1.   Biotech varieties of fruit, vegetables, fish and livestock are in various stages of development.

2.   Biotech varieties of corn and soybeans are already in use.

3.   Dozens of small seed companies have found corn seed contaminated with traces of a biotech variety that was not approved for human consumption, the government says.

4.   Farmers deserve written assurances that corn seed is tested for a biotech variety that prompted nationwide food recalls, says an organization representing the seed industry.

5.   Farmers say that the pesticides they use when they plant conventional crops are a greater risk to beneficial insects than the biotech varieties.

6.   Last month, Japanese inspectors found traces of genetically engineered StarLink corn in grain that had tested negative for the biotech variety before it left the United States.

7.   Moreover, squash have also been made virus-resistant through conventional breeding methods that are not subject to the review process required of biotech varieties, Giddings said.

8.   Seed companies have insisted that demand for biotech varieties is in line with last year, although some have been offering discounts to farmers to maintain sales.

9.   StarLink, one of the least used of the various biotech corn varieties, has been withdrawn from the market.

10.   The Agriculture Department agreed Wednesday to tighten testing requirements for corn bound for Japan to prevent shipments of grain contaminated with a biotech variety not approved for food use.