Field inspections on a trial of potatoes genetically modified for resistance to late blight carried out by the GM Inspectorate for England have found that there are “no risks to human health or the environment”.
The watchdog released its eighth annual report last week, confirming that there was one deliberate release field trial in England in the period from April 1, 2007, to March 21, 2008.
Inspections of the plot, containing the GM potatoes, showed that the release was consistent with the conditions of consent and that no risks to human health or the environment were identified.
Post-trial inspections of former deliberate release trial sites have also been carried out in the reporting period and in all cases the consent holders were found to be acting in accordance with the conditions of their respective consents.
The GM Inspectorate runs a programme of voluntary audits of seed importers and producers, to help companies be aware of the risks of adventitious GMOs in the seed they import and produce.
A total of 68 companies participated in the 2007-08 audit programme.
The seed companies that participated in the audits were found to have acted responsibly in managing the risk of adventitious GM presence in conventional seed they were marketing.
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