Plant biotechnology: current situation and trends
2001
Sarrazin, J.F. (Aventis Crop Science, Brussels (Belgium))
Since the late 1980's gene technology has been used in plants as an additional tool in crop improvement. Today several commercial GM crop varieties are widely used mainly on the American continents. The first traits developed were those lying in the main expertise of the Seed Industry: tolerance to non-selective herbicides, resistance to insects, pollination control. Moreover the first species genetically modified were plants largely used throughout the world in modern agriculture such as soybean, maize, oilseed rape and cotton. Today more or less all important plant species including cereals have been transformed and a wide range of traits from agronomic enhancement to plant-product quality improvement are being developed. In countries like USA, Canada, the European Union and Japan, consistent legislative systems regulating the marketing of such novel crops have been set up. All systems are based on the concept of substantial equivalence it must be demonstrated that the GM crop is at least as safe as its conventional counterpart. However the practicalities of trade in agricultural products throughout the world has raised the necessity for more harmonisation, improved transparency and safety evaluation capacity building. Several international initiatives are in process with this aim: Cartagena protocol, OECD, FAO/WHO, EU-US Forum etc. For the EU the revised directive 90/220 will be an important step.
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