Abstract:

Consent holders make use of the opportunity to involve existing observation programs  or networks in the general surveillance of GMOs. Three core strategies are currently  established: the participation of European trade organisations, contributions of designated experts and the assessment of data gathered by environmental observation programs  operated by third parties.  In this  contribution,  needs for improvement are identified based on the analysis of monitoring plans and reports. Reported results and conclusions  drawn by the consent holder are often neither traceable nor assessable because of the  lack of explanations of monitoring objectives, methods and data analysis. To assure a  reliable general surveillance of GMOs, science-based criteria for the selection of appropriate programs and networks as well as a data quality management are essential and  must be developed. Agreements concerning the availability of data have to be settled before consent for placing GMOs on the market can be given.