Is there a list of all the organizations that have approved GMOs?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Saturday, 15/02/2014 18:18

While we are unaware of a complete list of all of the organizations or scientific bodies that approve of the safety of GMOs or support GMOs, there is a list of Learned Societies and National Academies Endorsing Safety of Genetically Modified Crops that was provided to the State of Connecticut General Assembly and included the following organizations:
 

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Medical Association
• American Society for Microbiology
• Australian Academy of Sciences
• Brazilian Academy of Sciences
• British Medical Association
• Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
• European Commission
• European Food Safety Authority
• Federation of Animal Science Societies
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• French Academy of Science
• Indian National Science Academy
• Institute of Food Technologists
• International Council for Science
• International Union of Food Science and Technology
• Italian National Academy of Science
• Mexican Academy of Sciences
• National Academies of Science (United States)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
• Pontifical Academy of Sciences
• Royal Society (United Kingdom)
• World Health Organization

David Tribe, senior lecturer, Agriculture and Food Systems/Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, discusses GMO safety studies and organizations that support GM foods on his blog, GMO Pundit: http://gmopundit.blogspot.com.au/p/450-published-safety-assessments.html.

Additionally, since 1996, 59 different countries have granted a total of 2,497 approvals, of which 1,129 are for food use, 813 are for feed use and 555 are for commercial planting. The United States has the most approvals, with 196. Other countries have the following number of approvals: Japan, 182; Canada, 131; Mexico, 122; Australia, 92; South Korea, 86; New Zealand, 81; European Union, 67; Philippines, 64; Taiwan, 52; and South Africa, 49. (Source: www.isaaa.org.)

In regards to the regulatory process, GM crops on the market have gone through all required regulatory approval processes in all countries where they are grown or used. In the United States alone:

• USDA conducts a mandatory review of GM plants to assess whether or not they will impact the environment and will be safe to grow.
• EPA conducts a mandatory review of GM plants that are insect resistant or herbicide tolerant to assess whether or not they will impact the environment. The EPA also regulates the use of all crop protection products that control weeds and provide protection against insects and disease that are used on crops grown in the United States.
• FDA conducts a voluntary review to assess if GM plants are safe to eat. All GMOs on the market have gone through this process.

If you have any additional questions, please ask.