Global trade in GM food and the cartagena protocol on biosafety: Consequences for China

The UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted in Montreal, 29 January, 2000 and opened for signature in Nairobi, 15-26 May, 2000 will exert a profound effect on international trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products. In this paper, the potential effects of various articles of the Protocol on international trade in GMOs are analyzed. Based on the present status of imports of GMOs and domestic research and development of biotechnology in China, likely trends in imports of foreign GM food and related products after China accedes to WTO is explored. Also, China's potential countermeasures to control and regulate imports of GMOs in line with implementation of the Protocol are discussed. China, in recent times, has increased its food and agricultural imports substantially from USA and Canada. China imported soybean 10.42 mill. tons in 2000 and about 15 mill tons in 2001, of which majority are from USA where GM soybean accounts for 60%. The plantation of US Monsanto's transgenic Bt cotton was increased to more than 1 million ha in China in 2001. Though China has paid great attention to develop biotechnology, it appears to have little scope to export GMOs and GM products. So China may consider a range of administrative measures to implement the Cartagena Protocol and to regulate its import of GMOs and GM agricultural products. Consequently, the Regulation on Safety of Agri-GMOs was issued on June, 2001 and followed three detailed rules issued in Jan. of 2002, with a priority to limit foreign GMOs importing by safety certification and labeling system. These were outlined taking into account policies adopted in Western countries such as green barriers to international trade.

The mechanism of protection of molten magnesium by cover gas mixtures containing sulphur hexafluoride

Experimental studies have been undertaken, involving in situ observations of the interaction between cover gas mixtures and molten magnesium. It has been shown that, in the presence of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), the contact angle between solid MgO and molten magnesium is reduced, resulting in the wetting of MgO by magnesium metal. In contrast, it was observed that the absence of SF6 results in a large contact angle, poor wetting of the MgO by magnesium metal and a non-adherent surface film. It is proposed that the formation of an adherent, protective surface film under a cover gas mixture containing SF6 is due to capillary forces acting within the film.

Alternative technologies for producing sterile low acid food products

Four emerging high-energy non-thermal technologies may replace or augment heating for producing sterile low-acid food products. High pressure, high-voltage pulsed electric field, high-energy ultrasound and high-intensity pulsed light are all capable of reducing bacterial spore counts under certain conditions. However, only non-continuous high pressure treatments, at temperatures higher than ambient, are currently capable of completely inactivating spores and producing sterile food products. The first three technologies also reduce the resistance of spores to inactivation by heat.

Food safety and development of the beef industry in China

Food safety concerns have escalated in China as they have elsewhere, especially in relation to meats. Beef production and consumption has increased proportionately faster than all other meats over the last two decades. Yet the slaughtering, processing and marketing of beef remains, for the most part, extremely primitive when compared with Western beef supply chains. By comparing the economics of household slaughtering with that of various types of abattoirs, this paper explains why household slaughtering and wet markets still dominate beef processing and distribution in China. The negative economic, social and industry development implications of enforcing more stringent food safety regulations are highlighted. The willingness/capacity of consumers to pay the added cost of better inspection and other services to guarantee food safety is investigated. In this context, the paper also evaluates the market opportunities for both domestic and imported Green Beef. The paper questions the merit of policy initiatives aimed at modernising Chinese beef supply chains for the mass market along Western lines. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A probabilistic analysis of Clostridium perfringens growth during food service operations

The purpose of this study was threefold: first, the study was designed to illustrate the use of data and information collected in food safety surveys in a quantitative risk assessment. In this case, the focus was on the food service industry; however, similar data from other parts of the food chain could be similarly incorporated. The second objective was to quantitatively describe and better understand the role that the food service industry plays in the safety of food. The third objective was to illustrate the additional decision-making information that is available when uncertainty and variability are incorporated into the modelling of systems. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Protection of mice from group A streptococcal infection by intranasal immunisation with a peptide vaccine that contains a conserved M protein B cell epitope and lacks a T cell autoepitope

Infection with group A streptococci (GAS) can lead to rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) which are a major health concern particularly in indigenous populations worldwide, and especially in Australian Aboriginals. A primary route of GAS infection is via the upper respiratory tract, and therefore, a major goal of research is the development of a mucosal-based GAS vaccine, The majority of the research to date has focused on the GAS M protein since immunity to GAS is mediated by M protein type-specific opsonic antibodies. There are two major impediments to the development of a vaccine-the variability in M proteins and the potential for the induction of an autoimmune response. To develop a safe and broad-based vaccine, we have therefore focused on the GAS M protein conserved C-region, and have identified peptides, J8 and the closely related J8 peptide (J14), which may be important in protective immunity to GAS infection. Using a mucosal animal model system, our data have shown a high degree of throat GAS colonisation in B10.BR mice 24 h following intranasal immunisation with the mucosal adjuvant, cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), and/or diptheria toxoid (dT) carrier, or PBS alone, and challenge with the M1 GAS strain. However, GAS colonisation of the throat was significantly reduced following intranasal immunisation of mice with the vaccine candidate J8 conjugated to dT or J14-dT when administered with CTB. Moreover, J8-dT/CTB and J14-dT/CTB-immunised mice had a significantly higher survival when compared to CTB and PBS-immunised control mice. These data indicate that immunity to GAS infection can be evoked by intranasal immunisation with a GAS M protein C-region peptide vaccine that contains a protective B cell epitope and lacks a T cell autoepitope. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Ecological criteria for evaluating candidate sites for marine reserves

Several schemes have been developed to help select the locations of marine reserves. All of them combine social, economic, and biological criteria, and few offer any guidance as to how to prioritize among the criteria identified. This can imply that the relative weights given to different criteria are unimportant. Where two sites are of equal value ecologically; then socioeconomic criteria should dominate the choice of which should be protected. However, in many cases, socioeconomic criteria are given equal or greater weight than ecological considerations in the choice of sites. This can lead to selection of reserves with little biological value that fail to meet many of the desired objectives. To avoid such a possibility, we develop a series of criteria that allow preliminary evaluation of candidate sites according to their relative biological values in advance of the application of socioeconomic criteria. We include criteria that,. while not strictly biological, have a strong influence on the species present or ecological processes. Out scheme enables sites to be assessed according to their biodiversity, the processes which underpin that diversity, and the processes that support fisheries and provide a spectrum of other services important to people. Criteria that capture biodiversity values include biogeographic representation, habitat representation and heterogeneity, and presence of species or populations of special interest (e.g., threatened species). Criteria that capture sustainability of biodiversity and fishery values include the size of reserves necessary to protect viable habitats, presence of exploitable species, vulnerable life stages, connectivity among reserves, links among ecosystems, and provision of ecosystem services to people. Criteria measuring human and natural threats enable candidate sites to be eliminated from consideration if risks are too great, but also help prioritize among sites where threats can be mitigated by protection. While our criteria can be applied to the design of reserve networks, they also enable choice of single reserves to be made in the context of the attributes of existing protected areas. The overall goal of our scheme is to promote the development of reserve networks that will maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning at large scales. The values of eco-system goods and services for people ultimately depend on meeting this objective.

Habitat choice and vigilance behaviour of brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) within their nocturnal foraging ranges

Habitat choice by brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) in south-east Queensland was investigated by comparing the attributes of the nocturnal foraging locations that they selected with those of random locations within a radius of 50 m. Brush-tailed rock-wallabies were shown to select foraging locations on the basis of forage quality and/or their ability to see predators, rather than protection from predators amongst vegetation that could conceal them. Habitat choice may have been affected by limited food availability, as this study was conducted in the winter dry season. The attributes of foraging locations that brush- tailed rock-wallabies perceived as increasing their predation risk were assessed by recording the proportion of time that brush- tailed rock-wallabies spent vigilant while foraging. To measure vigilance, focal animals were observed with a night- vision scope for two minutes and the proportions of time spent vigilant and feeding were recorded. No measured feature of foraging locations was related to higher vigilance levels, suggesting that brush- tailed rock-wallabies did not alter their vigilance whether sheltered amongst grass tussocks or in open habitat, or whether feeding on good quality or poorer quality vegetation. Vigilance levels significantly declined as overnight temperatures decreased, which may have resulted from higher energy requirements of brush- tailed rock-wallabies during winter. The only factors that were found to significantly increase vigilance levels were high winds and moonlit nights. On bright nights, brush- tailed rock-wallabies were very unsettled and during high winds they often did not emerge to feed. More information is needed about how macropods detect predators at night before the effects of wind and light intensity upon vigilance can be fully understood.