CONFERENCE TARGETS CONTROVERSIAL TRADE, RISK AND REGULATORY CONFLICTS OVER GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD PRODUCTS

e-mail: joan.dim@nyu.edu

U.S. Undersecretary of State, Greenpeace and Other Key Players to Attend Dialogue

Oct. 1-2 --- FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC (Space limited, reservations suggested)

The Center on Environmental and Land Use Law at New York University School of Law will host a conference on Friday, Oct. 1, and Saturday, Oct. 2, that will address the legal, regulatory and policy issues presented by the emerging trade conflicts between the United States and the E.U. over the importation of genetically modified (GM) food products from the U.S. While the agricultural industry in the United States has staked much of its financial future on worldwide expansion of the GM foods market, the E.U., certain of its member countries, and other nations have taken or are contemplating measures whose effect is to restrict importation of foods containing GM components.

The Conference is the first of its kind to institute a dialogue among the key stakeholders on all sides of the debate on legal and regulatory means for addressing the risks of and emerging trade conflicts over GM products.

The Conference also will provide a neutral forum for discussing these controversial issues and will facilitate free exchange of ideas. Speakers will include: key U.S. policymakers, Frank Loy, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs and Jennifer Haverkamp of U.S.T.R; Greenpeace, the leading opponent of GM foods; key European decisionmakers, including Thofonis Christoforou of the European Commission and officials of E.U. Member States; representatives of the biotechnology industry; representatives of developing countries; and leading academics. The conference is co-chaired by NYU School of Law Professors Richard Stewart, Philippe Sands and Dorothy Nelkin.

The Conference will include: · presentations by scientists on what we know and don't know about the risks of GM food products;

· discussion of different perspectives on the social and regulatory assessment of the risks of GM foods;

· presentations on the current and evolving system of GM food regulation in the US and Europe;

· discussion of trade regulatory conflicts;

· presentations on issues with respect to the Biosafety Protocol, labeling, intellectual property, and the implications of the new technology for developing countries; and

· review of different countries’ strategies for assessing and managing the risks presented by new technologies such as GM foods and crops, and the domestic and international legal and political structures for addressing such technologies in the face of sharply differing views about their risks and benefits.

The Conference will be held at NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South in New York City. Admittance is free, although space is now limited due to the high number of requests to attend. To make a reservation, please call Bobbie Glover at 212.998.6417. To make a press reservation, please call Joan Dim at 212.998.6849.

The Conference comes at a time when industry in the US and Europe is investing heavily in the development of GM crops and foods. Skeptics, however, are concerned about the health and ecological risks of these new products, as well as the cultural, economic, and ethical implications of GM technologies and of the patenting of crops and foods.

Currently, a sharp split exists between the US and Europe in the public perception of the risks of GM crops and foods and in the regulatory response. These divergent paths are likely to lead to trade conflicts between the US and Europe.

In the US, the regulatory structure has allowed development of the new technologies and products to proceed rapidly; labeling of GM foods as GM is not required. As a result, currently 60% of the food products produced in the United States contain GM components. U.S. farmers are growing an increasing percentage of key export crops such as corn (currently 30%) and soybeans (currently 35%) from GM seeds. The ability to market GM-containing food products and crops overseas is therefore perceived as crucial by the domestic agricultural industry.

In Europe, where the public is more concerned about health and ecological risks, a number of European nations and the E.U. have imposed or are considering labeling requirements and other restrictions on GM food products. As a result, many large supermarkets in Europe are now declining to stock any GM foods. The impacts of these restrictions are already being felt in the United States, as farmers face the prospect of diminished prices for certain GM crops and exporters and seed producers scramble to comply with new restrictions abroad. PROGRAM Friday, October 1, 1999

8:30 AM Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM Introductions Dean John Sexton, NYU Law School

Dick Stewart, Director, Center on Environmental and Land Use Law, NYU School of Law

9:15 AM: Panel 1: Science

Chair Paul Raeburn, Science Editor, Business Week

Jim Maryanski, U.S. FDA

Julian Kinderler

10:15 AM Coffee Break

10:30 AM Panel 2: Risk

Chair Dorothy Nelkin, NYU School of Law

Mike Phillips, Biotechnology Industry Organization

Louise Gale, Greenpeace/Europe

Sheldon Krimsky, Tufts University

Kate Cook, Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions, UK, and NYU

Page 4

12:00 Lunch Break -on your own-

2:15 PM Panel 3: Regulatory Approaches

Chair Richard Revesz, NYU School of Law

Linda Fisher, Monsanto; former USEPA Assistant Administrator

Rebecca Goldburg, Environmental Defense Fund

Ruth Mackenzie, Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development

Franz Perrez, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland

4:00 PM Coffee Break

4:20 PM Panel 4: Regulatory Conflicts and Trade

Chair Andreas Lowenfeld, NYU School of Law

Theofonis Christoforou, European Commission

Jennifer Haverkamp, Office of the United States Trade Representative

Willy De Greef, Novartis

6:00 PM Reception

Saturday, October 2, 1999

8:30 AM Continental Breakfast Page 5

9:00 AM Panel 5: Selected Key Issues

Chair Philippe Sands, University of London and NYU School of Law

Biosafety Protocol Jimena Nieto, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Environment, Colombia

Rafe Pomerance, Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

Labeling Arthur Appleton, Lalive & Partners, Geneva

Intellectual Property Rochelle Dreyfuss, NYU School of Law

Implications for Developing Countries Gary Toenniessen, Rockefeller Foundation

11:00 AM Coffee Break

11:20 AM Round Table Discussion

Chair Dick Stewart, NYU School of Law

Frank Loy, Undersecretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Calestous Juma, Kennedy School of Government, Former Executive Secretary, Biodiversity Convention

Gordon Conway, President, Rockefeller Foundation-Invited

Open discussion with other program panelists

1:00 PM: Adjourn

09/30/99