Past Discussions 2013

Dear Participants of the Laboratory Network,

Thank you to those who have contributed to the forum. Again we appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to this group.

Thus far we had 2 interventions that detailed the establishment and activities of 3 national and/ or regional GMO detection lab networks, specifically: the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL), the Latin America and the Caribbean Network for GMO Detection and Analysis (RLAC-OGM) and, the National Network of Laboratories for the Detection, Identification and Quantification of GMOs (RNLD-OGM) in Mexico.  Participants have shared the efforts made by these networks to build capacity, both nationally and regionally, and to help provide solutions to common issues that are faced by the member laboratories through the sharing of technical expertise and connecting experts in the field to allow for greater scientific dialogue amongst them.

In contributing to the discussion, we would like to further note that several regional laboratories in other areas have also taken steps towards to bringing together scientists in the field of GMO detection to help provide support and capacity building amongst themselves to strengthen their collective knowledge in the field. There have been workshops organised to bring together scientists in the Middle Eastern and North African countries as well as the and ASEAN GM Food testing Network, amongst others. In addition, there was the recent establishment of the Southern African Network of GM Detection Laboratories (SANGL) which was launched in 2009, bringing together 9 countries, with the objective of providing technical support for LMO testing, establishing guidelines for best practice in LMO detection, facilitating training in LMO detection and organizing proficiency testing between participating laboratories.

We are pleased that several laboratories who are members of these networks are currently contributing to the discussions of this Network. The Secretariat is in the process of contacting those who are not yet members of the Network, as well as and a number of other laboratories, to augment the participation in future discussions.

We welcome participants to extend the invitation to other scientists in their networks to join and participate in the Network of Laboratories for LMO Detection & Identification in order to further enhance the discussions and expand the scope of expertise within the network. Details regarding the registration process can be found here: http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/portal_detection/info_participants.shtml.

We look forward to you continued participation in the upcoming discussions that commence on the 16th June.

Best regards,
The Secretariat.