Europe's legislative proposing body has published a call for tender for a study on the cumulative long-term effects of GM crops on human and animal health.
The objectives of the project include: assessing and documenting the adequacy of existing risk assessment methodologies and protocols for judging the impact of GM crops; and to identify any possible gaps in knowledge.
Prioritising GM plants already released in the European community, the Commission said further aims of the project will be to develop specific methodology (for example, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), checklists) in terms of risk assessment with associated risk assessment criteria (for example, specific indicators) for potential cumulative long-term effects from individual groups of GM crops (species) and for different transgenic phenotypes.
This latest investment in GMs follows swiftly on from a round table discussion earlier this month whereby the European Commission took stock of the role GMO food ingredients can play in European society.
Heated discussions were inevitable as the biotech issue continues to divide national state opinion.
Tough new regulations on the labelling of GM ingredients on foodstuffs that essentially flag up a biotech ingredient to the consumer, have done apparently little to encourage approval and use of GM crops.
The food industry, in beat with the demands of the consumer, continues to steer away from using biotech ingredients in their formulations. By their reasoning the European GM-cynical shopper is highly unlikely to buy a foodstuff that contains a genetically modified product.
Since the end to Europe's de facto moratorium last year on biotech food approvals, Commission proposals paving the way for the import of new GM crops into the European food chain have met with a mixed reaction from member states.
To date, only two crops, Bt11 sweetcorn from Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta whose approval last year broke the EU ban on GM food and feed crop imports, and NK603 maize designed by biotech giant Monsanto, have been approved under regulation (EC) No 97/258 on novel foods, in May and October 2004 respectively.