May 12 - The Food Standards Agency has appointed the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC) as the UK's National Reference Laboratory for genetically modified (GM) food and feed.
The appointment of National Reference Laboratories is a requirement placed on all European Union (EU) Member States by Commission Regulation (EC) 882/2004. Different laboratories may be appointed for different subject areas and the Agency has already made other appointments, for example, for animal feed additive authorisations, marine biotoxins and certain food contaminants.
The National Reference Laboratories work closely with the EU Community Reference Laboratories appointed by the European Commission and with official national control laboratories within their country.
The four-year appointment of LGC took effect on 1 March 2009, and will enable it to carry out the functions as described in Article 33 of Commission Regulation (EC) 882/2004 and in the annexe to Commission Regulation (EC) 1829/2003.
The services provided will include:
* acting as a channel for communication between the FSA and other relevant laboratories and organisations regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
* maintaining an archive of positive and negative reference materials for the analysis and detection of GMOs
providing advice and representation on GMOs to the FSA and official control laboratories within the UK
* co-ordination within the UK of EU Community Reference Laboratory initiatives, including the testing and validation of GMO detection methods (as agreed with the Agency)
The contract is for four years in the first instance and will be reviewed on a yearly basis.