Original: english, spanish and french

AUSTRIA

[24 August 2006]

[SUBMISSION: ENGLISH]

1. Does your country have any plantations, either commercial or experimental, of genetically modified trees? NO

Reason: Austria is generally very sceptical about GMOs and in particular about GMTs. Because of potential threats of GMTs and the little knowledge on potential impacts of GMTs, political will to allow the use of GMTs for either commercial or experimental proposes is very low at this point.

Has your country developed any platform/discussion forum/national committee etc. dealing with genetically modified trees? NO

Reason: No specific committee on GMTs has been established, but the Subcommittee on deliberate release and placing on the market of the Austrian GMO Advisory Committee on Gene Technology (Gentechnikkommission) is responsible in general. In so far no specific discussion on GMTs has taken place in this forum. The Austrian Gene Technology Act lays down the rules for the installation and work of an Advisory Board and its three scientific committees, for strict liability for damages due to genetic engineering and punishment for offences against the law. The Ordinance on Public Hearings prescribes in detail the administrative procedures that have to be considered in those cases where the Gene Technology Act requires a mandatory public hearing. These cases are: applications for deliberate release of GMOs into the environment and contained use of GMOs in higher classes and at large scale. Within the Austrian Forest Dialogue general aspects of GMTs and their release are being discussed among more than 80 different forest relevant stakeholder groups and institutions. The Austrian Forest Dialogue was started in 2003 and is a permanent forest platform dealing with all aspects of sustainable forest management.

Does your country have any guidelines or regulations for minimizing the impacts of genetically modified trees for scientific and/or commercial purposes? No, but the general GMO legislation in Austria (GMO Act and Ordinance on Deliberate Releases) applies

Environmental impacts of genetically modified trees (Example: effects on native ecosystems, use of herbicide) Environmental impact of GM tree trial must be assessed thoroughly according to the Austrian Gene Technology Act (1994) amended in 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2005, and different national directives (Ordinance on Work with GMOs in Contained Use 2002, Ordinance on Deliberate Release of GMOs into the Environment 2005, Ordinance on Public Hearings 1998 [Systemverordnung 2002, Freisetzungverordnung 2005 and Anhörungsverordnung 1998]). Marketing of GM trees is additionally restricted by the Act on Forest Reproductive Material 2002 (Forstliche Vermehrungsgutgesetz).

Cultural impacts of genetically modified trees (Example: positive or negative impacts on indigenous and local communities and their traditional knowledge) According to the Austrian Gene Technology Act and the respective ordinances also Cultural impacts of GMOs have to be considered

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) According to the Austrian Gene Technology Act and the respective ordinances also Socio-economic impacts of GMOs have to be considered

BELGIUM

[31 August 2006]

[SUBMISSION:ENGLISH]

PILOT ASSESSMENT
On the potential environmental, cultural and socio-economic impacts of genetically

modified trees on forest biological diversity
1. Does your country have any plantations, either commercial or experimental, of genetically

modified trees?
Belgium has experimental plantations of genetically modified trees but only in indoor growth rooms.
The first species is a hybrid Populus tremula x Populus alba. These trees were transformed in first instance to understand the function of a particular gene. The overall aim is to increase the production of wood or to optimize the quality of wood. We have already made transgenic trees that have better wood for pulp and paper, i.e. less chemicals have to be used in the pulping step, thus less environmental pollution.
The second species is an apple tree. Insertion of genetic material into the apple (host) genome (transformation) was achieved via co-cultivation with the kanamycin-sensitive Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 (Hood et al., 1993). The leaves used for transformation were the youngest fully expanded leaves of micro-propagated shoots. Malus x domestica Borkh., cultivar “Jonagold”, were transformed with vectors containing:

- a cDNA encoding an extension-like prolin-rich protein

- a cDNA encoding an apple knotted1-like homeobox protein

in sense orientation.

2. Has your country developed any platform/discussion forum/national committee etc. dealing

with genetically modified trees?
There is no specific forum for genetically modified trees but this issue is dealt with in general GMO forums.
Belgium has a common scientific evaluation system made of  the Biosafety Advisory Council and the Biosafety and Biotechnology section of the Scientific Institut for Public Health.
The Biosafety Advisory Council (BAC) is one of the two pillars (the other one being the Division of Biosafety and Biotechnology - SBB) of the common scientific evaluation system that has been set up in Belgium to advise the competent authorities about the safety of activities involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and/or pathogens, including genetic and ecological aspects related to biodiversity.

The Council consists of representatives of the Regional and Federal authorities. It is assisted by experts in its scientific work. The secretariat of the Council is ensured by the SBB.

The Council can be consulted by the Regions or the SBB for the contained use activities (laboratories, greenhouses, animal husbandries, production plants). It must be consulted for the deliberate release of GMOs in the environment and the placing on the market of all GMOs and GMOs-based products.
Belgium also has a Biosafety Steering Group under the Coordinating Committee for International Environmental Policy. The federal entity and the Regions of Belgium can exchange information in this forum. This group prepares Belgian positions and reports for European and international organisations.

There is also a Belgian Biosafety Server (http://www.biosecurite.be/HomePageFR.shtml) and a Belgian Biosafety clearing house (http://www.biosafetyprotocol.be/).

3. Does your country have any guidelines or regulations for minimizing the impacts of

genetically modified trees for scientific and/or commercial purposes?
General provisions on GMO’s
Belgium has managed an harmonized implementation in the Belgian laws of European Biosafety Directives, Decisions, Regulations and Guidelines. The decisions by different administrative bodies representing different institutional levels are mainly based on a single common science-based biosafety advisory system. In such a system, all regulatory-related aspects of the uses of GMO's and pathogens are assessed altogether in a coordinated way, independently of the implicated specific regulation(s).

This common advisory system is founded by a Cooperation Agreement concerning Biosafety.

Specific Provisions on GMO’s:

• 
  Deliberate release of GMOs in the environment and placing on the market of GMOs
  

The European legislation in this field has been transposed in the Belgian law by the Royal Decree of 21 February 2005.

This Decree implements or enforces Directive 2001/18/EC and subsidiary Decisions.

In addition to the Decree of 21 February 2005, the two following Laws are also of application:

• 
  Law of 20 July 1991, especially article 132 (provisions concerning the deliberate release in the environment of genetically modified organisms)
  
• 
  Law of 22 February 1998 (amending the law of July 20, 1991), especially articles 222 and 226.
  

• 
  Contained Use of pathogenic and/or genetically modified organisms, including clinical research
  

The European legislation has been transposed at Regional level as a part of the Regional Environmental laws for classified installations.

These regulations implement or enforce European Directive 98/81/EC revising Directive 90/219/EEC, and related Decisions 2000/608/EC and 2001/204/EC.

• 
  Protection of workers exposed to biological agents at work
  

The legislation currently in force in Belgium is the Royal Decision of 29 April 1999 (Belgian Official Journal of 07.10.1999 - p. 37917) amending the Royal Decision of 4 August 1996 concerning the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to biological agents at work (Belgian Official Journal of 01.10.1996 - p. 25285).

This decision implements European Directives 90/679/EEC, 93/88/EEC, 95/30/CE, 97/59/CE and 97/65/CE.

Directive 90/679/EEC has been repealed in September 2000 by Directive 2000/54/EC.