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

Europe's leading food safety agency gave the green light on Wednesday for
five genetically modified (GMO) crops and foods that are banned in certain
EU countries, saying they posed no risk to human or animal health, April
2006 by Jeremy Smith.

Between 1997 and 2000, five EU countries banned specific GMOs on their
territory, focusing on three maize and two rapeseed types that were approved
shortly before the start of the EU's six-year moratorium on new biotech
authorisations.

In a report requested by the European Commission, the Italy-based European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said there would be no risk for all five GMOs
to be placed on EU markets.

"The European Commission asked EFSA to provide a scientific reply to
questions relating to five ... GMOs subject to safeguard clauses invoked by
certain member states to restrict or prohibit their use at national level,"
EFSA said. "EFSA's ... GMO Panel concluded that ... there is no reason to
believe that the continued placing on the market of the five GMOs is likely
to cause any adverse effects for human and animal health or the
environment," the agency said in a statement.

Last June, the Commission, the EU's executive arm, tried to get all the bans
scrapped. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has also attacked these
"national safeguards", as they are called in EU jargon, for breaking
international trade rules.

But EU environment ministers rejected proposals for the five states --
Austria, France, Germany, Greece and Luxembourg -- to lift their
restrictions. EFSA's opinion comes on the same day that the 25 members of
the Commission are holding a debate on GMO policy where EFSA will come in
for criticism by some commissioners -- notably those representing
environment and food safety -- for not being transparent and relying too
much on data given by biotech firms.

[today.reuters.com]

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