CODEX TO LAUNCH NEW WORK ON SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF GM TRACES IN FOOD

The Codex Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology, at its meeting in Chiba, Japan, from 27 November to 1 December, agreed to a US proposal to undertake new work on developing guidance on safety assessment in situations of accidental presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Meanwhile, given a lack of consensus in the group, delegates decided that discussions on the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes would continue at the next session. Members also decided to establish an electronic working group to elaborate a proposed draft annex on the safety assessment of foods derived from GM plants modified for nutritional or health benefits.

New work on safety assessment of trace levels of GM material

Responding to an initiative by the US, the Task Force agreed to elaborate guidance on food safety assessment of foods derived from GM plants in cases where those plants have already been authorised in one or more countries for commercialisation for food use, but are unintentionally present in low levels in food in countries in which the GM plants are not authorised. The US has already adopted national policies on this so called adventitious presence.

The Task Force has formed a working group, which will be chaired by the US, Germany and Thailand, to draft an annex to the "Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants", which was adopted in 2003 (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 11 July 2003, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/03-07-11/inbrief.htm). The annex will address the elements of a safety assessment for low-level presence of GMOs in food by identifying the relevant sections of the existing guideline. In addition, the annex will identify information-sharing mechanisms to facilitate utilisation of the annex and the data necessary to conduct an assessment of food safety by an importing country. The annex will not replace a full food safety assessment under the guideline for any GM plant foods that would be marketed in a country.

In terms of the scope of the work, the US has targeted GM plants under development, being field tested or plants that are no longer used commercially but may still be present in the food supply. The EU would like to limit the work of the Codex to cases where a GM plant has been approved in one country but not another.

The CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation, Jim Greenwood, commented that "adventitious presence is a safe and natural part of plant biology, seed production, and the distribution of commodity crops". Consumers International (CI), on the other hand, has argued that the issue is a legal one rather than a food safety issue, and adventitious presence of unauthorised GM material should never be accepted.

Divergences on the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes

Regarding the draft guidelines for the conduct of food safety assessments of foods derived from GM animals, Codex members did not take any decision on the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes (ABRMG). They decided to continue the discussion at the next session, paying attention to the result of the FAO/WHO joint expert consultation on "marker and reporter gene" and "non-heritable applications", which will be held in early 2007. This expert consultation will provide scientific advice on the issue to help Codex members take a decision (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 2 June 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-06-02/story1.htm). ABRMGs are inserted in the modified organism to identify genetically transformed plants; i.e. only plants with the marker gene will grow on material that contains antibiotics. Some fear that these genes may be transferred into bacteria in the stomach, thereby making potentially harmful bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

Development on second generation biotech

Following the discussions held at the last meetings (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 25 September 2005, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/05-09-30/inbrief.htm#3), Codex members agreed to establish an electronic working group to elaborate a proposed draft annex on food safety assessment of foods derived from GM plants modified for nutritional or health benefits to the guideline. The proposed draft annex prepared by the working group will be circulated for comments prior to the next session. The proposed annex suggests that the factors which determine whether a GM plant is a GM plant modified for nutritional or health benefit are: a) the GM plant "exhibits a particular trait in a portion of the plant intended for food use"; and b) "the trait aims to alter either the quantity or bioavailability of a nutrient or related substance, an anti-nutrient, a toxin or an allergen, or their interactions with other components of the plant, to achieve an intended nutritional or health benefit". The annex will not cover plants that have been genetically modified to create pharmaceuticals, as decided at the last meeting.

Background

While Codex standards are only voluntary, the Codex Alimentarius Commission is recognised by the SPS Agreement as the international organisation responsible for standard-setting related to food safety. WTO Members "shall base" their measures related to human and plant health on Codex's standards, guidelines or recommendations. Such measures "shall be deemed to be necessary to protect human, animal or plant life of health, and presumed to be consistent with the relevant provisions" of the SPS Agreement. The other two international standard-setting body recognised in the SPS Agreement are the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for plant health and the Office International de Epizooties (OIE) for animal health.

Additional resources

Meeting documents are available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/report/675/bt06_01e.pdf.

ICTSD reporting; "BIO Welcomes Codex Alimentarius Project to Develop Adventitious Presence Policy", 1 December 2006, BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION.