US farm group to hold Asia-wide biotech conference
Date: 30-Aug-01
Country: SINGAPORE
"Information sharing is the key to this conference," said Kenneth Hobble, the industry group's president. "Certainly, one of our goals is to provide a balanced perspective on biotechnology to Asian leaders."
This year Japan, South Korea and China approved strict government policies on genetically modified foods in reaction to consumer fears.
The three-day U.S. Grains Council biotechnology conference begins on September 5. Attendees will include teams of grain buyers, processors, government officials, academics and news media from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Representatives from each country will provide an overview of the current status of biotechnology issues in their locality, U.S. Grains Council said.
The new biotech food regulations helped slow U.S. corn and soybean exports in recent months as some Asian grain buyers turned to Latin American supplies. The United States is by far the world's largest producer of genetically-modified crops.