Brussels, 02/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Greater clarity, rigour and transparency will soon be given to work on assessing the risk of GMO crops compared to non-GM plants, an exercise on which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) gave opinions as part of the GMO authorisation procedure within the EU.
EFSA suggests reinforcing and updating the methodology to be followed by companies applying for GMO marketing approval, for selecting plants that can serve as an adequate comparison and allow EFSA to assess the risks of the GMO concerned.
Draft guidelines on this subject are currently the subject of a public consultation exercise until 15 January to allow EFSA to receive the maximum number of contributions from scientists or other interested parties. A workshop will then be organised in March 2011 with scientists and risk assessors from member states, industry representatives and NGOs. For all stakeholders, this will provide an opportunity to discuss the results of the consultation exercise, the comparative method used to assess the safety of GMO plants, and the underlying concept of substantial equivalence.
The GMP Panel regularly updates its guidelines to take account of scientific developments and of experience gained in risk assessment, EFSA underlines in a press release.
The guidelines on plants used as risk comparators can be found at http://www.efsa.europa.eu .
Those wishing to take part in the March workshop may apply at the following email address: gmo@efsa.europa.eu by 15 January 2011.