The Global Biosafety Management Program held on 27 – 31 March, 2010 at the Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa was a grand success. 45 participants from sectors as diverse as biotechnology research, IP managers, regulatory managers, outreach specialists, government policy planners, farm management service providers, academic faculty, representatives from donor bodies and more attended the five day program that highlighted the importance of an effective regulatory system that would ensure the safety of the procedures and products of transgenic research.

The participants were addressed by an eminent faculty comprising renowned experts in the area of biosafety regulation from India and abroad. These included Prof. K. V. Raman, Prof. Tony Shelton and Prof. Frank Shotkoski from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University; Prof. Jeffrey Wolt from the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Products, Iowa State University; Prof. Desiree Hautea from the College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines, Los Baños; and K. Vijayaraghavan of Sathguru Management Consultants.

Over the four day program addressed the various aspects of safety assessment of transgenic product development and its commercialization with specific focus on regulatory compliances, issues on transgenic trait management, cross border research partnerships, intellectual property and technology transfer and other ethical socio-economic and policy frameworks. The components covered included:

• Recent trends in advancement of genetic engineering research – a global perspective.
• Regulations for transgenic crop development, commercialization and GM foods.
  
• Molecular characterization and validation strategies in evaluating good events.
  
• Strategic risk management in transgenic products.
  
• Best practices in event evaluation studies – technology efficacy and agronomic perspective.
  
• Strategies for insect resistance management (IRM) in GM crops.
  
• Strategies for durable resistance management for abiotic stress in GM crops.
  
• Evolving mechanisms for partnership in transgenic research with emphasis on tech transfer and IP issues.
  
• Socio Economic studies on transgenic food crops in South Asia.
  
• Case studies on GM crops.

Participants were made aware of the need for comprehensive and relevant biosafety standards, regulatory framework, surveillance and monitoring strategies, risk analysis and safety issues involved in cross border technology transfers. They were able to learn from the experiences of professionals from regulatory bodies, research organization, academia and industry on the various aspects involved in bio-safety regulation and praxis.