Brussels, 13/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Maximum transparency in the use of GMOs and determination to bounce back in favour of the rapid adoption of the revised “Novel Food” regulation without forcing anybody's hand is the objective of John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. Speaking on 12 April before the committee on the environment and health of the Parliament, the commissioner and the MEPs took stock of two sensitive dossiers: the revised proposed “Novel Food” regulation, which has been at stalemate since the resounding breakdown of the conciliation procedure over cloning (EUROPE 10347) and the legislative proposal on GMO crops, on which the MEPs have just taken position at first reading (EUROPE 10357).
Cloning and Novel Food. Several MEPs, disappointed by the breakdown in negotiations, stressed the urgent nature of this dossier, because “the consumers are wondering whether they are already eating cloned meat”. Dalli expressed his commitment to making progress on this. “I can assure you of the sense of urgency we have on this. It is a question of credibility. We have suspended the re-examination of the Novel Food regulation. I would like to move forward, presenting a new legislative package as soon as possible”, the commissioner said. Stressing that the Commission “is not trying to short-circuit” the specific future regulation on cloning via the Novel Food regulation, he made a “firm commitment to move forward on the cloning dossier before the end of the year”, expressing his hope that the reflection to break the deadlock may be carried out “hand-in-hand” with the Parliament.
GMO crops on the menu. Dalli stated that he would take due account of the wishes of the Parliament. To explain the current procedure of the Commission, the commissioner said that he would “try to get as many stakeholders as possible involved with the authorisation procedure for GMOs, to put them at ease with this procedure”, an objective pursued by seminars held with all stakeholders. As well as the “highly successful” first two workshops, Dalli announced that two more would follow, one on independence and the selection of panels of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the second on the supervision of scientific data. (A.N./transl.fl)