Mode of Action ERA Workshop

In May 2016, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute, ILSI Japan and ILSI Korea hosted a set of events intended to further a longstanding collaboration on environmental risk assessment (ERA) under conditions of low exposure, such as those experienced during importations for food and feed use.  These represent the fourth set of activities conducted to address this topic since 2011, and highlight the ability of ILSI organizations to engage in long term cooperative programs to address scientific issues that have an impact on local and regional regulatory issues.

Program

Dr. Andrew Roberts from the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute’s Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, Dr. Michael Dornbusch from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator in Australia, and Dr. Linda Pollak, a retired researcher from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and maize breeder participated in the program in Tokyo, which consisted of two parts.  The first was an open symposium attended by around 60 participants from the government, industry and academic institutions in Japan with an interest in biotechnology regulation.  Lectures from Japanese scientists as well as the international speakers dealt with regulatory needs in Japan as well as the technical aspects of genetically modified crop risk assessment.  The second activity was a small workshop with invited members of the Japanese scientific committee responsible for reviewing biotechnology applications as well as regulators from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).  The program consisted of three panel discussions, addressing issues around assessment endpoints for ERA, the collection of data to support the assessment and the concept of data transportability in support of risk assessment.

Click here to view the complementary event hosted in Korea on May 17-18, 2016.