Genetically modified rapeseed found on the side of the road
At the end of February 2022, genetically modified (GM) rapeseed not authorized for cultivation was found on the side of the road by the Inf’OGM Association, in an industrial-port area near Rouen. To avoid any risk of production and dissemination of pollen and seeds, these rapeseed plants were destroyed at the request of the Directorate General for Food. The latter then contacted the Agency to assess the effectiveness of the measures applied. The Agency recommends complete destruction of the plants observed and their roots, as well as very regular monitoring of the entire area concerned, throughout the year in order to anticipate the flowering of any new plants.
Gaps identified in monitoring plans
Authorization to market a GMO (genetically modified organism) intended for human and animal food allows its import, processing and use in the European Union (see box below). It is systematically accompanied by a monitoring plan that the holder of the authorization and the operators handling these products are responsible for applying to prevent any environmental risk linked to the dissemination of the GMO. In the case of rapeseed, the monitoring plan consists in particular of setting up procedures to limit the loss and spillage of seeds, and of systematically eradicating plants that may have grown near unloading and processing sites.
Following its expert appraisal, the Agency stresses that these monitoring plans contain shortcomings, in particular with regard to environmental monitoring outside the sites of the operators concerned.
Reinforce the precision and the requirement of the monitoring plans
ANSES recommends strengthening the environmental effects monitoring plans in order to make them more precise and demanding. In practice, it isexpand monitoring to all unloading and transport areas and their immediate environment, in order to avoid the risk of persistence of GM plants which would be found there following the accidental dissemination of seeds. In order to limit the risks of dissemination, ANSES also recommends that the measures relating to the conditions of transport, unloading, storage and handling of GM seeds be described more precisely in these monitoring plans.
Map risk areas
Beyond the dissemination of GM rapeseed near Rouen, the Agency points out that France has other sites for the import, storage and processing of GM seeds.
In this context, it recommendsidentify areas where the risk of accidental dissemination of these seeds is the highest. These include:
- GM seed import ports;
- industrial sites for the storage or processing of GM seeds;
- railway lines, waterways and roads allowing the transport of goods between the aforementioned places.
These highly sensitive areas will then have to be subject to reinforced controls to avoid any risk of dissemination into the environment. The Agency proposes that these new measures are coordinated at European level as part of the post-authorisation monitoring of these products.