Italian court gives GM go-ahead
(05 February 2010) The highest appeals court in Italy
has overturned a standing ban on the cultivation of genetically modified plants.
The Ministry of Agriculture and a majority of the population seem otherwise
inclined.
According to London weekly Agra Europe, the highest court
in Italy has instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to allow the planting of
genetically modified (GM) maize. The existing ban on the cultivation of such
maize thereby is lifted. The Italian public is fundamentally inclined towards a
sceptical view of genetic modification and the court move has provoked great
outcry.
Luca Zaia, Italian Minister of Agriculture, referred to
the decision by stating that "...the overwhelming majority of farmers don’t want
genetically modified plants in their fields." Citing that a satisfactory system
for coexistence of GM and conventional plants had yet to be designed and
implemented, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2007 had banned the cultivation of
genetically modified plants even in the case of their being approved for use in
the EU.
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