Brussels, 04 Mar 2003
Public deliberation (Doc. 15546/03 + 62/1/03 ADD1 REV2)
The Council adopted a common position on the proposal for a Regulation on the transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with the German and Italian delegations abstaining. In accordance with the co-decision procedure the text of the common position will be sent to the Parliament for a second reading.
The proposal is designed to implement the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety in the Community. While existing Community legislation covers to a large extent imports and trade in GMOs, the proposal is intended to fulfil the requirements under the Protocol on exporters by establishing a common system of notification and information for transboundary movements of GMOs.
With regard to the identification of GMOs in mixtures, the aim of the proposal is to provide for consistency with Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs and with other current or future Community legislation covering traceability, labelling and identification of such GMOs (see press release 12976/02 for further details).