ABSTRACT
In Hokkaido Toyako, Japan, 2008, the leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) recognized that tackling the issue of food security and poverty would require a range of mid-to long-term measures that would stimulate world food production and increase investment in agriculture. In their Declaration on Global Food Security, one of the measures to be taken included increasing ‘access to new agricultural technologies to boost agricultural production’ by promoting science-based risk analysis, this would include a contribution to food security developed through biotechnology.1 The Declaration ended with a promise to review progress at their next summit in 2009, which was in L’Aquila, Italy. It launched a Food Security Initiative, which promised US$20bn over three years to promote food security through a comprehensive programme aimed at sustainable agricultural development.2 The initiative was met with a mixed reaction. Daniel Price, who had been President George W. Bush’s chief G8 negotiator, opined that there were two signifi cant obstacles to the initiative: ‘Congressional resistance to local purchases for food aid and European resistance to opening their markets to the products of biotechnology.’3
