Homepage > EN > Biosafety > GMOs Risk
Back to top

 

 

 Italiano

Risk assessment and risk management

Risk assessment

Article 15 of the Cartagena Protocol demands that the risk assessment is in compliance with criteria of science and transparency, using already existing and recognised techniques.

Based on available experimental evidence, that are susceptible to modifications on the basis of new information, the evaluation process has therefore to adopt a multidisciplinary approach that:

• analyses methodologies in statistics;
• considers the individual components employed to produce the GMO;
• evaluates the final result in its totality;
• considers also relevant information produced from both public and private research institutes and from international agencies.

Risk management

As acknowledged by all experts in risk assessment, it is impossible to guarantee the total absence of the risk in the use of a particular organism. It is possible however, to supply the technical and scientific evaluations which form the basis of the decision-making process. The management of risk, as distinct from its evaluation, is therefore an exclusively political action, resulting in a decision regarding whether to accept or not the risk previously estimated. It is within this context that, if necessary, the Precautionary Approach from Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration can be introduced:

"In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lackof full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."(*)

This concept is fundamental to the Cartagena Protocol that, beyond citing it in the preamble, inserts the Precautionary Principle inside of the art. 10.6:

“Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge regarding the extent of the potential adverse effects of a living modified organism on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the Party of import, taking also into account risks to human health, shall not prevent that Party from taking a decision, as appropriate, with regard to the import of the living modified organism in question [...], in order to avoid or minimize such potential adverse effects”.

An important aspect in the process of GMO risk management is the post-release monitoring phase, initiating from the moment of environmental release, with specific regard to two main points:

inspection of the adopted containment measures with regard to legal compliance; and confirmation that no new risks occur, deriving from unforeseen factors during the risk assessment phase. Regular inspections are necessary for effective monitoring, using a diversity of analyses over an extensive period of time.

 

(*) The text is drawn from Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration.

Back to top

Sections

Contacts

Back to top

---