Ad Hoc meeting with industry representatives (GMO applicants)

The ad hoc meeting with industry representatives (GMO applicants) was organized by EFSA on the 05-06th of October 2023; the meeting was the third one in 2023, following the two ad hoc meetings held in February and April this year.

The meeting lasted two half-days and was held in a hybrid mode. The following points were discussed:

i. Environmental risk assessment (ERA) requirements. EFSA provided an overview of ERA requirements as indicated in the EFSA Guidance for the ERA of GM plants (2010), with the scope of achieving better compliance and the risk assessment process.

ii. EFSA Technical Note on DNA Sequencing. EFSA reported on the ongoing update of the 2018 Technical Note.  

iii. Protein Safety. EFSA and CropLife Europe (CLE) shared views and discussed challenges faced on the assessment of protein solutions and possible solutions.

iv. Human dietary exposure. EFSA provided an update on tools and consumption data.

v. Administrative and procedural issues. EFSA and CLE shared views and discussed about IT tools implemented for the submission and management of GMO applications after the entry into force of the Transparency Regulation. Questions and answers on specific topics were posed by the applicants and addressed by EFSA. 

vi. EFSA scientific risk assessment guidance. EFSA provided an overview of recent updates on its website regarding the GMO Scientific Guidance and on the timelines of related future activities. 

vii. Risk assessment of RNAi-based GM plants. EFSA provided an overview on the main observations from the survey to applicants on the use of RNAi off target tools. EFSA committed to provide further input on the project progress. 

EFSA provided several updates on ongoing and upcoming projects and welcomed suggestions by the applicants on possible future topics of discussion.

The next meeting is planned to take place remotely in the first semester of 2024.

EFSA wishes to thank all physical and remote participants for the suggestions, engagement, and constructive discussions and looks forward to meeting everybody once again in the next meeting.