ELSEVIER Field Crops Research45 (1996) 1-4 Field Crops Research Workshop Introduction Multidisciplinary assessment of transgenic crop plants H.M.T. Hokkanen a,*, S.A. Tsaftaris u a Scienti~c coordinator of the OECD Programme (Theme 3); Department of Applied Zoology, P.O. Box 2Z FIN-O0014 Universi O, of Helsinki, Finland b Chair, local organizing committee of the OECD Workshop; Department (~]'Genetics and Plant Breeding, Aristotelian UniversiO, of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54006, Greece 1. Introduction 1.1. The OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a multilateral and intergov- ernmental organisation that today comprises of 27 democratic nations with advanced market economies. It is the main forum for monitoring economic trends in its member countries of North America, Europe, and the Pacific. Within the OECD, government rep- resentatives meet to compare and co-ordinate their policies, both domestic and international. The OECD is the largest source of comparative data on the industrial economies in the world. It produces a wide range of publications, including economic surveys of each of the member countries, as well as statistics, analyses and policy recommen- dations in a vast variety of subjects such as trade, banking and financial markets, taxation, employ- ment, social policies, energy, industry, education, the environment, agriculture, science and technology, research and development, and much more. 1.2. The co-operative research programme Within the activities carried out by the OECD Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, a * Corresponding author, e-mail: heikki.hokkanen@helsinki.fi 0378-4290/96/$15.00 © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved PH S 0378-4290(96)00005-6 new kind of cooperation in agricultural research was initiated in 1975. The objective was to advance agricultural technology by identifying and filling gaps and establishing a programme of co-operative re- search among the OECD member countries. The ambitious programme worked out by experts was divided into four themes: photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, mycotoxins, and cellulose utilization. In 1990, a new Co-operative Research Pro- gramme was started under the general theme "Bio- logical Resource Management" (BRM), covering three themes: (1) modification of soil/plant/micro- bial interactions to reduce inputs in farming systems; (2) use of biotechnology to improve animal health status and meat quality in domestic animals; and (3) assessment of benefits and risks of introducing new organisms into agricultural practice. In 1995 the Programme was renewed to last until 1999, with slight modifications in topics and an additional theme: surface and ground water quality and agricultural practices. Two types of activities are promoted by the BRM Programme: 1. Post-doctoral fellowships to encourage exchange between scientists interested in the research themes. The OECD pays transportation and sub- sistence costs for the selected scientists wishing to work in a laboratory in another participating country. These fellowships may last from 2 to 26 or, exceptionally, up to 52 weeks.