I thank the committee for the opportunity to present on these issues. Policy matters on genetically modified, GM, food fall within the remit of the Department of Health and Children while policy matters on genetically modified feed are within the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Representatives of both Departments are in attendance. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, is the competent authority charged with enforcing GM food legislation, and Dr. Pat O'Mahony, chief specialist in biotechnology in the FSAI, is also in attendance.
I would like to clarify at the outset that the four GM events being examined here today are now fully authorised in the EU. I propose to begin by outlining the procedure for the placing on the market of genetically modified food and feed, which is governed by Regulation (EC) 1829/2003. This procedure applies to all market placements within the European Union. I will then outline the procedures which are in place to ensure compliance with GM food legislation which, as a food safety issue, is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Children. The final part of my statement will be a presentation of information on proposal COM (2007) 346, which relates to a genetically modified sugar beet, and proposals COM (2007) 402 and COM (2007) 403, which are concerned with maizes for food and feed use.
Following this, Mr. Dermot Ryan from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will present specific information on COM (2007) 397, authorising the placing on the market of genetically modified maize DAS-59122-7, which is intended primarily for animal feed purposes. Then we will be pleased to address any questions members may wish to raise.
To set the overall context, the placing on the market of genetically modified food and feed is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003. Under this regulation, applications for authorisation within the EU are submitted initially to the competent authority of a member state. The application for authorisation is then forwarded to the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, for independent examination.
Subject to a favourable opinion from EFSA, in consultation with the competent authorities of member states, the application then proceeds as a draft Commission decision to the competent EU regulatory committee. Decisions in respect of GMOs are submitted to the genetically modified food and feed and environmental risk section of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. In order for the decision to be agreed at standing committee level, member states must reach a qualified majority vote, QMV. If the proposal fails at standing committee level, it must be brought forward within three months as a draft Commission decision to Council where, again, a QMV is required to grant the authorisation. If no QMV is reached at Council, the decision reverts to the Commission. In practice, no GM authorisation has yet obtained a QMV, either at standing committee or at Council level, but all applications for authorisation have ultimately been granted by the Commission.
The second part of my presentation relates to compliance. In this regard, the FSAI, as the competent authority charged with enforcing GM food legislation, carries out regular checks on the marketplace to ensure compliance with GM food legislation. The FSAI surveys have focused on foodstuffs containing ingredients from maize and soya bean, which are the most common GM ingredients authorised within the EU.
A total of 236 samples of food have been tested since 2000 with 58 - approximately 25% - of those being shown to contain authorised GM ingredients. In the case of products containing authorised GM ingredients, specific GM labelling requirements were not required as their relative content was estimated at less than the labelling threshold of 0.9%.
Other compliance issues can arise from time to time, for example, on 23 August 2006, the European Commission imposed emergency measures, under the provisions of Article 53(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002, regarding the import of various long-grain rice products from the United States owing to the possible presence of genetically modified rice, called "LL RICE 601", which has not been authorised for placing on the market in the European Community. This remains the only unauthorised GM food ingredient identified on the Irish market.
On compliance, the Department of Health and Children, advised by the FSAI, is satisfied that appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure the safety of authorised GM foods, or foods containing GM ingredients, placed on the market in Ireland. The EU has one of the most rigorous regimes for the assessment of GMOs as well as food and feed derived from GMOs. In this regard only GM foods which satisfy the highest standards of safety are allowed on the market.
In the final part of my presentation I will address the three proposals which come within the remit of the Department of Health and Children. The first of these, COM (2007) 346, concerns a GM strain, H7-1, of sugar beet. The GM sugar beet application does not have any implications for the feed industry in Ireland.
On 20 December 2006, EFSA verified that it was unlikely that the placing on the market of the products produced from sugar beet H7-1 - as described in the application - would, in the context of their intended uses, have any adverse effects on human or animal health or on the environment. However, the proposal was not carried at the standing committee on 19 April last and was, therefore, brought to Council for approval on 18 September. Whereas Ireland voted positively at the standing committee, in line with a positive but precautionary stance, the coming into office of the new Government resulted in our abstention in the Council vote. We advised that the Irish position on GM products was currently under review and that consequently we were abstaining.
Proposals COM (2007) 402 and 403 are both concerned with GM maize strains resulting from "stacked events". The latter is the term used to describe the combination of individual GM traits by conventional crossing of GM plants. These are the first instances of the seeking of authorisations for such events. With regard to the introduction of these two stacked maize events, it should be noted that the individual events that constitute the stack are already authorised within the EU. As with the previous proposal, COM (2007) 346, we had initially voted in favour of these two proposals at the standing committee on 8 June last. Again, however, we abstained from the subsequent Council vote on 25 September.
The final proposal for consideration is COM (2007) 397, which concerns the GM maize DAS-59122, commonly known as Herculex. As the primary use of this maize is for animal feed purposes, the dossier has been dealt with by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Subject to the agreement of the Chair, I wish to ask Mr. Dermot Ryan, senior inspector at that Department to speak on the proposal.