Distrust over EU GM crop approvals grows as at least 16 countries move towards national bans

[JohnyCanuck]

Brussels – In the latest blow to the European Commission’s laissez-faire approach to GM crops, at least 16 EU countries and four regions (in two other countries) are in the process of banning the cultivation of GM crops on their territories, with more expected to follow by a 3 October deadline for notifications to the EU, said Greenpeace.

On 2 October, eleven EU countries (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland) and four regional administrations (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the UK, and Wallonia in Belgium) had already formally notified the Commission of their intention to ban GM crop cultivation under new EU rules [1]. Statements by the governments of five additional countries inform of more impending notifications (Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and Slovenia) [2].

This brings the total number of countries who have already declared their intention to put in place GM crop bans to 16 – plus four regions – representing over 65 per cent of the EU’s population and 65 per cent of its arable land. More could follow suit as the deadline approaches.

http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/en/News/2015/Distrust-over-EU-GM-crop-approvals-grows-as-at-least-13-countries-move-towards-national-bans/

Half of Europe opts out of new GM crop scheme

Arthur Neslen
The Guardian, 1 October 2015


* Bid for exclusion by 14 countries and three regions would make two-thirds of Europe’s population and arable land GM-free

Under new EU rules agreed in March, 15 countries have now told Brussels they will send territorial exclusion requests to the big agricultural multinationals including Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, and Pioneer.

Applications from Latvia and Greece have already been accepted by the firms and if that pattern is extended, around two-thirds of of the EU’s population – and of its arable land – will be GM-free.

Industry sources warned that Europe could soon become a “graveyard” for biotech products but environmentalists hailed the news.

“A growing number of governments are rejecting the commission’s drive for GM crop approvals,” said Greenpeace’s EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg. “They don’t trust EU safety assessments and are rightly taking action to protect their agriculture and food. The only way to restore trust in the EU system now is for the commission to hit the pause button on GM crop approvals and to urgently reform safety testing and the approval system.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/01/half-of-europe-opts-out-of-new-gm-crop-scheme?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[djean111]

1. And this is why those corporate trade agreements are being shilled - so that countries cannot

tell corporations like Monsanto that they will not buy their seeds.
That article is so illuminating - the industry group is now trying to use fear - saying that all "innovative" industries will not invest in Europe. Bullshit.

The news was greeted with weary resignation by the biotech industry which complains that only 140,000 hectares of Europe’s land are being cultivated with GM products – compared to 181m hectares in the rest of the world.

How much land is under cultivation with GM products is none of the corporations' business, and it is not theirs to control. When corporations feel they can force countries to buy their wares, that is, IMO, a form of fascism, and that is what the "trade" agreements are really for.