GM verdict looms

Europe’s new food agency is expected to decide next week whether or not a Monsanto-marketed GM seed is safe.

The herbicide-resistant rapeseed, known as GT73, is being assessed for safety regarding human and animal health, not for its affect on the environment.

This will be the second GM verdict from the European food safety authority (EFSA), following a green light for biotech maize  NK603 late last year.

EFSA officials refused to specify a date, but said the assessment was expected in “days, rather than weeks, so probably next week”.

The news comes on the heels of an international agreement on the export of GMOs, thrashed out in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Signatories to the UN’s Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety agreed that all exported GMOs must be clearly labelled as “destined for contained use”.

But the USA – which, unlike the EU, has not signed up to Cartagena – pronounced itself worried by the move.

Biotech trade policy spokesman Deborah Malac said “We understand the concerns that countries have to protect their biodiversity, but we believe you can’t just erect walls and have regulatory procedures that are not based on science”.

International representatives in Kuala Lumpur did not however manage to decide on liability rules for GMOs under Cartagena.

The EU has so far failed to follow up on the first EFSA verdict, with experts this month refusing to decide on NK603 and passing the responsibility instead to national governments.

EFSA verdicts on two other GMOs – MON863 and MON863/MON810 – are also expected in the coming weeks.

These two are also marketed by Monsanto.

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