The EU is now
allowing the import of GMO crop now
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071024/sc_nm/eu_gmo_approvals_dc;_ylt=AkNIYltLWhy8LSJUe_8L1kUPLBIF
Wed Oct 24, 12:43 PM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has authorized imports of
four genetically modified (GMO) crop products for sale across its
27 national markets for the next 10 years, the European Commission
said on Wednesday.
Three of the GMO products are maize types, two of them hybrids, and
the fourth is a sugar beet. None would be grown in Europe but would
be imported for use in food and animal feed.
The decision is allowed under a legal default process that kicks in
when EU ministers cannot agree among themselves after three months.
In September, ministers failed to reach a consensus agreement under
the EU weighted voting system.
"The authorizations are valid for 10 years, and any products
produced from these GMOs will be subject to the EU's strict
labeling and traceability rules," the Commission said.
The first maize, known commercially as Herculex RW and also by its
codename 59122, is jointly made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a
subsidiary of DuPont Co, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen
Seeds.
Herculex is designed to protect against larval stages of corn
rootworm, which eats through plant roots and so reduces yield and
nutrients. It also resists the active herbicide ingredient
glufosinate-ammonium.
The same companies developed a maize hybrid called 1507/NK603 to
resist field pests like the European corn borer, as well as
glufosinate-ammonium and glyphosate herbicides.
"Today's approval is encouraging and we look forward to continued
progress in the EU biotech approval process," Dean Oestreich,
DuPont vice president and general manager and president of Pioneer
Hi-Bred, said in a statement.
"We urge the Commission to ensure similar treatment for cultivation
applications so that Europe's farmers can enjoy the same benefits
as millions of other farmers around the world."
The third GMO maize is also a hybrid, developed by biotech company
Monsanto and called MON810/NK603. The maize plants resist certain
insects and also glyphosate -- the active ingredient in Monsanto's
Roundup herbicide.
The sugar beet, called H7-1, was developed jointly by Monsanto and
German plant breeding company KWS SAAT AG to resist
glyphosate-containing herbicides. It is designed for use in foods
and feed, such as sugar, syrup, dried pulp and molasses.
Since the EU's six-year unofficial moratorium on approving new GMO
products was lifted in 2004, the Commission has authorized a string
of GMOs in this way, outraging green groups.
For many years, EU countries have been unable to secure the
majority needed to vote through a new GMO approval. They last
agreed to authorize a new GMO product in 1998.
European consumers are well known for their wariness towards GMO
foods. But the biotech industry insists its products are safe and
no different to conventional items.
Greens in Italy, where according to a recent survey six out of 10
people believe that GMO products are not healthy because they are
not natural, called Brussels' decision "an offence to Italian and
European consumers."
"The Europe that we want should protect biodiversity, health and
farms' profitability. Europe with headquarters in Brussels too
often protects foreign biotech companies," said Marcello Saponaro,
head of Italian Greens in the Lombardy region.
In a statement, Saponaro urged that the wealthy northern region
should be declared a GMO-free zone.
(Additional reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova in Milan)
(Reporting by Jeremy Smith, editing by Dale Hudson and Peter
Blackburn)