The agreement will be signed this Thursday at the Academy of Science in Prague.
This network will assist the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) which, since 18 April started acting as the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL), which regulates the detection, identification and quantification of GMOs in food and feed samples.
The CRL will provide a harmonised European system to trace and monitor GMO ingredients.
After 18 April, no applications for GM food or feed will be granted unless the CRL determines, through a series of tests, that the applications methods are accurate and effective in detecting GMOs in food and feed samples.
The European Network of GMO laboratories, which previously included 42 control laboratories from EU Member States, will assist in harmonising validation methods and technical guidance regarding the detection and sampling of GMOs.
Over 25 per cent of EU legislation is based on science and technology. The JRC provides the scientific support needed in EU policy. Guy van den Eede, the head of the Commission’s Joint Research Centre of Biotechnology and GMOs unit in Ispra told The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday.
“As of 1 May there will be 24 new laboratories from each of the 10 new accession countries. This enlargement of the GMOs research network will be inaugurated on Thursday when we will have our first joint meeting in Prague,” he said.
The European network of GMO laboratories, which till now was composed of 47 control laboratories from EU Members States will grow by 24 new members due to the process of enlargement.
The new laboratories from the accession countries will assist the GMO laboratory of the JRC in its task to ensure that adequate methods exist for detection, identification and quantification of GMOs in food and feed samples. The labs will also work on the harmonisation of technical GM issues – including access to invalidated methods and technical guidance on detection and sampling.
The EU has established a set of strict procedures for approving the growth, import or use of GMO food and ingredients. EU legislation guarantees the consumer’s right to information, with mandatory labelling of food ingredients that have been genetically modified.
Based on this legislation, EU inspectors collect and screen food and feed samples for DNA or proteins that indicate genetic modification.
If a screening shows the presence of one or more GMOs, regulations require that the amount be quantified.
There are a large number of technical issues associated with this control process.
The ENGL aims to harmonise European test methods, sampling strategies and analytical techniques by exchanging information between experts, developing robust methods and producing reference materials.
JRC is the EU’s centre for research in science and technology, with a yearly budget of over 300 million Euros. There are around 2,200 people employed by JRC across their seven specialised institutes which cover a wide range of topics in three core areas: Environment and sustainability, food, chemical products and health, and nuclear safety and security. These areas are reinforced by three horizontal competencies: reference material and measurements, public security and anti-fraud and technological foresight.
JRC supports the efforts of acceding and candidate countries to acquire the scientific and technological know-how needed to implement and further develop the body of EU law.
Its mission is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU politics.
Ms Lisa Pace, a scientist from the Malta Council for Science and Technology is the JRC’s contact person in Malta.