May 30, 2003

In early 2001, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology (PIFB) convened “the Stakeholder Forum”
to develop consensus recommendations that would enhance U.S. policies and regulations governing
agricultural biotechnology. The Forum held its final meeting on May 22, 2003 and developed a closing
report that is being made available today.

The report, entitled “The Stakeholder Forum on Biotechnology: An Overview of the Process”, is now
available at http://pewagbiotech.org/consensus/FinalReport.pdf. In the report, the Forum members noted that they “generally agreed to outcomes, principles, and components for a regulatory system for
agricultural biotechnology that protects public health and the environment,” but were unable to reach
complete consensus on the “full range of issues in sufficient detail” on a package of regulatory reforms.
The Forum concluded that an “imprecise or incomplete package of recommendations would not serve a useful purpose” but decided to “keep open the prospect of future agreement and collaboration.” The
report stated, “Moving forward, Forum members are confident that the relationships they built will  inform the actions of their individual organizations and enhance the substance and quality of the ongoing debate shaping the future of this technology.”

The report provides an overview of the Stakeholder Forum and explains:

• The purpose of the Stakeholder Forum;
•  The roles of the organizers; 
• Who participated in the Forum and how they were selected;
• The schedule of meetings; and
• The scope of the discussions.

In the coming months, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology will synthesize the extensive reports, presentations and research commissioned to aid this group and make the information available so that policymakers and the public can benefit from such resources.

Additional information about the Stakeholder Forum and its relationship to the broader mission of the
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology can be obtained at http://pewagbiotech.org/about/