EU agriculture ministers pummel GMO opt-out plan

During a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 13 July 2015, ministers from the European Union's member states showed their scepticism about a proposal from the European Commission (EC) to give individual member states the power to ban the use of genetically modified ingredients in human and animal food. Ministers criticised the the proposal as incomplete, impractical, or unnecessary.

The proposal has the objective of changing a situation whereby GMOs can only be imported into the EU if they have an EU-wide stamp of approval. These permits are granted by the EC following a scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and a vote by the member states.

However, deep divisions within the EU on this issue has meant that countries rarely reach a qualified majority in favour or opposed to the authorisation of one. In these cases, the EC takes the decision on its own, taking the burden of defending such decision in countries in which GMOs as a highly controversial topic.

The EC argued that it would be more democratic if individual member states could ban the use of a GMO, even if it has been approved on an EU level.

ESO: Background information: More freedom for Member States to decide on the GMOs use for food & feed http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-more-freedom-for-member-states-to-decide-on-the-gmos-use-for-food-feed/

ESO: Background information: Imports of GM food and feed: Right of Member States to opt out [EU Legislation in Progress] http://www.europeansources.info/record/imports-of-gm-food-and-feed-right-of-member-states-to-opt-out-eu-legislation-in-progress/

ESO: Background information: Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 13 July 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/agriculture-and-fisheries-council-13-july-2015/

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