Public consultation on "Guidance on Selection of Comparators for the Risk Assessment of GM Plants"

 EFSA’s GMO Panel has launched an open consultation on a draft document on the selection of comparators for the risk assessment of GM plants. This document proposes guidelines to be followed by the applicants when selecting the comparators to be used for the analyses presented in the risk assessment submitted to EFSA. The document addresses the cases currently under assessment and gives guidance also on possible future scenarios.

In line with EFSA’s policy on openness and transparency and in order for EFSA to receive comments from the scientific community and stakeholders, EFSA has launched a public consultation on the draft document developed by the EFSA GMO Panel.

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments by 15 January 2011. Please use exclusively the electronic template provided with the documents to submit comments and refer to the line and page numbers. Please note that comments submitted by e-mail or by post cannot be taken into account and that a submission will not be considered if it is:

• submitted after the deadline set out in the call
• presented in any form other than what is provided for in the instructions and template
• not related to the contents of the document
• contains complaints against institutions, personal accusations, irrelevant or offensive statements or material
• is related to policy or risk management aspects, which is out of the scope of EFSA's activity.

EFSA will assess all comments from interested parties which are submitted in line with the criteria above. The comments will be further considered by the relevant EFSA Panel and taken into consideration if found to be relevant.