Mr. Gregory Canning:

I would like to add a further clarification to the Chairman's. The communication proposed by the Commission is simply about allowing member states to make a decision to prohibit or restrict the placing on the market of an approved GM product. The product will have gone through the assessment process with EFSA and the risk will have been examined, and, therefore, if this is adopted by the Council, by the time a product gets to this process, it will have been centrally approved. The communication then says that at that point a member state can decide to allow the product to be placed on the market within its territory. It is at a further remove. Senator Ó Domhnaill and Deputy Barry asked about this not conflicting with the EFSA recommendations. In making the decision not to allow a product to be marketed, a member state cannot use a justification around a health risk because the product will have been assessed by EFSA.