Authorisation of GMOs

• Before the GM Food and Feed Regulation came into force, ten plant lines with potential use in animal feed had been licensed for commercialisation in the EU under EC Directive 2001/18 on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs (the Deliberate Release Directive). Five of these authorisations were revoked in March 2007 following their owners' decision to withdraw the products from the market. Another fifteen plant lines have since been authorised by the Commission under the GM Food and Feed Regulation.

• There are therefore twenty-three GMOs that have been authorised under the Regulation for possible use in feed in the EU. This list includes seventeen varieties of maize, two varieties of soya bean, and one variety each of oilseed rape, sugar beet, cotton and potato. These varieties have been produced to have resistance to certain herbicides or insect pests or, in some cases, both, except for the potato which has an enhanced starch content. Further details of these varieties are given in the register on the Commission's website, available through the link at the bottom of this page.

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