A Codex Alimentarius Task Force has decided to draft guidelines for the conduct of food safety assessments of food derived from nutrition- and health-enhanced genetically modified animals and plants.
The Codex Alimentarius Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology held its fifth session from 19-23 September 2005, in Chiba, Japan.

Participants discussed potential new areas of work for the Task Force and agreed to undertake work on two items: a Guideline on the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Animals; and an Annex to the existing Codex Guideline on the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants on “Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants Modified for Nutritional and Health Benefits.” The Task Force discussed, but did not agree to undertake work on, the adventitious presence of unauthorized GM plant material and on GM plants producing pharmaceutical substances. First established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1999, the Task Force was re-created in July 2005 with the mandate to elaborate standards, guidelines, or other principles for GM foods.
Links to further information
ICTSD BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 30 September 2005
Codex should address ethical, ecological concerns on GM foods, The Financial Express, 26 September 2005
Online report of the US delegate, September 2005
The official report of the meeting (not yet available as at 26 October 2005)