The 1990/220 Deliberate Release Directive: Early Implementation and Revision

Abstract

This chapter discusses the problems that emerged in the frame of the implementation of the 1990/200 Deliberate Release Directive (DRD). It examines the various efforts for the revision of the Deliberate Release framework, which were initiated in order to restore those implementation problems that emerged during the second half of the 1990s and eventually resulted in a revised deliberate release framework. The analysis also focuses on the efforts for the revision of the structure for the provision of scientific advice at the Community level, as well as on the inherent organisational limitations of the Scientific Committee on Plants in informing the Commission’s authorisation decisions on GMO releases. The chapter examines the Commission’s use of the opinions of its scientific Committees as the sole means for defining the breadth of the prior authorisation procedure’s scope, interpreting the main terms of the prior authorisation framework and shaping the required acceptability standards for the evaluation of the potential effects of GMO releases. To this end, it examines the process of the prior authorisation of the commercial release of the MS8xRF3 oilseed rape. Finally, it examines the structure of the revised DRD with an emphasis on its proceduralised character.