Authors: Yann Devos Jaime Aguilera Zoltán Diveki Ana Gomes Yi Liu Claudia Paoletti Patrick du Jardin Lieve Herman Joe N Perry Elisabeth Waigmann
Publish Date: 2013/08/21
Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-25
Abstract
Genetically modified organisms GMOs and derived food and feed products are subject to a risk analysis and regulatory approval before they can enter the market in the European Union EU In this risk analysis process the role of the European Food Safety Authority EFSA which was created in 2002 in response to multiple food crises is to independently assess and provide scientific advice to risk managers on any possible risks that the use of GMOs may pose to human and animal health and the environment EFSA’s scientific advice is elaborated by its GMO Panel with the scientific support of several working groups and EFSA’s GMO Unit This review presents EFSA’s scientific activities and highlights its achievements on the risk assessment of GMOs for the first 10 years of its existence Since 2002 EFSA has issued 69 scientific opinions on genetically modified GM plant market registration applications of which 62 for import and processing for food and feed uses six for cultivation and one for the use of pollen as or in food and 19 scientific opinions on applications for marketing products made with GM microorganisms Several guidelines for the risk assessment of GM plants GM microorganisms and GM animals as well as on specific issues such as postmarket environmental monitoring PMEM were elaborated EFSA also provided scientific advice upon request of the European Commission on safeguard clause and emergency measures invoked by EU Member States annual PMEM reports the potential risks of new biotechnologybased plant breeding techniques evaluations of previously assessed GMOs in the light of new scientific publications and the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes in GM plants Future challenges relevant to the risk assessment of GMOs are discussed EFSA’s risk assessments of GMO applications ensure that data are analysed and presented in a way that facilitates scientifically sound decisions that protect human and animal health and the environmentDisclaimer The present paper is published under the sole responsibility of the authors and may not be considered as a scientific output by the European Food Safety Authority EFSA The positions and opinions presented in this publication are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of EFSAWe thank current and previous members of the EFSA GMO Panel http//wwwefsaeuropaeu/en/gmomembers/gmopreviousmembershtm the experts of the various Working Groups of the EFSA GMO Panel http//wwwefsaeuropaeu/en/gmo/gmowgshtm as well as EFSA GMO Unit colleagues http//wwwefsaeuropaeu/en/staffdirectory/docs/staffdirectorypdf for inspiring discussions that helped to develop this publication We thank two anonymous reviewers for insightful comments that helped to improve this publication
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