EFSA's Public Consultation on Revised Guidance for Environmental Risk Assessment of GM Plants

After two years of research and consultation, the European Food Safety Authority has revised and updated the guidance for assessing the impact of Genetically Modified  (GM) plants on the environment. The revision of the guideline is a response to a request from the European Commission and demonstrates EFSA's commitment to staying at the forefront of recent developments in the field of GM plant environmental risk assessment. The guideline updated the specific areas covering the persistence and invasiveness of the GM plant, taking into account plant-to-plant gene transfer; the likelihood and consequences of gene transfer from the plant to micro-organisms; the potential evolution of resistance in target pests; the impact of the GM plant on non-target organisms; and the impact that the cultivation, management and harvesting techniques associated with the GM plant may have, the EFSA press release said.

In addition, EFSA also updated the detailed requirements for the choice of appropriate non-GM comparators (which are the non-GM plants with which the GM plant is compared during the safety evaluation) and types of receiving environments to be considered; the experimental design of laboratory and field studies, and their statistical analysis; and the consideration of possible long-term effects. A public consultation on this revised guideline was recently announced which will last until the end of April, 2010.

See the EFSA press release at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/gmo100305.htm