ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee and ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute´s Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee

SIGNORINI, M.

Washington, D.C. (EUA)

Workshop; Meeting on ILSI Activities Related to Biotechnology; 2004

International Life Science Institute

Modern biotechnology is one of the areas of scientific knowledge of utmost relevant evolution in the last decades and of major impact in the development in many sectors, such as that of human and animal health, agriculture, environment and industry. Its applications involve and affect, simultaneously and newly in these sectors, reaching progressively a wide variety of actions and products, all of great importance for Mexican and international economy, as are the pharmaceutical, production and processing of foods, the chemical industry and the remediations of ecosystems, to name just a few.   Mexico, with a population over 100 million inhabitants growing at an expected 20 million additional people in the next two decades, faces great challenges to provide its population  with services and necessary conditions to develop a dignified life. Demand for safe and nutritious foods, drugs and modern health services; for a non-contaminated environment; for a safe process industry with competitive products and yet for the care and sustainable use of our biodiversity, represent extraordinary challenges for Mexican society that must be met and approached in a concerted, intelligent and friendly manner with the environment.   Mexico is a biologically megadiverse country that must develop a different and self-specialized vision of biotechnology.   In parallel to the evolution of modern biotechnology there have risen growing concerns and uncertainties of diverse sectors of the population, members of the scientific and humanistic communities included, in the sense that certain types of biotechnological applications must be subject to an evaluation that allows as much to establish a timely prevision of possible risks, as counting with monitoring mechanisms for the protection of the ecosystems and of the public’s health.   Therefore, our national legal framework needs to be updated and modernized in different aspects to promote the development of biotechnology in Mexico. One of the areas where this effort must be emphazised is in relation to biosafety for the safe use and handling of genetically modified organisms or transgenics (GMOs). This situation is of particular relevance since the Mexican Senate ratified the Cartagena Protocol on April 30, 2002 and has been in force since September 11, 2003, after being ratified by 50 countries.   As a result of numerous efforts among the scientific community, non-governmental organizations, different government entities and legislators, an initiative proposal for a Biosafety of GMOs Law was presented by 18 Mexican senators of all political parties in the Senate. This initiative, after thorough discussion and changes, was approved on April 24, 2003 and handed over to the Chamber of Deputies (Congress).