that society has on research data that might not be considered
impartial," said the United Kingdom's Earl of Selborne, the conference chairman. "Publicly funded research provides greater confidence and might be easier to channel into
regions for which no financial return on the research investment can be expected."

The conference, organized by the United Kingdom and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in cooperation with the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Program, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the government of
Thailand, brought together more than 300 participants from over 50 countries on five continents, including scientists, government officials and representatives of industry,
agriculture and civil society and the media. The conclusions of the conference will be presented to the G-8 summit later this month.

For more information, visit this OECD Web site.