USDA ANNOUNCES FIRST MEETING OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
ADVISORY COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2003 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) will hold its first meeting on June 16-17 in Washington, D.C. The meeting will take place in the Vista C Room at the Wyndham Washington Hotel, 1400 M Street, N.W., from 8:30 am to 5 pm, both days.

The AC21 consists of 18 members representing the biotechnology industry, the seed industry, international plant genetics research, farmers, food manufacturers, commodity processors and shippers, environmental and consumer groups, along with academic researchers including a bioethicist.

The committee will develop an approach to examine the impacts of agricultural biotechnology on American agriculture over the next five to ten years meeting this task. There also will be preliminary presentations and introductory discussions on two sub-areas of the committee’s work: new biotechnology-derived non-food uses of row crops; and impacts of biotechnology throughout the entire food production and distribution system.

On June 16, if time permits, provisions will be made for oral presentations of no more than five minutes each in duration from members of the public who wish to make statements. Individuals wishing to make such statements should also contact Dr. Michael Schechtman at (202) 720-3817 or via email at mschechtman@ars.usda.gov at least three business days before the meeting.

Please note that a Federal Register notice was published on June 2, 2003, announcing this meeting, in which the dates for the meeting were incorrect. The correct dates for the meeting are June 16-17, 2003.

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