EFSA Guidance Addresses “Strengthened” GM Risk Assessments

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Scientific Committee has
published guidance for renewing “applications of genetically modified
[GM] food and feed authorized under Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003.”
Describing “the data requirements for renewal applications, “ the
guidance directs applicants seeking reauthorization of GM food and feed
products to provide the following: (i) “a copy of the authorization”; (ii)
“post-market monitoring and post-market environmental monitoring
reports”; (iii) “systematic search and evaluation of literature”; and
(iv) “updated bioinformatics and any additional documents or studies
performed by or on behalf of the applicant during the authorization
period.” In addition, EFSA asks applicants “to assess the collected
information and conclude whether the previous risk assessment remains
valid.”

“GM food and feed listed under Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 are within
the scope of this new guidance. These include all those plants that have
already been assessed by EFSA–such as maize, oilseed rape, soybean
and cotton,” explains a member of EFSA’s Panel on Genetically Modified
Organisms in a June 18, 2015, news release. “It is important to point out
that these authorizations are for the import or processing of GM food or
feed, not for the cultivation of the GM plant.”

Issue 569