Council for Biotechnology Information

This article is part of the Foodspin project of Spinwatch.

The Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) says it communicates 'science-based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural and food biotechnology' on behalf of its members, the 'leading biotechnology companies and trade associations'. These are BASF, Bayer, Biotechnology Industry Organization, CropLife America, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta.

CBI runs the whybiotech website. Among the projects CBI funds is a coordinated pro-GM public information campaign known as 'Tomorrow's Bounty' which operates under the slogan 'Farmers for the benefits of Biotechnology'. This is run by the Agriculture Commodity Coalition - a group of 14 farm commodity organizations, including the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

CBI was active at the the 2004 Biotechnology Industry Organization meeting. The Scientist reported, 'Inside the center, the Council for Biotechnology Information, a nonprofit industry organization, escorted farmers from India, Romania, and the Philippines to media interviews to tout the benefits of GM crops.'