GM Crops: French Non, German Ja
December 11, 2007 The reaction to a Monsanto genetically modified (GM) corn is a mixed bag in Europe.
France has formally suspended the commercial use of GM seeds in the country until early February and ordered a biotech safety study. At the same time, Germany has lifted a sales ban on Monsanto’s GM maize.
The future of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, has long been the subject of heated debate in France, Europe’s top grain producer. France’s reluctance to use GMO crops compares starkly with Canada and the United States, which are far more tolerant of the technology.
The French agriculture ministry says it had charged a new committee with assessing the environmental and health implications of using GMO corn reliant on the MON 810 seed technology developed by Monsanto Co.
Monsanto says it "thinks that such a decision is a scandal bereft of scientific foundation."
In Germany, the ban was lifted after the company agreed to extra crop monitoring in Germany, German authorities said on Thursday, Dec. 6.
Back in May, Germany imposed a temporary ban on commercial sales of MON 810 citing concerns about safety of the maize (corn), which is resistant to several types of butterflies which are pests to the grain in Europe.
The German government’s consumer protection and food safety agency says the ban ended after Monsanto had agreed and submitted an additional monitoring plan for commercial cultivation of the maize in Germany.
MON810 has already been approved as safe for commercial use by the European Union but several countries including Germany have expressed concern about its safety.
Monsanto’s German unit Monsanto Agrar Deutschland now says the agency’s decision underlined the safety of the MON810 product. German growers had planted 2,680 hectares of GMO maize for commercial use in 2007. A considerable increase is expected for the 2008 crop, says Ursula Luettmer-Ouazane, Monsanto Agrar Deutschland chief executive.
(Source: AgLineNews)
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