Biotech Updates

EU Member States Set Technical Meeting for Environmental Risk Assessment of GM Plants

June 11, 2010

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is organizing another round of technical discussion on the draft Guidance document on the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified plants and the draft Scientific Opinion on non-target organisms (NTO). Experts in the field of environmental risk assessment of GM plants from Member State and EFSA's Panel on genetically modified organisms (GMO Panel) and its Working Groups will be participating in the discussion.

The draft documents are the outcome of the June 2009 consultations by EFSA with various stakeholders including the applicants, Member States, environmental and non-governmental organizations to exchange views on the scientific issues and various aspects of the documents. The meeting set for June 17 in Berlin aims to further discuss and clarify scientific comments obtained from the public consultations. The final document is expected to be completed by November of this year.

For details of the press release, see http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/event/gmo100617.htm