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International affairs
The EU’s international policy on GMOs is built around cooperation with the main international bodies that set or influence global rules on biosafety, food standards, and biotechnology oversight. The Commission presents three main frameworks: the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and the OECD. These are the main arenas through which the EU connects its internal GMO rules with international governance.
1. A first pillar is the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an international agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity that aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) that may affect biodiversity, while also taking risks to human health into account. The Protocol was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003; it has around 170 parties, including the EU and its Member States. To align EU law with the Protocol, the Union adopted Regulation (EC) No 1946/2003 on transboundary movements of GMOs, especially covering GMO exports.
2. A second pillar is the Codex Alimentarius Commission, where the international principles for the risk assessment of GMOs are developed. Codex is an intergovernmental body created under the joint food standards programme of the FAO and WHO, and its standards serve as a reference for international food trade. The Commission highlights three Codex objectives: protecting consumers’ health, ensuring fair practices in international food trade, and coordinating food-standards work at international level. All EU Member States are Codex members, and the EU itself joined in 2003, sharing competence with the Member States depending on the degree of EU harmonisation in the relevant field.
3. The third pillar is the OECD, where GMO-related issues are discussed in the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds and in the Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology. In this context, the EU participates as an observer, while most Member States are full OECD members. This part of the policy shows that the EU also engages in technical and regulatory dialogue beyond formal treaty frameworks.
Overall, the EU’s international GMO policy aims to ensure that its internal rules on biosafety, food safety and biotechnology are aligned with broader international standards and cooperation mechanisms. It combines biosafety obligations, international food-standard setting, and regulatory dialogue in order to manage GMO issues consistently beyond the EU’s borders.
1. A first pillar is the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an international agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity that aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) that may affect biodiversity, while also taking risks to human health into account. The Protocol was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003; it has around 170 parties, including the EU and its Member States. To align EU law with the Protocol, the Union adopted Regulation (EC) No 1946/2003 on transboundary movements of GMOs, especially covering GMO exports.
2. A second pillar is the Codex Alimentarius Commission, where the international principles for the risk assessment of GMOs are developed. Codex is an intergovernmental body created under the joint food standards programme of the FAO and WHO, and its standards serve as a reference for international food trade. The Commission highlights three Codex objectives: protecting consumers’ health, ensuring fair practices in international food trade, and coordinating food-standards work at international level. All EU Member States are Codex members, and the EU itself joined in 2003, sharing competence with the Member States depending on the degree of EU harmonisation in the relevant field.
3. The third pillar is the OECD, where GMO-related issues are discussed in the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds and in the Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology. In this context, the EU participates as an observer, while most Member States are full OECD members. This part of the policy shows that the EU also engages in technical and regulatory dialogue beyond formal treaty frameworks.
Overall, the EU’s international GMO policy aims to ensure that its internal rules on biosafety, food safety and biotechnology are aligned with broader international standards and cooperation mechanisms. It combines biosafety obligations, international food-standard setting, and regulatory dialogue in order to manage GMO issues consistently beyond the EU’s borders.
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