Regulator approves GM products as food and feed
states over genetically modified organisms, the Europe's food
safety regulator has approved a number of products for use within
the bloc.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also issued a document outlining the process under which companies can apply to have geneticallymodified (GM) crops approved for farming in the EU.
While the raft of approvals may provide processors and farmers with more choices in their food and feed supply chain, they should not hold their breath in anticipation.
While EFSA may say a GMO can be grown in the EU, or can be used as food or feed, the bloc's parliament and individual member countries have frequently blocked products from being put on the market.
For example Syngenta's Bt176 maize, Monsanto's MON810 maize, Bayer's T25 maize and MS1xRF1 oilseed rape, and Topas' 19/2 oilseed rape are approved at the European level for use as crops. Howeverfarmers are banned from growing the crops in at least five national states.
From 1998 to 2004 the EU imposed a ban on approving any new GM crops. Tough new rules on GM ingredient food labelling imposed last year have since cleared a way to end the ban. EU law allowsmembers to ban a GMO within their borders if a government can justify the prohibition.
Ongoing divisions over GM ingredients became evident in Europe last month when the EU's environmental ministers rejected an attempt by the Commission to prevent individual governments from banningthe growing of legal GM crops. The environmental ministers agreed to eight bans in five countries on varieties of GMO maize and rapeseed types.
Now the EFSA is revisiting the process by concentrating on GMO's for use as food and feed, rather than as crops.
Last Friday the regulator approved Monsanto's MON863 x MON810 x NK603 maize for use as food and feed. The approval, once ratified by the European Commission, also allows food processors to importand use the maize in their products.
The EFSA also gave similar scientific approvals to three other related varieties of Monsanto's GM maize. These are MON863 x NK603, MON863 x MON810 and MON863 x MON810.
At the same time, the EFSA issued a new guidance to assist applicants such as Monsanto in the preparation and presentation of applications for GM crops. The guidance has been published on the EFSAwebsite as a consultation document. The deadline for consultation is 15 September 2005.
