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News Messages |
| 23 March 2006 | | Application Submitted: GM Maize for Bioethanol Production | The Swiss agribiotech company Syngenta recently submitted an application to the EU for the authorisation of a new line of GM maize intended to facilitate ethanol fuel production. This transgenic maize line (3272) possesses a gene isolated from a heat tolerant bacterium, which codes for a heat stable version of the enzyme alpha amylase. Alpha amylase breaks apart starch, which is the first step in ethanol production. The heat stable form of alpha amylase will remain active at high temperatures, accelerating the ethanol production process. The resulting ethanol will mainly be used as fuel, which can be mixed with petrol at a ratio of up to five percent.
The applicants are seeking authorisation for import and processing, but have chosen not to seek authorisation for cultivating 3272 maize in the EU. The scope of the application also covers use in food and feed. Animal feed is made from plant by-products of ethanol production. Authorisation for food use is being sought to exclude risks to human health in the event of unintended mixing. |
| 19 March 2006 | | Cartagena Protocol: Stricter GMO Labelling in 2012 | As of 2012, precise labelling must accompany international shipments of agricultural products containing genetically modified organisms. This was the final outcome of the third meeting on the Cartagena protocol for biosafety, which came to a close in Curitiba, Brazil on March 17th.
Until now, the Cartagena protocol agreements had left labelling requirements for international shipments of agricultural products quite relaxed. Genetically modified seed has always required precise labelling, but agricultural products directly destined for processing, and hence pose little threat of growing in the import country, have only required the ambiguous notification “may contain GMOs”. This label allows exporters to forgo testing and traceability, but leaves importers in the dark regarding the identity of the transgenic event(s) contained in the shipment.
Last year, a similar attempt to pass stricter labelling requirements was unsuccessful. This time, an agreement was reached after days of intensive negotiations. Starting in 2012, all internationally traded agricultural goods with GM content will need to be labelled as “contains GMOs”. The long grace period should give exporters time to comply with the new demands. The agreement states that the transgenic events in shipments must be identified as well as possible considering the technical capabilities of the respective export country.
The Cartagena protocol is an internationally binding agreement for managing potential risks to biodiversity posed by trading living modified organisms. It was signed by 132 countries, taking effect in 2003. Several major agricultural exporters such as the USA, Canada, and Argentina have not joined the agreement. |
| 11 March 2006 | | European Commission: No EU-wide Rules for Coexistence | For the time being, measures for ensuring the coexistence of genetically modified crops with conventional agriculture will remain up to the individual Member States. The European Commission upheld the EU’s current policy on coexistence in a report presented in Brussels on Friday. "Growing conditions are very varied from country to country and experience with GM crops is still limited in Europe. It therefore does not seem appropriate to propose unified EU rules at this time," said Mariann Fischer Beol, the EU commissioner for agriculture and rural development.
In 2003, the European Commission simply proposed guidelines for ensuring coexistence, leaving specifics up the individual Member States. In the meantime, only a handful of Member States have enacted binding legislation for growing GM plants. The Commission’s guidelines exclude general bans on planting GM crops. In addition, countries may not demand efforts for coexistence greater than those necessary to keep conventional harvests below the 0.9 percent threshold for labelling.
Before the European Commission can put forth EU-wide legislation on coexistence, more experience with cultivating GM crops and with the effectiveness of certain coexistence schemes is needed. The Commission also needs to engage in consultation activities with various interest groups and stakeholders. |
| 08 March 2006 | | Roundup Ready Alfalfa: New Biotech Crop Enters Market | Monsanto, the world’s largest agro-biotech company, has begun selling it’s Roundup Ready alfalfa seed to farmers in the United States. After soybean, maize, cotton, and rapeseed, alfalfa has become the fifth commercialized crop with genetically engineered resistance to broad-spectrum herbicides. The U.S. authorised the cultivation of J101 and J163 alfalfa in June 2005. Canada and Mexico authorised the import of Roundup Ready alfalfa in 2005, followed by Japan in March 2006.
Alfalfa is considered the United States’ third most valuable crop, planted on over 9 million hectares. It is an herbaceous perennial that makes nutritious feed for livestock. The Roundup Ready trait enables more flexible and effective weed management, which is expected to improve yield and quality.
A group of farmers, farm groups, consumers, and environmentalists in northern California filed a lawsuit to the United States Department of Agriculture in February 2006 to overturn its authorisation decision. Because alfalfa is a perennial crop with high potential for out-crossing, conventional alfalfa farmers fear transgenes will turn up in their harvests, jeopardising the marketability of their crop.
Roundup Ready alfalfa is a joint venture between Forage Genetics International and Monsanto. The companies have not expressed any intention of seeking to authorise transgenic alfalfa in the EU. |
| 03 March 2006 | | European Commission Authorises 1507 Maize for Food Use | The European Commission has authorised the food use of 1507 maize. 1057 is a transgenic maize line developed by the companies Pioneer and Dow AgroScience. It offers resistance to the European corn borer and other insects and is tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate. The European Commission authorised 1507 for feed in November 2005. An authorisation decision for cultivation is still pending.
The European Commission based its decision on the results of a safety assessment conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As has been the case with every GMO authorisation decision in the EU, EFSA’s draft for a decision was not met with a qualified majority at both the Council of Ministers and the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Food Safety. |
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February 2006
