On 13th April 2011PG Economics released the latest annual update report of global biotech crop impacts showing the technology continues to provide important economic and environmental benefits and is making positive contributions to global food production and food security.

Among main findings it is reported that biotech crops provided for less fuel use, increase in no-till farming, thus leading to reduction of CO2 emission by 17.7 billion kg in 2009 (equal to removing 7.8 million cars from the road for one year).

Read more...

Tags: GM-crops|economic effect of GMO|ecological effect of GMО|PG Economics

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published updated guidance for the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of Genetically Modified (GM) plants, reflecting the scientific state-of-the-art in this field.

Scientific experts on EFSA’s GMO Panel have updated and further developed its guidance for the environmental assessment of GM applications submitted for authorisation in the EU, in particular with respect to data generation, collection and analysis. The ERA guidance document also addresses the evaluation of possible long-term effects of GM plants and potential effects on non-target organisms . This guidance implements the stringent requirements for the environmental risk assessment of GMOs as provided by Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of GMOs in the environment.

Read more...

Tags: biosafety|risk assessment|ecological effect of GMО|decision making