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Regulations to control release of GMOs
05/11/2002
Draft Scottish regulations necessary to introduce a more
straightforward and transparent regime to control releases
of GMOs, have been laid before the Scottish Parliament
today.
The regulations - which follow a process of detailed
consultation - provide additional benefits to human health,
the environment, GMO producers and the public beyond the
current regulatory framework.
They take account of advances in genetic modification
technology and scientific knowledge
The principle objective in drafting these regulations
has been to ensure that all appropriate measures are taken
to avoid adverse effects on human health, and the
environment, which might arise from the deliberate release
or placing on the market of GMOs.
The new regulations provide for:
* an explicit requirement for environmental risk
assessments to cover indirect and long-term effects.
* the introduction of mandatory post-market monitoring
to look for unanticipated effects of any GMO that is
released.
* mandatory public consultation before decisions are
taken on applications for consent to release GMOs.
* mandatory labelling for all GMOs released commercially
in the EU.
* GMOs must also be traceable throughout the production
and supply chain.
* phasing out of antibiotic resistance markers that may
have adverse effects on human health and the
environment.
* time limits on all commercial approvals (max. 10
years) after which consents must be reassessed.
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. The draft regulations have been developed in
conjunction with the UK Government and the other devolved
administrations to ensure that they are workable, flexible
and consistent with law in other parts of the UK. Many of
the obligations in the Directive allow little scope for
interpretation or variance when transposing into national
legislation since the new Directive remains firmly based on
a scientific assessment of risk.
The Scottish Executive has held two public
consultations, each of 12 weeks, on the implementation of
the Directive. Each consultation sought views from
stakeholders including local authorities, community
councils, Health Boards, research establishments,
universities, environmental groups and associations as well
as MSPs. The first consultation set out the background to
the Directive, examined the main changes and asked for
comments on key implementation issues. The second invited
comments on the draft implementing regulations.
They will be subject to affirmative Parliamentary
procedure to ensure openness and transparency in the
implementation process. England has similar regulations in
place; Wales and Northern Ireland will follow shortly.
Subject to the satisfactory outcome of the Parliamentary
scrutiny, the regulations are expected to come into force
no later than 31 December 2002.