Lastly, a risk assessment should be carried out in a case-by-case basis taking into account the LMO in question and the likely potential receiving environment.

Example – Risk assessment practices in various countries

In the Philippines The National Committee on Biosafety for the Philippines audits the risk assessment on LMO activities and calls on the expertise of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel to provide an independent safety audit and recommendations.

In South Africa, as a general guideline, if scientific reviewers consider a repeat activity of assessed risk to be one that does not differ from an earlier approved activity in terms of the nature of the LMO (host and modified DNA), the applicant, the release environment, the size of the release and the confinement conditions, they will consider a fast track procedure for approval.

In the United Kingdom, the UK Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) reviews the safety of LMO activities at the request of Ministers and makes recommendations on whether activities should proceed and what minimum risk management conditions are needed to minimise harm to the environment and human health (see http://www.defra.gov.uk/acre/).

In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) identifies specific activities where notification only is needed before an activity commences. The regulators review all of these notifications and can request full risk assessment review if they believe the activity differs sufficiently from the familiar to warrant this additional regulation. Risk assessments are audited within APHIS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) depending on the nature of the LMO and its use.

Source: UNEP-GEF (2005).