Syngenta of Basel, Switzerland, and Monsanto of St. Louis, Missouri, are among a number of companies to withdraw from the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) project, citing a draft report that failed to give due recognition to the benefits of biotech as their reason for pulling out. IAASTD, initiated by the World Bank in 2005, brings together 400 experts from government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), companies and academia to evaluate science and agriculture to address global poverty and hunger. “We feel the current draft of the report underestimates, and is weak on, the real role modern science and technology plays in agricultural development,” explains Keith Jones, a spokesperson for Brussels, Belgium–based Croplife International, a global federation representing the plant science industry, which coordinated the companies' input. He says Croplife would still endorse the final report, due in April, if its concerns were addressed. Bob Watson, co-chair of IAASTD, says the companies did not make use of all their opportunities to contribute to the report, and points out that the World Bank and some governments had similar concerns over the report's lack of balance, but are still at the table. Watson hopes the companies will reconsider. “For the seed companies to walk is unfortunate,” he says. “We all need to work together to feed the world with affordable, nutritious food in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.” SA