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News Messages |
| 23 October 2006 | | European Parliament holds public hearing on biotechnology | | On 10 October, the European Parliament held a public hearing on genetically modified plants and on co-existence. The statements of the different speakers reflected the varying positions with the EU member states. While many pointed out the importance of research to stay competitive and prevent researchers from emigrating, others, such as the Polish member of parliament Witold Tomczak, stressed the risk of contamination of conventional crops.
Among the further aspects in the hearing were the need for increased isolation distances for GM rapeseed (raised by the Head of Austria's Health & Food Safety Authority, Leopold Girsch), the limited suitability of GM plants to stop hunger in the developing world, and the fact that consumption of GM products already takes place, for example, when buying clothes since 80 percent of the world's cotton production is genetically modified.
The Finnish Liberal Member of the European Parliament Kosti Virrankoski will evaluate the statements given in this hearing for a Parliamentary report on biotechnology. |
| 20 October 2006 | | Commission to act against national bans on GMOs in Austria and Poland | | On 12 October 2006, the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Poland over the country's ban on all cultivation of genetically modified plants. The Polish parliament has banned the entry of any GM crops in the national seed catalogue. Blanket bans of this kind are not in line with EU legislation.
Poland now has two months to respond, before a second warning will be sent. If the Polish authorities do not fall in with the Commission's request, eventually the European Court of Justice will have to decide on the matter.
At the beginning of October, the European Commission decided to ask the Council of Environment Ministers to assess the Austrian import ban on genetically modified maize varieties MON810 and T25.
The Commission regards this ban as a violation of the single market principle. Referring to an opinion paper by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Commission claims that Austria's reasons for the import ban are unsound. The EFSA has been consulted on the import ban on MON810 and T25 on several occasions, and continues to see no scientific grounds for these restrictions.
The Council of Environment Ministers has three months to come to a decision with a qualified majority on the Austrian import ban. It is expected that the Council will discuss the topic at its meeting on 18 December. If the Council does not reach a qualified majority decision, the decision will pass back to the Commission. |
| 20 October 2006 | | Germany likely to review GMO authorisation procedure during upcoming EU Presidency | | German State Secretary Gert Lindemann has told the journal Agra-Europe that Germany will use its EU Presidency in the first half of 2007 to take a look at the procedure for approving GMOs. In April, the European Commission made changes to the risk assessments conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The basic question is whether scientific arguments are too easily outweighed by political ones. The decision about the approval of the GM carnation “Florigene Moonlite” was cited as an example: Although the flower is not intended for consumption and cultivation and is unable to produce seed, three member states voted against the approval and five abstained.
German officials also criticised the EU for not addressing co-existence sufficiently, pointing to Hungary as an example: Since Hungary is home to a huge seed industry, it has little economic interest in importing GMOs, as the industry fears potential losses from GMO contamination. Yet current EU rules do not account for this factor. |
| 13 October 2006 | | GM rice LL601: More tests and import stops | | On 4 October, the European Commission announced a proposal to introduce mandatory testing of rice imports from the USA. This proposal will be reviewed by farm experts for 15 days. During that time, the Commission will work together with the relevant US authorities to establish a common sampling protocol.
According to the national food quality agency Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia has suspended rice imports from the USA. The agency justified these measures with the fact that genetically modified rice which had not passed safety tests had been sold in the USA.
Arguing that the USA were unable to prove short- and medium-grain rice to be free of GM contamination, Japan extended current testing for GMOs to all types of US rice on 28 September. The country has begun to sample 1.1 million tonnes of rice stockpiled in warehouses. Imports in which GM rice is found must be destroyed or shipped back to the exporting country.
The world's largest rice processing company, Ebro Puleva, which controls 30 percent of the EU rice market, has confirmed to Greenpeace that, due to the threat of contamination by genetically modified rice, it has stopped all imports of rice from the USA to the EU since August. Ebro Puleva has also indicated that it will not consider purchasing rice from the USA until the situation is under control. Instead, the company will purchase rice from other countries - with the exception of China, which continues to have its own problems with GM contamination of rice. |
| 13 October 2006 | | Majority of the world's soybean production is genetically modified | | According to Brazilian officials, genetically modified cultivars will account for at least 50 percent of the total soybean planting in the next cropping season. The Brazilian seed association expects that the share of GM soybeans may even reach 72 percent. If this prognosis becomes a reality, Brazil will be following the USA and Argentina: in these countries, the respective cultivation of non-GM soybeans has decreased to eleven and five percent.
On average, 85 percent of the American soybean production will be genetically modified. However, this figure does not represent the actual situation within the market: since hardly any producer separates GM and non-GM harvests, the amount of certified GM-free soybeans will be significantly smaller.
The rapid increase of GM soybeans in Brazil may result in problems for European and Japanese importers. So far, Brazil has been the major supplier for GM-free soybeans, which are highly sought after since most consumers in Europe and Japan reject GM foods. |
| 09 October 2006 | | Verdict in WTO conflict: EU moratorium on approval of GMOs was unlawful | | Between 1998 and 2003, the treaties of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were violated by the EU moratorium on approval of genetically modified plants, and of food and feed containing GMOs. For the time being, this recently-published WTO verdict ends a trade conflict on genetically engineered products.
In 2003, the USA, Canada and Argentina filed a lawsuit against the EU. The WTO arbitration court decided partially in favour of the plaintiffs. Blocking access to the European market for GMO products on the basis of scientifically unsound safety concerns, the EU moratorium was non-compliant with WTO treaties. However, the current EU legislation on GMOs, including labelling directives and safety regulations, fundamentally has been accepted by the WTO arbitration court. The moratorium on GMOs ended in 2004. The WTO verdict has no direct implications for the current EU legislation. |
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September 2006
