About OECD
OECD brings together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world to:- Support sustainable economic growth
- Boost employment
- Raise living standards
- Maintain financial stability
- Assist other countries' economic development
- Contribute to growth in world trade
Monitoring, analysing and forecasting
For more than 40 years, OECD has been one of the world's largest and most reliable sources of comparable statistics and economic and social data. As well as collecting data, OECD monitors trends, analyses and forecasts economic developments and researches social changes or evolving patterns in trade, environment, agriculture, technology, taxation and more.
Publishing
OECD is one of the world’s largest publishers in the fields of economics and public policy. OECD publications are a prime vehicle for disseminating the Organisation's intellectual output, both on paper and online.
Publications are available through OLIS for government officials, through SourceOECD for researchers and students in institutions subscribed to our online library, and through the OECD Online Bookshop for individuals who wish to browse titles free-of-charge.
OECD's biotechnology policies:
Recent, ongoing and planned future work focuses on three broad fields: applications to human health; applications to sustainable development; applications to the knowledge-based economy (science and technology infrastructure, and particularly Biological Resource Centers; intellectual property rights and licensing; stakeholder involvement; statistics).
Recognising that biotechnology was (and is) driven by fundamental research and discovery, the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (STI) has covered this sector since 1980 and continues to follow advances in basic research on biotechnology and its applications. The policy challenges of biotechnology seem to arise faster than governments and societies can respond.
The OECD therefore seeks to help them to respond by providing a platform for international discussion and co-operation. The issues raised by biotechnology are shared by industrialised, and increasingly, by developing countries. Countries share information, discuss new policy approaches when traditional policies do not suffice and jointly develop collaborative policies when necessary.
At the Working Party on Biotechnology (WPB), the Working Group on Human Health-Related Biotechnologies (WGHHRB) and various task forces, delegates and Member country experts initiate projects requiring international co-operation. They co-operate closely with other OECD bodies working on biotechnology issues.
