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A decade of European field trials with genetically modified plants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2004

Karine Lheureux  and
Klaus Menrad
Karine Lheureux
Affiliation:
European Commission, Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS)
Klaus Menrad
Affiliation:
Fachhochschule Weihenstephan (University of Applied Sciences) Wissenschaftszentrum Straubing (Science Centre Straubing) Schulgasse 18, D-94315 Straubing Germany

Abstract

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This article analyzes the development of notifications of genetically modified plants field trials in the European Union from 1991 to 2001, based on the data collected at the European level in the Summary Notification Information Format database. During this time period, a total of 1687 field trial notifications were received. The number of field trial notifications dropped by 76% between 1998 and 2001, mainly due to the de facto moratorium in place since 1999. Input traits (77%) dominated the field trial notifications during the last decade, while output traits were relevant in only 18% of all notifications, with a decreasing relevance during the last six years. In particular, field trial notifications on molecular farming were almost absent in the EU. Large companies focused their field trials on crops with a high grown area in the European Union and resistance traits, while public institutions showed interest in a large diversity of plants and traits. Finally, some conclusions on future impacts of the results of the study are drawn in this article.

Keywords

genetically modified plantsEuropean Unionfield trial notificationsEU SNIF database
Type
Research Article
Information
Environmental Biosafety Research , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , April 2004 , pp. 99 - 107
Copyright
© ISBR, EDP Sciences, 2004

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