Biotech Updates

Codex Adopts Guidelines to Assess Safety of Low-Level GM Materials

July 11, 2008

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has approved key guidelines to further promote the safety of products from plant and animal biotechnology. The commission, during its 31st session in Geneva, Switzerland, approved:

  • the Annex on Food Safety Assessment in Situations of Low-Level Presence of Recombinant-DNA Plant Material in Food (LLP Annex),
  • the Annex on Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant DNA-Plants Modified for Nutritional or Health Benefits, and
  • the Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Animals

 In 2006, the Codex Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology agreed to draft an international guidance for food safety assessment of low-level presence of biotech products authorized as safe for use in food, feed, etc. The draft was approved late last year and was officially adopted by the commission last week.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts to protect consumers' health, ensure fair trade practices in the food trade, and promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

For more information, visit http://www.bio.org/news/newsitem.asp?id=2008_0704_01 The full report can be downloaded at ftp://ftp.fao.org/codex/Alinorm08/al3103Ae.pdf