The 10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO) began on 17 November in Wellington. It is the world's leading scientific conference on biosafety research. State of the art environmental biosafety research projects will be showcased over five days and discussed by the 250 participating scientific researchers, regulators and industry representatives from 34 countries. Focus this year is on the environmental impact of stress tolerant GM crops, the influence of GMOs on complex soil ecosystems and the containment of gene flow from GMOs in the environment, such as in field trials.

Organised by the International Society of Biosafety Research (ISBR), the symposium offers additional highlights. There will be talks on the risk assessment of GM crops of the next generation, such as those with improved nutritional content, those raised for the production of biofuels or those designed for heat-resistance and drought.

Participants also question the risk of genetically modified animals, in particular, the breeding of bird-flu-resistant chickens and a risk assessment of released transgenic insects. Such animals are considered a possible option when it comes to fighting diseases transmitted by insects to humans, animals and plants. In conclusion, new findings will be presented on the potential environmental impact of transgenic farmed fish and methods for containing them.

Post market monitoring (PMM) programme experiences in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland and Germany will be presented. PMM programmes look out for possible environmental risks of GMOs following their commercial authorisation. These programmes allow for the timely recognition of unexpected environmental risks that might arise, even if the GMO was previously given a positive rating.

Authorisation processes and risk assessment of GMOs vary, sometimes greatly, from country to country. Even within the EU Member States conflict has been brewing for years over just what the correct criteria for GMO authorisation should be. Austria, France and Greece have even opposed the EU Commission's decision to authorise certain GMO products. The harmonisation of authorisation criteria and risk assessment methods are a concern that will be addressed in this year's ISBGMO. In a joint session with OECD and a workshop, participants will discuss how national authorisation processes can be brought more in line with scientific requirements as well as what data should be necessary for the authorisation of a GMO and how much influence OECD recommendations and biosafety research results have on the authorisation.

ISBR President Jochen Schiemann sees the symposium as an important support for scientifically based GMO authorisation procedures worldwide. "Knowledge of potential negative environmental impacts of GMOs and their related risk assessments results not only from the quality of the biosafety research itself, but on a continuous, interactive cooperation of regulators, policy makers and science. This symposium is a place for that."