EU Continues to Grapple with GM Crop Dispute; U.S. Food Co-ops and Organic Companies Pledge to Avoid GM Beet Sugar
The European Commission’s (EC’s) Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health reportedly deadlocked on February 16, 2009, over whether France and Greece should be forced to lift their bans on a genetically modified (GM) corn seed that is the only one approved for planting in the European Union. According to a biotechnology industry spokesperson, the increase in votes favoring the cultivation of GM crops signals a new momentum in Europe to open markets to these controversial crops. EU environmentalists and consumers have long opposed their introduction, citing environmental risks and the unwelcome intrusion of large corporate interests into agriculture.
A larger vote next week may, say biotech industry executives, lead to the approval of two additional GM corn seeds for marketing in the EU. Mike Hall, a spokesperson for the developer of one of them, has reportedly indicated that the company is waiting to see if the EU approves the seed before deciding whether to keep open a case against the EC and seek damages for delay. As for the French and Greek bans,
if asked by the EC, the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, will reportedly have 90 days to choose when the bloc’s governments will examine the issue. Further deadlock will force the EC to decide the matter, and it will be entitled to enforce its decision via warnings and through the European Court of Justice. The Czechs apparently favor GM crops, when they are proven safe; the only consistent
supporters are Britain and Sweden. See The International Herald Tribune, February 16, 2009.
In a related development, the European Court of Justice has reportedly ruled that EU member states cannot conceal the location of GM crop field trials. The decision was reached in a case brought by a French resident who wanted to know where such trials had taken place in Alsace. According to the court, “considerations relating to the protection of public order and other secrets protected by law . . . cannot constitute reasons capable of restricting access to information listed by the [EU] directive, including in particular those relating to the location of release.” See BBC News, February 18, 2009.
Meanwhile, the Center for Food Safety, Food and Water Watch, As You Sow, and the Sierra Club, among others, have established a “Non-GM Beet Sugar Registry” that more than 70 U.S. companies have signed. Representing mostly food cooperatives and organic food producers, the signatories have pledged “to avoid using GM beet sugar in our products” and asked “the Sugar Beet industry to not introduce GM beet sugar into our food supply.” One of the registry’s sponsors reportedly said, “We need to avoid the all-too-common situation of finding out a product is harmful after it has been approved and widely distributed.” According to the Center for Food Safety, “The registry shows the food industry’s increasing apprehension about the government’s ability to adequately regulate food production technologies.” See Foodnavigator-usa.com, February 17, 2009.
