GM crops seen as safe as other foods - OECD
Date: 19-Jun-00
Country: FRANCE
Author: Greg Frost
"Those countries that have conducted assessments are confident that those GM
foods they have approved are as safe as other foods," the OECD said.
But the reports by the Paris-based Organisation for Co-operation and Development
recommend that government regulators pay closer attention to involving the public
when assessing the safety of future generations of GM crops.
Peter Kearns, the OECD's principal administrator for biotechnology, said the
reports are part of the OECD's response to last year's request by the Group of
Eight (G8) industrialised countries for more information on GM foods.
Kearns spent the past year managing the two groups that drafted the reports,
which address the consumer and environmental safety aspects of GM foods and which
will be presented at the G8's summit next month in Okinawa, Japan.
"For the most part, the people who prepared the reports are confident that where
(GM) products have been approved in countries, they are safe," Kearns told
Reuters on Friday.
But Kearns warned that the world was currently dealing with the first generation
of GM crops, and that subsequent crops promised to be more evolved.
He explained that where first-generation GM crops may have been designed to
withstand pesticides or herbicides, subsequent generations may involve plants
that are genetically modified to produce edible vaccines, for example.
"Both reports point out that the second generation of products will be a little
more complex. It is very important for government safety regulators to think
about what's coming in the future," he said.
"It's already been quite a challenge...for people who work in governments to try
to explain these complicated technical issues (to the public)," he added.
SAFETY ASSESSMENTS
Kearns said the report that examines the environmental aspects of GM crops also
tackles the charged issue of precaution.
This topic was highlighted recently when France, citing the precautionary
principle, ordered the destruction of hundreds of hectares of rapeseed that had
been accidentally planted with seeds containing GM material.
Kearns said there were quite strong differences between OECD member states over
the issue of precaution, but that the report points out that precaution already
plays an important role in most assessment strategies in place.
"The report points out that if you're doing a risk or safety assessment, this
takes into account scientific uncertainty.
"The very fact that most OECD countries have a safety assessment system in place
means no one can market these products (without approval). Many people believe
that this, in itself, is a precautionary approach," he said.
Kearns said government regulators already perform thorough safety assessments on
GM crops, but that they are not accustomed to explaining this to the public.
"The real challenge for regulators or people like myself in the future is to
think through how they communicate what they're doing better," he said.
The reports can be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.oecd.org/subject/biotech/g8 - docs.htm
