Interactions in Plant Biology: cells, plants and communities Ischia, 1014 October 2004

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Interactions in Plant Biology cells, plants and
communitiesIschia, 10-14 October 2004

• Communicating Agricultural Biotechnology
• The Experience of the Agrobioindustry in Italy
• Leonardo Vingiani

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Assobiotec

• Set up in October 1986 within the Italian
  Federation of the Chemical Industry
  (Federchimica), Assobiotec is the the National
  Association for the Development of Biotechnology
  (www.assobiotec.it)
• It represents about seventy companies and science
  technology parks operating in Italy and
  involved in various biotech-related fields
  pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agro-food, fine
  chemicals, environment, processing industry and
  equipment.
• Assobiotec is co-founder member of EuropaBio, the
  European Association Bioindustry
  (www.europabio.org).

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Italian players in agro-biotechnology

• Companies SMEs and international companies
• Science technology parks
• Research centres

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Public attitudes towars agro-biotech in Italy

• In Italy, the public attitudes towards different
  applications of biotechnology vary widely.
• This is reflected in the strong feelings of
  concern about food and agricultural developments,
  as opposed to the perception of benefits from
  medical research
• Indeed, the general public seems to be highly in
  favour of putting their own healthcare in the
  hands of modern biotechnology, but appears to be
  unavailable to use the same tools for, say, the
  healthcare of tomatoes.

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The debate

• In Italy, the debate about agricultural
  biotechnology and its public perception lasting
  since fifteen years now involved a variety of
  players beyond scientists.
• It was marked by a high polarisation, emphasised
  by the general media, between environmental and
  consumer organisations on one hand, and
  industrialists on the other hand, with the former
  often using genetic engineering as a pretext to
  foster other agricultural practices (e.g. organic
  farming vs patented GM crops).

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The commitment of Assobiotec

• Given this context, the commitment of Assobiotec
  was focused on giving biotech its identity back,
  beyond miracles and disasters a life
  science-based technology with manifold
  applications, whose products undergo
  unprecedented specific, severe and accurate
  safety assessment procedures before getting
  approval to the market.
• Also, we concentrated on the multi-faceted
  peculiarities of biotechnology, requiring a
  case-by-case evaluation of its products and
  potential benefits.

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Whats about today

• Fifteen years didnt go by in vain, and today the
  debate surrounding agricultural biotechnology
  appears to have reached a greater serenity, with
  a net loss of scandalistic emphasis from the
  general media.
• In a future perspective, there is room for a new
  availability towards a different view about
  agrobiotech, considering the several and
  different reasons in favour of a positive
  interest of modern biotechnology applications in
  food and agricultural productions.

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Reasons in favour of a positive interest

• As far as Italy is concerned, these reasons are
  mainly the following
• 1. the opportunity of developing more
  sustainable agricultural practices (e.g.
  challenging the growing draught emergency, as
  well as safeguarding biodiversity threatened by
  conventional practices)
• 2. the opportunity of successfully applying
  technological innovation to the specific needs
  and peculiarities of the National agricultural
  system
• 3. the great potential in improving the quality
  of food