Germany: Regions are to decide on GM planting, says Minister Aigner

(21 March 2009) German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner (CSU) wants to leave the decision up to the regions about planting genetically modified crops. "The German states as well as the administrative districts should decide themselves if they want to have green gene technology or not," said the minister in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

Aigner had previously announced that the authorisation for MON810 Bt maize, the only genetically modified crop grown in the EU, would be reevaluated before sowing begins mid-April. The reason for this is the monitoring plan to which Monsanto is committed to keep track of any environmental changes caused by the planting of MON810 maize. It was only after this plan had been worked out and approved by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) that former agriculture minister Horst Seehofer lifted the commerical ban on MON 810 maize in May 2007.

Monsanto is required to submit a report on the implementation of this monitoring plan and its results by the end of March. "This will then be carefully reviewed as to whether the monitoring plan was correctly implemented and if the practical implementation lived up to the high requirements and expectations of it. It will be determined from the outcome of this evaluation," stated Ilse Aigner on the ministry's website, "if protection measures will again be imposed during the time it takes for a decison on a reauthorisation to be worked out in Brussels."

It seems a national ban on planting MON810 maize is both legally and politically difficult to enforce. There is no new scientific evidence of acute risks to humans or the environment which would call for an immediate ban. Sowing starts soon and farmers who plan to grow MON810 maize have already bought the seeds. The BVL's public register currently shows 3600 hectares listed for planting the Bt maize.

But pressure is mounting: A citizens' movement of environmentalists, farmers and traditionalists, which is particularly strong in southern Germany, is calling for an ultimate ban on MON810 maize from Aigner and also from a group of SPD members of the Bundestag. Aigner hopes to tone down the conflict with the announcement that the regions are allowed to decide on the planting of MON810 maize. However, it is not clear how tranferring the responsibility to the individual states or administrative districts can be legally done without changing current EU legislation. The minister told Reuters that she is currently in talks with members of her cabinet.

Source: Co-Extra

Further information:

• GMO Safety: Bt maize: Is it safe for humans and the environment?