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Commission announces new approach to GM cultivation
Seed industry deeply disappointed on failure to address GM seed thresholds
The Commission announced its new approach to GM cultivation on 13.07.2010 and with that put the so-called ‘Barroso promise’ to give more freedom to Member States in their decision to cultivate (or not!) GMOs on their territory into a concrete legal proposal and a far reaching recommendation on coexistence that repeals an earlier version of 2003.
According to the proposals, Member States will be free to ban GM cultivation in parts or all of their territory, regardless of the positive scientific risk assessment carried out by the responsible EU body, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Moreover, Member States and regional entities may implement specific coexistence measures beyond what would be required to stay below the EU’s GM labeling threshold of 0.9% as set by Council and Parliament.
“This is not a good day for some of the most fundamental principles of the European Union. The Commission de facto abandons the internal market, it authorises Member States to neglect the EU’s own independent scientific advice, and it circumvents a decision taken by Council and European Parliament by a recommendation that allows national governments and national parliaments to set their own, different standards.”, Garlich von Essen, Secretary General of ESA criticizes the proposals.
“Most disappointing, the Commission still does not propose any solution to the pressing question of unintended, yet unavoidable presence of GMOs in conventional seed!”, von Essen underlines the shortcomings of the Commission’s approach: “After more than 10 years of ‘reflection’ and ‘assessment’, we think what the Commission proposed today is not enough – and it is not good either. It creates new problems and doesn’t resolve the existing ones”.
To read more, click here to see the ESA Press Release
