EFB urges Commissioner Dimas to follow scientific advice

(November 29, 2007) The intent of Stavros Dimas, EU Commissioner for the Environment, to reject two Bt maize submissions has raised concerns by European scientists, institutes and the industry alike.

Today, the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) handed Commissioner Dimas an Open Letter in which he was warned against discrediting the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As the scientific body responsible for the safety assessment of genetically modified organisms within the European Union, EFSA concluded in 2005 that there is no evidence the maize lines in question (Bt11 and 1507) have an adverse effect on human and animal health or the environment. Nonetheless, Commissioner Dimas proposes not to approve the applications for cultivation of Bt11 and 1507, citing the precautionary principle. From his point of view, uncertainties remain concerning the two maize lines in regard to their on the environment in the long term as well as their effect on non-target organisms.

The European Federation of Biotechnology accuses Dimas of renouncing a sound scientific basis with his proposals. According to the EFB, a total of 63 peer-reviewed publications attest that Bt toxin does not accumulate in the soil and does not affect aerial and soil-based non-target organisms. The Federation disputes that the critical publications cited by Dimas will endure a peer review. Therefore, it urges the Commissioner to return to reasoning based on science and experience. The consequences of approving the draft decisions and of the precedents they would set would be the marginalisation of science in Europe. Further consequences include the discreditation of the EFSA and – by upholding a de-facto import ban on feed maize from GM maize-producing countries – the collapse of the EU livestock industry.

The Open Letter is only the latest part in a discussion of the EU approval process that was opened at the beginning of this week by Horst Seehofer, the German Minister of Agriculture. On the sidelines of a meeting of the Agricultural Council, Seehofer asked for a preliminary stop of any authorization until a thorough review of the decision process has taken place. He suggested that future decisions be made solely on the basis of scientific evidence. Seehofer expresses the wish to end the current deadlock within the Council and political approval decisions in the Commission. His colleagues from France and Austria supported a temporary moratorium. By contrast, the Dutch minister Gerda Verburg appealed to the Commission and other member states to accept the scientific advice of EFSA and to proceed with the careful authorization of genetically modified maize and soybeans. Mariann Fischer Boel, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, also cautioned against suspending the authorizations. Fischer Boel suspects rising feed costs for the European livestock industry if the import of maize and maize gluten be restricted even more than already is the case.

Further Information:

• GFB's open letter to the Cabinet of Environment Commissioner Dimas