Assessment of Quarantine Pest Dispersal from Norwegian Potato and Root Vegetable Packing Plants with Evaluation of Risk Reducing Options. Opinion of the Panel on Plant Health of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk assessment of the biocontrol product Nemaslug 2.0 with the active organisms Phasmarhabditis californica (strain P19D) and Moraxella osloensis. Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Plant Health of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Updated pest risk assessment of Phytophthora ramorum in Norway

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has asked the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment for an updated pest risk assessment of Phytophthora ramorum in Norway. The previous risk assessment of P. ramorum for Norway is from 2009. Since then, the pathogen has been detected repeatedly in Norway, primarily in parks, garden centres, and nurseries in southwestern Norway. The knowledge base concerning P. ramorum has changed since the last pest risk assessment, with increased genetic knowledge about different populations, lineages, and mating types. The risks associated with P. ramorum have also changed, since the disease has become epidemic in new host plants, such as larch trees in England. This updated pest risk assessment will provide important input to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s efforts to develop the Norwegian plant health regulation.Updated pest risk assessment of Phytophthora ramorum in NorwaypublishedVersio

Risk assessment of the biocontrol product Nemaslug 2.0 with the active organisms Phasmarhabditis californica (strain P19D) and Moraxella osloensis. Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Plant Health of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk assessment of the biocontrol product Nemaslug 2.0 with the active organisms Phasmarhabditis californica (strain P19D) and Moraxella osloensis

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Risk assessment of the predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus for biological control of varroa mites in beehives : Scientific opinion of the panel on plant health of the Norwegian scientific committee for food and environment

Source at https://vkm.no/.publishedVersio

Impacts of climate change on the boreal forest ecosystem. Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered species (CITES) of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

Source at https://vkm.no/</a

Thermoperiodic growth control by gibberellin does not involve changes in photosynthetic or respiratory capacities in pea

Active gibberellin (GA1) is an important mediator of thermoperiodic growth in pea. Plants grown under lower day than night temperature (negative DIF) elongate less and have reduced levels of GA1 compared with plants grown at higher day than night temperature (positive DIF). By comparing the wild type (WT) and the elongated DELLA mutant la crys, this study has examined the effect of impaired GA signalling on thermoperiodic growth, photosynthesis, and respiration in pea. In the WT a negative DIF treatment reduced stem mass ratio and increased both root mass ratio and leaf mass ratio (dry weight of specific tissue related to total plant dry weight). Leaf, root and stem mass ratios of la crys were not affected by DIF. Under negative DIF, specific leaf area (projected leaf area per unit leaf dry mass), biomass, and chlorophyll content of WT and la crys plants were reduced. Young, expanding leaves of plants grown under negative DIF had reduced leaf area-based photosynthetic capacity. However, the highest photosynthetic electron transport rate was found in fully expanded leaves of WT plants grown under negative DIF. Negative DIF increased night respiration and was similar for both genotypes. It is concluded that GA signalling is not a major determinant of leaf area-based photosynthesis or respiration and that reduced dry weight of plants grown under negative DIF is caused by a GA-mediated reduction of photosynthetic stem and leaf tissue, reduced photosynthesis of young, expanding leaves, and reduced growth caused by low temperature in the photoperiod

Kunnskapsbehov av betydning for mattrygghet og beskyttelse av miljøet. Oppsummering fra VKMs vitenskapelige uttalelser i perioden 2016 - 2017

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Genome editing in food and feed production – implications for risk assessment. Scientific Opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing. Background Gene technology has allowed for the transfer of genes between organisms and species, and thereby to design altered genotypes with novel traits, i.e. GMOs. A new paradigm started in the early 2000s with the development of genome-editing techniques. Unlike traditional genetic modification techniques resulting in insertion of foreign DNA fragments at random locations in the genome, the new genome-editing techniques additionally open for a few single nucleotide edits or short insertions/deletions at a targeted site in an organism’s genome. These new techniques can be applied to most types of organisms, including plants, animals and microorganisms of commercial interest. An important question is how the novel, genome-edited organisms should be evaluated with respect to risks to health and the environment. The European Court of Justice decided in 2018 to include genome-edited organisms in the GMO definition and hence in the regulatory system already in place. This implies that all products developed by genome-editing techniques must be risk-assessed within the existing regulatory framework for GMOs. The European and Norwegian regulatory frameworks regulate the production, import and placing on the market of food and feed containing, consisting of or produced from GMOs, as well as the release of GMOs into the environment. The assessment draws on guidance documents originally developed by EFSA for risk assessment of GMOs, which were drawn up mainly to address risks regarding insertion of transgenes. The new genome-editing techniques, however, provide a new continuum of organisms ranging from those only containing a minor genetic alteration to organisms containing insertion or deletion of larger genomic regions. Risk assessment of organisms developed by genome editing The present discourse on how new genome-editing techniques should be regulated lacks an analysis of whether risk assessment methodologies for GMOs are adequate for risk assessment of organisms developed through the use of the new genome-editing techniques. Therefore, this report describes the use of genome-editing techniques in food and feed production and discusses challenges in risk assessment with the regulatory framework. Specifically, this report poses the question as to whether the EFSA guidance documents are sufficient for evaluating risks to health and environment posed by genome-edited plants, animals and microorganisms. To address these questions, the report makes use of case examples relevant for Norway. These examples, intended for food and feed, include oilseed rape with a modified fatty acid profile, herbicide-tolerant and pest-resistant crops, sterile salmon, virus-resistant pigs and hornless cattle. The report considers all aspects of the stepwise approach as described in the EFSA guidance documents. Conclusions The inherent flexibility of the EFSA guidance makes it suitable to cover health and environmental risk assessments of a wide range of organisms with various traits and intended uses. Combined with the embedded case-by-case approach the guidance is applicable to genome-edited organisms. The evaluation of the guidance demonstrates that the parts of the health and environmental risk assessment concerned with novel traits (i.e. the phenotype of the organism) may be fully applied to all categories of genome-edited organisms. ............acceptedVersionpublishedVersio