The European Commission has announced on 19 July 2007 a public consultation on responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research.
The consultation will provide input for a recommendation to the Member States on a possible Code of Conduct for this emerging area of science, which the Commission will put forward at the end of 2007.
Contributions are expected from a broad cross-section of European society, including the scientific community, industry, civil society, policy-makers, media and the general public.
Nanotechnologies and food safety
The April 2007 meeting of the Stakeholder Conslutative Platform of the European Food Safety Authority, included a debate on nanotechnology.
Expected areas of application of nanotechnology are food packaging, taste and texture, functional foods, seed production, pesticides and animal health.
There are also open questions and challenges on this topic, in particular the methods of analysis and detection, the applicability of current risk assessment paradigm, the need of toxicological data and the need of additional legislative framework.
A forum to exchange views on nanotechnology
The Collegium Basilea (Institute of Advanced Study) has created a forum for exchange of views on nanotechnology, which is called "Nanotechnology Perceptions".
According to the organisers, the aim of this forum is to raise awareness of nanotechnology across a broad spectrum of the world’s professional, political and industrial leadership, and indeed the general public through well-written and highly readable articles.
The articles deal with scientific and engineering issues as well as moral and ethical issues.
