The GMO and Novel Foods Sub-Committee was originally set up as a working group under the auspices of the Microbiology Committee of the Food Safety Advisory Board and held its first meeting on November 14, 1996.
Section 35(1) of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998, allows for the board or the scientific committee of the authority to establish subcommittees to advise it in relation to the performance of its functions.
The GMO and Novel Foods Sub-Committee advises my Department on an on-going basis on issues in the area of genetic modification of foodstuffs. The sub-committee also affords a forum for the exchange of expert scientific opinion and advice on this new technology and its application to food. The work of the sub-committee is on-going commensurate with developments in the area of genetic modification.
The GMO and Novel Foods Sub-Committee acts as the assessment body for applications made under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 on novel foods and novel food ingredients. To date, no application for the placing of a novel food on the Irish market has been made to my Department (as the Irish Competent Authority) although the sub-committee has commented on a number of applications which have been made to other member states.
The committee also comments on the human health aspects of applications made under Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment. This directive is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for the Environment and it is enforced on his behalf by the Environmental Protection Agency.
A list of members of this sub-committee is as follows: