www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

A proposal designed to improve scientific consistency and transparency for
decisions on GM food could 'politicise' the approvals process, April 2006 by
Anthony Fletcher.


The initiative, proposed by health and consumer protection commissioner
Markos Kyprianou and environment commissioner Stavros Dimas, has been met
with caution from both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the
biotech industry.

"Today's debate by the College of Commissioners on the EUs regulatory
approval process for products developed using agricultural biotechnology
appeared to question the scientific role of the EFSA in the safety
assessment of these products," said EuropaBio in a statement.

"EuropaBio cautions against any move that would politicise the already
established independent science based safety assessment process."

The Commission proposes that EFSA should liase more fully with national
scientific bodies, with a view to resolving possible diverging scientific
opinions with Member States. And in addition, it wants to invite EFSA to
provide more detailed justification in its opinions on individual
applications for not accepting scientific objections raised by the national
competent authorities.

For its part, EFSA has invited Dimas to a meeting to update him on EFSAs
scientific and procedural approach on food safety issues, especially on his
comments on the risk assessment of GMOs.

"EFSA would also like to discuss the issues raised in the EFSA evaluation
report on practises concerning risk assessment, to which the Commissioner
referred in his speech at the conference on GMO co-existence in Vienna last
week," said the authority.

EuropaBio has also had issue with some of the comments made by Dimas at the
Vienna GM summit.

"It must frustrate many in Europe that others, such as Commissioner Dimas,
spoke about issues that are irrelevant to co-existence such as environmental
risk assessments for approvals of new products," said Simon Barber, director
of EuropaBio's plant biotechnology unit.

However, the Commission is certain that practical improvements could be made
to the system to improve the scientific consistency and transparency for
decisions on GMs and develop consensus between all interested parties. It
said that these improvements would be made within the existing legal
framework, in compliance with EC and WTO law, and avoiding any undue delays
in authorisation procedures.

"The measures proposed aim to bring about practical improvements which will
reassure Member States, stakeholders and the general public that Community
decisions are based on high quality scientific assessments which deliver a
high level of protection of human health and the environment," said the EC
in a recent statement.

"These improvements will be made within the existing legal framework, in
compliance with EC and WTO law, and avoiding any undue delays in
authorisation procedures."

But EuropaBio remains concerned the proposed improvements could be used to
create further delays.

"This would contradict the Commissions obligations under EU law and
international agreements," said Barber. "We will have to wait to see what
this all means in practice.

"Any political interference in what should be an independent scientific
assessment can only harm public confidence in the EUs food safety system.
Any move to undermine the EFSAs scientific independence will also damage
consumer confidence in all aspects of food safety exactly what EFSA was
established to address in the first place."

[www.nutraingredients-usa.com]

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