These OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries.

This series represents a compilation of the biosafety consensus documents developed by the OECD Working Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology over the periods 2011-12 (Volume 5) and 2013-15 (Volume 6).

Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains.

This book provides in-depth insights into the regulatory frameworks of five countries and the EU concerning the regulation of genome edited plants. The country reports form the basis for a comparative analysis of the various national regulations governing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in general and genome edited plants in particular, as well as the underlying regulatory approaches.The reports, which focus on the regulatory status quo of genome edited plants in Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan and the USA, were written by distinguished experts following a uniform structure. On this basis, the legal frameworks are compared in order to foster a rational assessment of which approaches could be drawn upon to adjust, or to completely realign, the current EU regime for GMOs. In addition, a separate chapter identifies potential best practices for the regulation of plants derived from genome editing.

Volume 8 of the Series contains the first biosafety 'consensus document' to deal with the biology of an insect, the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Issued by the OECD Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology, the science-based consensus documents collate information for use during the regulatory risk assessment of biotechnology products, i.e. transgenic organisms (plants, animals, micro-organisms) when intended for release in the environment. Ae. aegypti mosquito is vectoring yellow fever, dengue, Zika and Chikungunya diseases in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. Biotechnological applications are developed to control the mosquito population and reduce virus transmission. The book provides information on Ae. aegypti taxonomy, morphology, life cycle, reproductive biology, genetics, ecology, interactions with other species and the environment. The mosquito effects on human and animal health, and the control strategies/specific programmes to limit its development are also summarised.

These OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries and some non members associated with the work.