Original: english, spanish and french

NORWAY

[08 September 2006]

[SUBMISSION:ENGLISH]

1. Does your country have any plantations, either commercial or experimental, of genetically modified trees?
There are no field releases, either experimental or commercial, of GM trees in Norway, and no applications for field trials or commercial plantations have been submitted to the authorities of Norway so far. There is, however, some cultivation of GM-hybrid aspen for experimental purposes taking place at universities in confined facilities.
2. Has your country developed any platform/discussion forum/national committee etc dealing with GM trees?
There is no committee or forum dealing only with GM trees, but the committees/institutions dealing with other genetically modified organisms would also be involved in the assessment of GM-trees:

• 
  Ministry of the Environment and underlying bodies: Effects on biodiversity
  
• 
  Ministry of Health and Care Services and Ministry of Agriculture and Food and underlying bodies: Food and feed, human an animal health
  
• 
  The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board: Ethical and socio-economic considerations
  

3. Does your country have any guidelines or regulations for minimizing the impacts of genetically modified trees for scientific or commercial purposes?
The same law, regulations and guidelines that apply for other genetically modified organisms also apply for GM-trees. The most central are:
The Norwegian Gene Technology Act (Act of 2 April 1993 No. 38 relating to the production and use of genetically modified organisms, etc.)

The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the production and use of genetically modified organisms and the production of cloned animals take place in an ethically justifiable and socially acceptable manner, in accordance with the principle of sustainable development and without adverse effects on health and the environment.

http://bch.biodiv.org/database/record.shtml?id=8187
Regulations relating to impact assessment pursuant to the Gene Technology Act
http://bch.biodiv.org/database/record.shtml?id=10278
Environmental impacts of GM-trees:

Regulations relating to impact assessment pursuant to the Gene Technology Act: §§ 13-16, appendix 1 part B, appendix 2 and appendix 3.

Cultural impacts of GM-trees:

Regulations relating to impact assessment pursuant to the Gene Technology Act: § 17 and appendix 4.

Socio-economic impacts of GM-trees:

Regulations relating to impact assessment pursuant to the Gene Technology Act: § 17 and appendix 4.

PANAMA

[14 August 2006]

[SUBMISSION:SPANISH]

PHILIPPINES

[23 August 2006]

[SUBMISSION:ENGLISH]

POLAND

[01 September 2006]

[SUBMISISON:ENGLISH]

1. Does your country have any plantation, either commercial or experimental, of genetically modified trees? We have got experimental fields with genetically modified plum trees. At present five varieties resistant to Plum pox virus PPV (also known as sharka) released into environment are tested. The plants were transformed with plum pox virus coat protein gene PPV-CP conferring resistance to virus. They contain also nptII marker gene which confers resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin and gus reporter gene. We haven’t developed and we don’t intend to establish commercial plantations of GMO trees in the future. Such decision was made by the polish government and it is consistent with public expectations.

If yes, please answer all remaining questions. If no, please state the reason why:

2. has your country developed any platform/discussion forum/national committee etc. dealing with genetically modified trees? No. We haven’t any platform, forum etc. dealing solely with genetically modified trees.

If yes, please answer all remaining questions. If no, please state the reason why: The Minister of Environment as the polish competent authority on genetically modified organisms appointed GMO Commission dealing with the whole GMO issues. There was no reason to develop special subsidiary body dealing with genetically modified trees due to small scale of scientific research and lack of commercial GM trees planting at the moment and in the future. If should the need arise we will use local experts in relevant discipline to assess risk assessment or another aspect connected with applying genetically modified tree varieties. Simultaneously we make efforts to include public in decision making process-especially in decisions on GMOs. We laid down and put into practice legislative framework which obliges government to provide public consultations before commencement of every field trial with GMOs - including genetically modified trees. The Minister of Environment provides national registers where key information on GMO activities is made available to the citizens. This is also an exquisite platform for information sharing and a kind of electronic mailbox for commentaries from public.

3. Does your country have any guidelines or regulations for minimizing the impacts of genetically modified trees for scientific and/or commercial purposes? No. We haven’t any guidelines or regulations concerning exclusively genetically modified trees.

If yes, please list them according to the categories below. If no, please explain the reason why: We are preparing new act “ Law on genetically modified organisms” which will become complex regulation on all GMOs in Poland. Because of small scale of scientific research in this area and polish government policy against experimental and commercial introducing varieties of genetically modified trees into environment there is no need to pass separate act on genetically modified trees. Obviously we realize that the lack of official registered plantations doesn’t absolve us from responsibility for protection from unintentional movement of non authorized GM trees varieties. The primary goal of new law is to ensure total control of all activities with GMOs within the polish territory. The bill imposes specific obligations on users planning experimental and commercial introduction GMOs into environment among over providing field schemes, risk assessment and risk management plans. Environmental and cultural impacts of GMO is the most important aspect of every evaluation. In evaluation are engaged local authorities and local communities to eliminate or minimize possible adverse effects from GMOs. The bill doesn’t take into consideration any economic arguments in the context of deliberate release or commercial cultivation.

Environmental impacts of genetically modified trees (Example: effects on native ecosystems, use of herbicide)

Cultural impacts of genetically modified trees (Example: positive or negative impacts on indigenous and local communities and their traditional knowledge)

Socio-economic impacts of genetically modified trees (Example: positive or negative effects on quantity, quality and economic value of forest production, positive or negative impacts on livelihoods of communities)