3-Food: European network of GMO testing labs launched

[GENET <hmeyer@ngi.de>]

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TITLE:  Commission launches European network of GMO laboratories to improve
        traceability in food chain
SOURCE: European Commission, Press Release
        http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt
        &doc=IP/02/1795|0|RAPID&lg=EN
DATE:   Dec 4, 2002

------------------ archive: http://www.gene.ch/genet.html ------------------


Commission launches European network of GMO laboratories to improve 
traceability in food chain


DN: IP/02/1795
Date: 04/12/2002

TXT: FR EN DE
PDF: FR EN DE
DOC: FR EN DE

IP/02/1795

Brussels, 4 December 2002

Commission launches European network of GMO laboratories to improve 
traceability in food chain

European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin today inaugurated the 
European net work of genetically modified organism (GMO) laboratories at a 
launch in Brussels. This new network consists of more than 45 control 
laboratories located in EU Member States. The objective is to improve 
traceability of GMOs in the food chain and to support regulation of their 
use in Europe. The network will develop and validate methods for detecting 
and quantifying GMOs in food and feed. Activities will be co-ordinated by 
the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

"I welcome the political agreement on the GMO labelling requirements, 
reached at the Agriculture Council on 28 November. Whilst robust 
legislation to regulate the use of GMOs in food and feed is necessary, it 
is not enough on its own", said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "We 
have to enforce the legislation and develop reliable, validated tests to 
verify compliance. I am confident that the network of GMO laboratories will 
greatly improve our capacity to detect and screen GMOs and to provide a 
sound scientific basis for enforcing biotechnology legislation. The 
creation of the Network of GMO laboratories provides us with an important 
tool to ensure that we harvest the potential that biotechnology holds for 
consumers in a responsible way."

Biotechnology companies, control authorities, trade partners and importers 
have all faced the analytical implications of GMO regulations. By creating 
a strong pan-European network of scientists, such technical issues can be 
tackled in a transparent way, making the regulatory framework more flexible 
and manageable, and boost public confidence.

On 28 November 2002, the Council of Agriculture Ministers reached a 
political agreement on the Commission's proposals for labelling and tracing 
GMOs in Europe. The draft law provides for all foods in Europe produced 
from GMOs to be labelled. The Council of Environment Ministers is set to 
address the issue of GMO traceability at its meeting on 9 December 2002.

Protecting the consumer's right to choose

The EU draft law is based on the premise that consumers have the right to 
choose between products that do or do not contain GMOs. However, even a 
very well organised food chain cannot fully guarantee that traditional 
foodstuffs are free from trace amounts of GMOs.

The Commission has therefore proposed simple and straightforward 
"threshold" regulation for food labelling. For example, if a biscuit has 
been made from flour that contains less than one percent of GM maize flour, 
it should not be labelled; if it contains more than one percent, it should 
be labelled. The Commission proposal, as endorsed by the Agriculture 
Council on 28 November, lowers this threshold to 0,9%.

The Council also set a tolerance threshold of 0.5% for a three year period 
for the adventitious presence of GMO material unauthorised in the EU, but 
which has undergone a favourable risk assessment.

The GMO detection system requires up-to-date equipment, skilled researchers 
and robust testing methods to enforce implementation of these technically 
demanding rules. It is also necessary to establish appropriate sampling 
strategies to accurately determine the level of GMOs in a 16,000-tonne 
shipment, for example.

Strong and harmonised controls

Labelling is only the tip of the regulatory iceberg. Other regulations deal 
with traceability from farm to fork and monitoring in the environment of 
approved GMOs. All these issues require a strong and harmonised analytical 
component. It must be strong because any mistake might result in losses for 
the producer as well as dwindling consumer trust. Harmonisation is critical 
because controls carried out across Europe on similar materials need to 
generate the same results.

Therefore, control laboratories throughout the EU initiated discussions 
about co-operation. Under the co-ordination of the Joint Research Centre, 
they made an inventory of all the technical difficulties that need to be 
overcome to meet the expectations from both consumers and biotechnology 
producers to establish a transparent and watertight control system.

Europe and beyond

Today, more than 45 EU control laboratories are ready to work together in 
the European network of GMO laboratories on harmonised and efficient 
methods for sampling, development of reliable methods for the detection, 
identification and quantification of GMOs, and the production of reference 
materials.

However, GMO inspection is not just a matter for European Union control 
laboratories, so the network is inviting future EU Member States to 
participate in working groups. It is also interacting with all EU global 
trade partners. Only when all stakeholders collaborate on a worldwide 
basis, can a system be put in place, allowing the biotechnology industrial 
community to develop higher yielding crops or more nutritious food 
products, and ensure consumers' wellbeing.

For further information please visit:

http://engl.jrc.it/

http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/



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