PUBLIC AFFAIRS

European Panel Finds Roundup™-Ready Maize as Safe as Conventional Maize

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) scientific panel on genetically modified organisms reported December 4, 2003, its conclusion that Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified maize NK 603 is as safe as conventional maize. The panel also concluded that placing this genetically modified maize on the market, to import for processing and for food or feed use, is unlikely to have an adverse effect on human or animal health or, in this context, on the environment. A comprehensive environmental assessment was not conducted because the applications for GM maize NK 603 concern only import and processing, not cultivation of the maize. “These opinions have been requested as the first of a series of risk assessments of different GM plant varieties,” said Harry Kuiper, chair of the Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

NK 603 maize has been genetically modified to provide tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate (commonly formulated as Roundup™). The stated purpose of this modification is to allow farmers to manage weeds more effectively in maize fields during cultivation. To conduct the risk assessment process, EFSA used the 2003 European Union’s “Guidance Document for the Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants and Derived Food and Feed” (http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/out328_en.pdf).