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 Country Reports
Eight years of practical experience with GMOs in Spain |
When the genetically modified maize Bt176 was planted in Spain in 1998, the country was the first EU member state commercially to cultivate a genetically modified plant. Since then, the area planted with Bt maize has grown from 22,317 hectares in 1998 to roughly 60,000 hectares in 2006 and now represents 16 percent of the total maize acreage. Among farmers, there has been no litigation linked to the adventitious presence of GM maize in conventional or biological harvests during eight years of commercial GM maize cultivation in Spain. Farmers, as well as the processing and food supply chains, have been able successfully to produce both GM and non-GM goods.
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Successful coexistence without a legal framework
This trouble-free coexistence has been achieved despite the fact that no law regulating coexistence exists in Spain. To date, farmers rely on the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) developed by the Spanish association of seed producers (APROSE). However, for several years the government has been working on a Royal Decree to harmonise coexistence practices in the country. |
Based on trials conducted by public and private institutions and executed in areas where farmers grow crops for a variety of commercial uses, the Spanish Good Agricultural Practice guidelines from 2003 provided for the first time recommendations for coexistence. Consistent with the first two drafts of the Decree on coexistence, they were presented by the National Biosurveillance Commission, which consists of stakeholders concerned with food and feed safety. These guidelines were followed in the 2004 and 2005 crop season.
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Drafts for a Royal Decree on coexistence
Two additional drafts of the coexistence Decree were prepared by Spanish authorities later in July 2005 and April 2006. These drafts proposed that isolation distances be increased from 50 metres to 220 metres, although no research or discussion in the National Biosurveillance Commission had advocated this requirement. The Spanish Association of Bioindustries (ASEBIO) and representatives of seed producers, farmers and the feed industry have rejected the last draft of the Decree, arguing that in many areas the increased isolation distance would exclude farmers from the option of cultivating GM varieties. To date, it is unknown whether the latest draft eventually will be enacted or whether a further draft will be required for political consensus. |
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First study on coexistence under real conditions
For the first time under real conditions in Spain, scientists conducted a study on cross-fertilisation between Bt and conventional maize. The data were published and presented in 2006 (Messeguer et al., Plant Biotechnology Journal, Volume 4, page 633 - November 2006). They demonstrated the feasibility of coexistence for maize in two regions of Spain. The main factors that determined cross-pollination were the synchronicity of flowering and the distances between donor and receptor fields. The researchers concluded that a distance between transgenic and conventional fields of approximately 20 metres is sufficient to maintain the adventitious presence of genetically modified organisms below the 0.9 percent threshold in the total yield of the field. |
See also on GMO-Compass:
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