The modular approach in GMO quality control and enforcement support systems

Experiments conducted within the Co-Extra project have focused mainly on assessing the applicability of the 'modular approach' in method validation and test analysis for GMO traceability in GM products. Conclusions arising from this broad range of studies include: (i) the modular approach in method validation is a very useful and reliable strategy for GMO analysis in most cases; (ii) the modular approach requires expert agreement on method performance criteria both at the module and process levels; (iii) practical application of the modular approach must be supported by a decision support system (preferentially through an open source web application); (iv) fuzzy logic-based rules may provide an interesting advantage for scoring the combinatory fit of methods along the GMO analysis process and (v) the Co-Extra project provided valuable tools for assessing a method's performance in relation to its applicability to the modular approach in GMO analysis.