Unique Identifier for Transgenic Plants

In February 2002, the OECD published the Guidance for the Designation of a Unique Identifier for Transgenic Plants. A Unique Identifier is a nine-digit alphanumeric code that is given to each transgenic (or genetically engineered) plant that is approved for commercial use, including planting and food/feed use.

This guidance was developed because confusion can arise when different national authorities are sharing information on the same genetically engineered crop if different names or dedcriptions can be used for the same product. This is particularly important as more and more information on the safety of approved products becomes available through web sites.

The guidance has been designed so that developers of a new transgenic plant can generate an identifier and include it in the dossiers that they forward to national authorities during the safety assessment process. Once approved, national authorities can then forward the unique identifier to the OECD Secretariat for inclusion in the OECD’s product database.

The guidance works in practice among OECD countries and unique identifiers assigned are recorded in the OECD's product database.

In addtion, this guidance has been applied in other international fora.

In January 2004, the EU adopted the OECD guidance as its system for generating unique identifiers. This is found in a Commission Regulation (EC) No. 65/2004, "establishing a system for the development and assignment of unique identifiers for genetically modified organisms".

The OECD guidance has also been recognised as a mechanism for unique identification to be used within the context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. This decision was taken at the "First meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP/MOP1)" in February 2004. In the meantime, the OECD has been forwarding unique identifiers to the pilot phase of the Biosafety Clearing House of the Protocol.