Environment Commissioner Dimas and Consumer and Health Commissioner Kyprianou have listed a set of requests to the European Food Safety Authority`s risk assessment of GMOs, including more details to justify their decisions, assessment of biodiversity impacts and long term effects and more respect for national authorities and scientific submissions. The Commission also announced additional risk management measures for future GMO approvals and reserves the right to suspend approval processes, if "new scientific questions were not properly addressed by EFSA". The announcement reflects massive criticism of the EFSA GMO panels practices by member states and stakeholders. "The commission hears the message that member states want more scientific consistency and transparency," said the spokesman.</p><p><a href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/498&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">EU press release, (E, F, D, Es)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2006/2006-04-12-04.asp">ENS: EU Alters GMO Assessments to Satisfy Resistant Member States</a></p><p><a href="archiv/GM%20food%20proposals%20could%20%27politicise%27%20approvals%20process">FoodNavigator: Europabio - proposals could 'politicise' approvals process</a></p><p><a href="http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200604/16fc2211-5b2c-49eb-b786-252c398689bb.htm">Europolitix: EU overhauls GM approval procedures</a></p><p><a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2006/AB_12_April_slaps.htm">Friends of the Earth: European Commission slaps its own food safety bod...as more countries ban biotech crops</a>