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The genetic modification of plants raises important issues
for science and the public, and the Royal Society encourages
debate, informed by sound science, about the potential benefits
and risks of this technology. We have been offering policy-makers
advice on GM plants during the development of this branch
of science and we have published a number of reports during
the last five years. Further details and the latest information
of the Society's work can be found at www.royalsoc.ac.uk/gmplants/.
The use of genetically modified (GM) plants has the potential
to offer benefits in agricultural practice, food quality,
nutrition and health. In the Royal Society's report 'Genetically
modified plants for food use and human health - an update',
published in February 2002, we found no evidence for any harmful
effects of GM foods on human health but we did express some
concerns about some aspects of the regulatory processes governing
the development and use of GM plants. In particular:-
- We agree with the FAO/WHO 2000 report that the criteria
for safety assessments should be made explicit and objective
and that differences in the application of the principle
of substantial equivalence, for example in different Member
States of the European Union, need to be resolved (OECD,
2000; reference within Royal Society 2002 report). Therefore
we welcome the development of consensus documents for different
crops by the OECD, which will help to facilitate the uniform
application of substantial equivalence. It may not be necessary
or feasible to subject all GM foods to the full range of
evaluations, but those conditions which have to be satisfied
should be defined
- The UK Government should review the enforcement of the
regulations on infant foods and GM foods to ensure these
regulations are complementary. Likewise the European Commission
should consider the use of novel and GM foods in infant
foods as part of its review of Directive 91/321/EEC that
covers infant formulas and follow-on foods.
- In the longer term, should GM foods be re-introduced into
the market in the UK, we suggest that the Food Standards
Agency considers whether post-marketing surveillance should
be part of the overall safety strategy for allergies, especially
of high-risk groups such as infants and individuals in 'atopic'
* families.
- Research should be undertaken to develop modern profiling
techniques and to define the 'normal' compositions of conventional
plants. The working group welcomes the funding initiatives
already put in place by the European Union Framework V programme
and the UK's Food Standards Agency.
We monitor the uptake of the recommendations we make in our
reports, although it is too soon for those from our 2002 report
to have been implemented fully. In response to our recommendations
the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that it had already commissioned
a feasibility study looking at the issue of post-market surveillance
and how this may be taken forward. We look forward to the
publication of the results of this study, which we understand
will be later this year. In addition the FSA said that, although
no GM foods have yet been developed specifically for infant
formulae, it shares the Society's view that GM and infant
formulae regulations should be complementary and that it is
pursuing this issue in Europe, as these are EU regulations.
(The FSA's full response can be seen at www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/gmreport).
Professor Patrick Bateson FRS
Biological Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society
Reference: Genetically modified plants for food use
and human health - an update, The Royal Society, February
2002
www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/statements/StatementDetails.cfm?statementid=165
* atopic - pre-disposition to allergic
response, usually inherited
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