The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations needs to work out a set of regulations for biotechnology, ASAP. An international conference has been scheduled to meet at the University of Notre Dame over the next 3 weeks. Its goal is to create a report to provide technical background and policy recommendations for a vote by the General Assembly. Examples of this kind of report include the Issues in Ecology report on the nitrogen cycle and the IPCC executive summary of global warming.

1. Contents of the Report on bioengineered food crops

1. Technical background (~20-30 pp—each person contributes 1-2 pp)



• Subcommittee A: Plant genetics, selective breeding and hybridization of crops

  Andrew Lynch (China), Jessica Raymond (USA), Lauren Willoughby (USA)

• Subcommittee B: Primer on genetic engineering

  Michael Greenfield (Argentina), Johnny Cannon (China), Jeff Eyerman (India)

• Subcommittee C: Current examples and usage of genetically engineered food crops

  Cecilia Hadley (China), Lisa Eakman (USA)

• Subcommittee D: Product safety of genetically engineered foods

  Jason Ertel (Canada), Gina Cora (India), Nicholas Salazar (France), Mike Snow (France)

• Subcommittee E: Risk of ecological damage (other than gene transfer)

  Cassie Stuart (China), Greg Barry (Canada), Anne Hainley (Germany), Becky Reilly (Netherlands)

• Subcommittee F: Risk of ecological damage through gene transfer to wild species

  Allison Hepola (Germany), Joe Camden (Netherlands), Meaghan Donovan (India)

• Subcommittee G: Current regulation of biotechnology in various countries

  Patrick Dunnigan (France), Kaitlyn Dudley (Germany), Tona Boyd (Argentina)



2. Policy options and analysis (1-2 pp from each country)
3. Policy recommendations (1 p from class)

1. The Countries:

1. Research your assigned technical issue and your country’s position on that issue, starting with the readings in the country briefing.
2. At the first subcommittee working session on Nov. 24, each person should bring in at least one reference and be prepared to discuss the organization and content of the subcommittee’s report section. Each subcommittee must divide up its report section into sub-topics and assign each member a sub-topic.
3. On Nov. 29, each person must bring in a 1-2 page rough draft on their sub-topic. The rough drafts can be handwritten and/or include hand-drawn illustrations. The subcommittee should discuss the rough drafts and agree on what changes need to be made in each one. Revised drafts will be due the morning of Dec. 3.
4. At the session on the morning of Dec. 1, the countries will discuss policy options and draft a 1-2 page policy-maker’s summary.
5. In the morning session Dec. 3, revised drafts of the technical report and the policy-maker’s summaries from each country will be distributed and discussed.
6. There are two goals for the large group working session in the afternoon of Dec. 3.

• each country must present its analysis of the policy issues and options.

• The whole group must negotiate, compromise, and horse-trade its way to a provisional set of recommendations. Each recommendation must be approved by a simple majority of the countries participating, with the proviso that the Security Council nations (China, France, USA) hold veto power.

7. The reports will be posted on the Web. Final drafts of the technical sections (including any figures, tables, or illustrations), country summaries of policy issues, and provisional recommendations are due in electronic form on or before midnight, Sunday Dec. 5. HTML code would be appreciated but is not necessary.

Population lab report 10 pts

Problem set #5 75 pts

Technical report section (individual) 80 pts

Country policy summary (group) 40 pts

Total 225 pts