Abstract

Reference: OECD 2000a
Title: GM Food Safety: Facts, Uncertainties and Assessment. The OECD Edinburgh Conference on the Scientific and Health Aspects of Genetically Modified Foods 28 February - 1 March 2000
Authors: Rapporteurs’ Summary: Tindemans, P and Gillespie, I.; Chairman’s Report: Krebs, J.
Publisher: OECD, Paris, France
Publication details: March 2000.

The Conference drew together 400 participants from a variety of backgrounds. The aim was to identify common ground on whether and how applications of GM technologies in the food and crops sector serve the needs of society. This report concentrates on developing this common ground.

The focus is the safety of the tens of GM crops now in use for food. Environmental impacts, trade and developmental effects, ethical and societal concerns were not considered at length, but could not altogether be separated or hierarchically ordered. However, the various issues need to be addressed separately if they are to be analytically tractable.

The conference critically assessed – from the various perspectives represented – different approaches to assessment of the risks and benefits of GM food. A strong sense emerged that there was a need to take steps to rebuild trust among the various actors, particularly governments, industry, scientists, regulatory agencies and the public. 

There were a significant number of points on which there was general agreement amongst the majority if not all of the participants. Unsurprisingly, there were also many issues where opposing views were put. In some cases, these were a result of different interpretations of the available evidence; in others, disagreement was more fundamental. Finally, there were points where there was neither clear agreement nor disagreement, since there is currently a lack of knowledge.

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