No lifting of Euro GM ban, yet
The Scientist
December 11, 2003
A much-anticipated breakthrough fails to materialize | By Andrew Scott
The European Union's de facto moratorium on new approvals for the import or production of genetically modified (GM) crops and foods remains in place-for the meantime.
The EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, meeting December 8, was unable to reach a decision on whether to authorize the import of GM corn produced by the Swiss company Syngenta and currently grown in the United States and elsewhere.
The committee was split 6-6, with three abstentions. Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK were all in favor of approval, while Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal were opposed. Belgium, Germany, and Italy abstained.
This was the first test of the EU's new regulations on GM products. It was also the latest move in a trade disagreement between the European Union and the United States and some other countries that have submitted a complaint about the moratorium to the World Trade Organization. The GM corn application is just the first of a number of GM applications currently pending.
Responsibility for the decision now passes to the Council of the European Union, in which ministers from each member state will try to take a decision. The council will probably consider the issue sometime in January 2004.
If the ministers cannot reach agreement within 90 days, responsibility will pass back to the European Commission, which originally submitted the application to the Food Chain and Animal Health Committee for approval. So eventually, the commission may be able to grant the approval itself, but only after a significant delay.
Opponents of GM crops and foods have strongly welcomed the continuation of the moratorium. In a statement, Friends of the Earth Europe described the decision as a "victory for public safety and common sense." Their spokesperson, Geert Ritsema, said: "There is clearly no scientific consensus over the safety of this modified sweet cornŠ The European Commission now has the opportunity to rethink its position. The public doesn't want to eat GM foods, and question marks remain over its safety. The commission must put the well being of European citizens and their environment before the business interests of the US government and the biotech industry."
Representatives of the European biotech industry take a very different view. Simon Barber of EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, told The Scientist, "This would appear to be more a political vote than a vote on the science. If we politicize science in this way, how can our consumers have confidence in the safety structures that we have established?"
EuropaBio feels that new approvals should now be going ahead. Barber points out that the European Commission had decided the GM corn was safe before they put the application forward for a vote. He says, "Our view is that the goalposts are constantly moving. If they have established this very rigorous system, which they all say is the most rigorous safety-based system in the world, it should be functioning, and products that get through it and are determined safe should be offered to the marketplace. As long as this process isn't functioning, the market isn't given an opportunity to choose. At present, they are denying choice by not operating their system."
Syngenta, while disappointed at the delay, is hopeful its product will eventually be approved. Sheena Bethell, spokeswoman, told The Scientist "They have at least considered it, and it is moving through the process now, which it hasn't been for a number of years. So we have moved a step forward."
Links for this article
"Member states fail to agree on new GM authorisation," Cordis News, December 9, 2003. http://dbs.cordis.lu/fep-cgi/srchidadb?ACTION=D&SESSION=6558200-3-12-11&DOC=8&TBL=EN_NEWS&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:21319&CALLER=EN_NEWS
"EU expected vote on biotech sweet corn," EuropaBio Background Briefing, November 20, 2003. http://www.europabio.org/upload/articles/article_259_EN.doc
Syngenta http://www.syngenta.com/en/index.aspx
A. Scott, "EU Parliament OKs GMO rules," The Scientist, July 2, 2003. http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030702/03/
A. Scott, "Trade dispute over GMOs reignites," The Scientist, June 26, 2003. http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030626/04/
World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org/
"Questions and answers on the regulation of GMOs in the EU," European Commission press release, October 10, 2003. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=MEMO/03/196|0|RAPID&lg=EN
Council of the European Union http://ue.eu.int/en/Info/index.htm
European Commission http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm
"GM moratorium holds: Scientific disagreement over the safety of modified sweetcorn," Friends of the Earth Europe press release, December 8, 2003. http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2003/AB_08_dec_GMO.htm
EuropaBio http://www.europabio.org/pages/index.asp