The Codex Alimentarius Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Food Derived from Biotechnology held its fourth meeting from 11-14 March 2003, in Yokohama, Japan.

The meeting adopted the draft Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of foods produced using recombinant DNA microorganisms, the last of three draft standards on biotech food, which will be submitted to the Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting in July. Delegates finally approved a two-fold safety assessment of both the GM microorganism and the food produced with its aid. More information on this meeting is available online at: http://www.ictsd.org/biores/03-03-21/index.htm, while the meeting’s documents are available at: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ccfbt4/bt03_01e.htm