Brussels, Belgium
July 29, 2003

New Industry guidance documents provide a common industry approach to meeting the health, environmental, food and feed safety standards for GM crops, complementing the EU, WHO, FAO and OECD safety guidelines.

"We wanted to create a harmonised industry approach to meeting the technical requirements of EU authorities who are responsible for approving GM crop products. We believe a common industry approach will help ensure a high standard of safety and consistency in meeting requirements in
the EU," says Dr. Hilde Willekens, Chair of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), which brings together scientific and regulatory experts from the major plant biotechnology companies operating in Europe. TAG is a specialist advisory group to the Plant Biotechnology Unit of EuropaBio - the European Association for Bioindustries.

The industry guidance documents are designed for industry, international organisations and Competent Authorities involved in the safety assessment of GM crops. The guidance documents will be added to and updated over time. They are freely available to all interested parties.

Copies can be downloaded from the EuropaBio web site.
http://www.europabio.org/pages/eu_workgroups_detail.asp?wo_id=14