Brussels, 18/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - Conciliation procedure between the Parliament and Council on revision of Directive 90/220/EEC (dissemination of genetically modified organisms into the environment) aimed at strengthening the safety guarantees of GMOs through labelling and appropriate control procedures, has allowed the two institutions to come to an agreement on a joint text. Practically acquired on 12 December, the agreement was finalised last Friday, after examination of: a) the declarations by the Commission concerning the labelling and traceability of GMOs; and b) the change made by the Parliament to amendment No28 (concerning the link to be established between the European directive and the international protocol on biosafety). The text of the agreement has still to be confirmed by the two institutions (with a majority of votes by Parliament and qualified majority for the Council). The elements that have allowed this favourable outcome strengthen the safety guarantees provided by the revised directive. They are:
1) Public access to information will be increased. 2) A register of all the places where GMOs are grown will be established in order to allow them to be traced and to be controlled. This register will be made public by the relevant Member State authorities in respect of national legislation. 3) A timetable is set for gradual elimination of marker genes for resistance by GMOs to antibiotics, namely end 2004 for GMOs on the market and end 2008 for GMOs authorised for other purposes, such as research and development. 4) A derogation is foreseen for GMOs contained in medicinal products for human use or their components when authorised for purposes other than their marketing and when the sectoral Community legislation that governs them contains equivalent authorisation procedures. 5) For seeds exclusively for marketing, the initial period of consent will end at the latest ten years after the date when they are first included in an official national catalogue. A similar procedure will apply to reproductive forestry material. 6) The renewal of initial authorisation will be limited in time: as a general rule, the renewed consent will be valid for an additional ten-year period. 7) the Commission undertakes to present a legislative proposal on environmental responsibility before end 2001, covering the damage resulting from GMOs. 8) In the context of the risk assessment carried our prior to authorisation, strengthened mechanisms are foreseen mainly for the analysis of the long-term cumulative effects of GMOs. 9) the Commission is invited to present before July 2001 a legislative proposal including measures for the implementation of the Carthagena Protocol (protocol on biosafety which adds binding rules to the United Nations Framework Convention on Biodiversity in order to make a legislative framework for the trade in live genetically modified organisms), and especially provisions relating to exports of GMOs.