Aktuelles

Trade deal with US: EU Commission is keeping the doors wide open

EU Commission wants to promote cooperation with Trump Administration on biotechnology

7 May 2020 / In a letter to Testbiotech, the EU Commission rejected the concerns regarding a new trade deal with the US. In this context, Testbiotech is warning that the approval process for genetically engineered plants will be accelerated and the standards for risk assessment lowered. According to the letter from the EU Commission, there are no plans to change the legal standards.

EFSA discusses risk assessment of gene drives

Testbiotech demands that ‘cut-off’ criteria are applied

30 April 2020 / The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) carried out a public consultation on guidance for the risk assessment of so-called gene drives at the request of the EU Commission. At the same time, a new Testbiotech scientific paper was accepted after peer review. The paper shows that the EFSA concept is insufficient. To control the risks of gene drives, ‘cut-off criteria’ need to be defined to prevent the uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered organisms.

GeneTip project results published in full

New publication on technology assessment of gene drives

27 April 2020 / The GeneTip research project was a joint enterprise carried out from 2017 until 2019 by the Universities of Bremen and Vechta, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna and Testbiotech, Munich. The researchers focused on risks associated with the spread of newly designed genetically engineered organisms into the environment. In particular, the project examined plants and animals with a so-called gene drive. The results have now been published in full by the Springer Publishing Company in a book titled “Gene Drives at Tipping Points“ (open access).

Import approval for genetically engineered maize: Did Monsanto benefit from unlawful exploitation of transitional provisions?

Authorities ‘unable to find’ original dossier as filed by Monsanto

20 April 2020 / Testbiotech is concerned that Monsanto (Bayer) unlawfully obtained an import authorisation for genetically engineered maize without a proper risk assessment as required by EU regulations. The reason: officially, Monsanto filed its application for market approval just before a more rigorous EU regulatory framework for risk assessment came into force. However, there are doubts that the application was actually filed in time.