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National Conference on “Empowering Bulgarian Civil Society on GMOs and Consumer Protection” organized on November 17, 2005
ARC Fund together, in cooperation with the Innovation Relay Center-Bulgaria, and with the financial support of the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Office – Sofia, organized a National Conference on genetically modified food, organic food and consumer protection on November 17, 2005 at Inter Expo Center, Sofia.
The Conference marked the concluding stage of the project Empowering Bulgarian Civil Society on GMOs and Consumer Protection which ARC Fund is implementing under the PHARE Programme over the last 12 months.
The main objective of this initiative is to provide a platform for unbiased discussions on the issues of genetically modified organisms (GMO), GM food, organic food and co-existence by the active involvement of Bulgarian consumers and all other stakeholder groups. The National Conference follows a series of events carried out throughout Bulgaria – two Capacity Building Workshops and six Round Table Discussions in Sofia, Vidin, Gabrovo, Varna, Bourgas and Plovdiv. The main goal of these events organized to cover the six planning regions of Bulgaria was to gather recommendations for policy measures towards better consumer awareness on GM food and organic food, promotion of consumers’ interests and rights and the effective involvement of consumers in the decision making processes. All recommendations are being summarized in a brochure for policy makers . The draft recommendations were distributed at the National Conference together with an information package developed by an expert panel within the project.
The Conference Agenda was focused on consumer concerns, needs and demands on the novel foods examined from the perspective of all stakeholders groups: governmental institutions, certification agencies, regional control bodies, consumer protection NGOs, academics and media. Experts from Austria and Romania presented the issues from their perspective. The Austrian expert drew a parallel with the situation in the EU. The Agenda was designed to ensure an open frame for interactive discussion on all issues on consumer concerns and constructive recommendations for promotion of consumer awareness and rights’ exercise.
Agenda of the event
Presentations of the speakers:
The project “Empowering civil society – GMO and consumer protection” – main outcomes, issues and consumer recommendations generated in the course of the project implementation - Ms. Denitsa Marinova, ARC Fund (available in Bulgarian. PPT,6.31 MB)
National Plan for development of organic farming, 2006 – 2013 - Milena Nikolova, expert, “Rural Development” Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (available in Bulgarian. PPT,48.0 KB)
Bulgarian GMO legal framework - Svetlana Boyanova, Bulgarian International Business Association (available in Bulgarian. PPT,144 KB)
Achievements, forthcoming initiatives and expectations in the field of Bulgarian GMO legal framework - Dr. Galya Tonkovska, expert, “Biodiversity” Department, Ministry of Environment and Waters (available in Bulgarian. PPT,672 KB)
Novel foods and consumer choices - Iveta Minkova, Bulgarian Consumers Association (available in Bulgarian. PPT,104 KB)
Science supports consumers: steps towards development of informed society - Dr. Nevena Alexandrova, AgroBioInstitute, Bulgarian Biotechnology Information Center (available in Bulgarian. PPT,704 KB)
Certification of organic production: the guarantee for consumers - Gergana Nentcheva, “BioCert” company (available in Bulgarian. PPT,3.50 MB)
Control of genetically modified products and foods - Antoaneta Traikova, “SGS” company (available in Bulgarian. PPT,1.08 MB)
PCR analysis for food products control and identification - Dr. Maya Kitcheva, manager, “BioSystems Ltd (available in Bulgarian. PPT,4.56 MB)
Civil Environmental Gateway to Bulgaria – Dr. Svetla Nikolova,“Blue link” (available in Bulgarian. PPT,144 KB)
Biotechnology Information Center “INFOgene” - Dr. Armin Spoek, Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture, Graz, Austria (PPT, 208 KB)
Romanian framework concerning to GMOs - Dr. Valeria Gagiu, Head of Microbiology Laboratory, Institute of Foodbioresources, Romania (PPT, 200 KB)
Presentation of “BIOSELENA” Foundation for organic farming - Tencho Hristov , “Bioselena” Foundation (available in Bulgarian. PPT,1.42 MB)
Photo gallery
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For further information, please refer to Ms. Denitsa Marinova
Tel.: (02) 986 7557, or Fax: (02) 980 1833
Empowering Bulgarian Civil Society on GMOs and Consumer Protection
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