In short
Sciensano coordinates the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) detection in Belgium, established as a consortium between 3 partners:
- Sciensano’s Transversal activities in Applied Genomics (TAG) service
- the Technology and Food, Product Quality and Innovation unit of the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO),
- the Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques (CRA-W).
The NRL provides scientific expertise and technical solutions to support the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) in the monitoring of GMOs according to the EU legislation and to guarantee the freedom of choice of each consumer.
Project description
The mission of the National Reference Laboratory for GMOs is to solve technological problems related to the Belgian legislation and subsidiarity, and to support the applicability and the development of new methods, reference materials and calibrators.
The NRL for GMOs is strongly linked to the GMOLAB activity and ensures the following tasks:
- staying informed and maintaining the highest possible standard of technical competence, organising ring tests at a national level with the aim of harmonising analytical practices between Belgian laboratories;
- ensuring the transmission of documentation or information to the routine laboratories (e.g. through workshops);
- informing the staff regarding the interpretation of analysis results;
- maintaining contacts with the European Network of GMO Laboratories and transferring related information to the FASFC and to the routine laboratories;
- supervising and supporting study projects;
- actively participate in the technical and scientific support of the FASFC in the context of incidents or crises.
This project contributes to the exchange of technical and scientific information about GMOs. Moreover, the project leads to the development of new research projects on new approaches and methods for GMO detection. The NRL for GMOs plays an important role in the scientific and technical support to the public authorities responsible for monitoring the safety of the food chain. This activity results from the implementation of EC Directive 2001/18, EC Regulation 1829/2003 and 619/2011 with the aim of protecting public health and the environment during the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment and the marketing of GMOs and derived products (food and feed).
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