The European Commission's chief scientific advisors urged the EC to revise
the existing GM= directive 2001/18/EC because the recent ruling of the
European Court of Justice has revealed that it is not in line with
scientific evidence. "There is a need to improve EU GMO legislation to be
clear, evidence-based, implementable, proportionate and flexible enough to
cope with future advances in science and technology in this area," they
said.

The advisors particularly recommended verifying if the Directive's paradigm
of "naturalness" can be sustained since the gene-edited crops are impossible
to differentiate from crops with natural mutations. The advisors argue that
it has been shown that "unintended effects will occur less frequently in
gene edited products" and that "these products are potentially safer than
the products of random mutagenesis." For evaluation of new crops if they
pose a risk for human health and the environment, they recommended to
"examine the features of the final products regardless of the underlying
technique used to generate that product."

The advisors said that they do not recommend revising the GMO Directive
without public consultation. Through a social dialogue, the public would be
informed about how food is produced in Europe and also establish the highest
possible protection of health and environment and create a favorable
regulatory environment for science and technology innovation.

[european-biotechnology.com]
all-for-update-of-gm-legislation.html