Coexistence 2.0:
Achieving Coexistence of Biotech, Conventional
& Organic Foods in the Marketplace
October 26-28, 2011
Vancouver, Canada
GMCC-11, the biennial international conference on coexistence, took place in Vancouver, Canada on October 26-28, 2011. World class academic and industry experts, regulators, policy makers and other key stakeholders from around the world gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities in managing the growth of different types of foods in the global marketplace.
Governments, producers and consumers in different countries continue to support the growth and success of biotech, organic, conventional and specialty crops. Each of these sectors has experienced significant growth over the last twenty years and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
Biotech corn, soybeans, canola, cotton and other crops have been broadly adopted in large crop producing countries like the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, China and India. The biotech pipeline continues to expand and more biotech crops and traits are expected in the future.
The rapid adoption of biotech crops has coincided with the rapid expansion of organic food production in the US, Europe and other parts of the world and fast growth in organic food sales is expected to continue. At the same time, robust markets for segregated non-GMO crops have also developed over the years. And conventional rice, wheat, sorghum and other crops continue to play a key role in the global marketplace.
In order to ensure that all sectors continue to thrive to meet the growing food demand around the world and satisfy the preferences of different consumer segments, industry, governments and stakeholder groups engage in active discussions on proper market practices and government policies. As in previous years, the GMCC conferences provided a stage for active debate on policy, legal, economic, and technical solutions that seek to facilitate coexistence.
Topics discussed in the plenary and parallel sessions of GMCC-11 included
- Experiences and lessons from coexistence policy making around the world
- Regulation, liability, and the market—what works best?
- Economic and trade issues of low level presence and relevant policies
- Economics and policies of adventitious presence thresholds and tolerances
- Coexistence: Best practices in various supply chains
Post-Conference Feedback
The feedback from those who attended GMCC-11 pointed to a successful event, rich in ideas and productive deliberation. Highlights from the post-event survey returned by participants are illustrated on the Post-Conference Feedback page.