| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.18, 20.5.04 |
| Publication Date | 20/05/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Karen Carstens Date: 20/055/04 THE European Commission is poised to approve today (19 May) a GM maize variety for consumption in the EU. But this is unlikely to usher in a new 'green biotech' era in Europe, as ever-more towns, municipalities and regions are mobilizing against the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their own backyards. To be sure, the application - for a sweetcorn variety called Bt-11 produced by Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta for use as food and animal feed - is not for cultivation rights. Yet approval of Bt-11, after member states failed to give it the green light last month, would mark the end of a de facto moratorium on authorizing new GM products imposed in 1998 pending the introduction of more stringent EU-wide laws governing GMOs. The Commission has argued that a new traceability and labelling regime that came into force on 18 April should be enough to assuage consumer fears over buying GM products. But renegade regions across Europe claim the Commission has failed to address the 'coexistence' question - over how GM crops can exist side-by-side with conventional or organic ones without contaminating them. And they have shown no signs of backing down, despite the legal 'grey area' in which they are operating. The issue first came to a head when the Commission issued its voluntary guidelines on coexistence last July, passing the buck on crafting binding measures at EU level. Green, farmer and consumer groups complained. Affirmations from the biotech sector that coexistence without GM contamination of conventional or organic crops was possible, for example by creating 'buffer zones', fell on deaf ears. Last November, ten European regions spearheaded by Upper Austria and Tuscany declared themselves the 'network of GMO-free regions'. The other regions are: Aquitaine and Limousin (France), Marche (Italy), Salzburg (Austria), Basque Country (Spain), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Thrace-Rodopi (Greece) and Wales (UK). The Scottish Highlands (UK), Drama Kavala (Greece) and Burgenland (Austria) also joined the network at a ministerial conference organized last month in Linz, Austria. They claim the Commission's coexistence recommendation threatens the high quality and organic farming sectors. But actually declaring regions 'GMO-free' zones has proved trickier: the Commission last September rejected such a request from Upper Austria. The regional parliament, backed by the central government in Vienna, has since appealed the case, claiming that the small-scale nature of agricultural production in Upper Austria, coupled with a high concentration of organic farms, constitutes a specific problem for the region. As Josef Stockinger, the region's agriculture minister, has put it: "The complaint is something of a David and Goliath type exercise and is partly designed to raise the level of attention surrounding this debate." According to Friends of the Earth, initiatives to ban GM crops are now running in at least 22 different European countries. In France, for example, more than 1,250 mayors have issued declarations of GMO-free status to municipalities. In Austria, eight out of nine provinces have indicated they want to go GM-free. Styria and Carinthia are part of the cross-border ALPE ADRIA Bio region, along with the Italian provinces of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto, plus Slovenia. In Belgium, 39 communities in the Flemish and 81 communities in the French-speaking parts of the country have issued anti-GM declarations. And it is estimated that up to 80% of Italian territory has declared itself GM-free. Werner Müller, of Friends of the Earth, said so many requests to join the 'GMO-free Europe' campaign have poured into Upper Austria's Brussels-based bureau that they have had to be turned down. "The idea is to get regions with real powers in agrarian policy on board," he said, adding that in Italy, Austria and Germany such competencies lie more or less with the regions. "In France and the UK they can issue declarations, but it is a little more difficult," he added, so "a flood of [local] initiatives" had to be turned down by the office. Müller explained that there are two routes to going GM-free: imposing blanket bans, as Upper Austria has attempted, or going for stricter notification measures, as the country's Carinthia province has done. Last October, the government of this southern-most province introduced a draft Gentechnick-Vorsorgegesetz, or 'biotechnology precautionary bill'. Backed by all political parties, it is due to be adopted within the next few weeks in the regional parliament, said Müller. This draft law could be 'more clever' at avoiding any hoops and hurdles at EU level: besides making it obligatory to request authorization of plant biotech-containing crops, it enables farmers to create GMO-free zones on a voluntary basis. In addition, it introduces a register to guarantee the traceability of biotech products. Strict implementation of the new law could have the same effect as the prohibition of biotech crops. The province of Salzburg has introduced a similar draft law, said Müller. The Commission itself in a January press statement admitted that it would "be difficult to reject these attempts at establishing GM-free zones, which are driven by strong public local concern and economic considerations [such as the protection of local traditional agriculture]". In the meantime, environmentalists, farmers and Green MEPs have called on the Commission to stop and rethink before proposing a limit of 0.5% accidental GM content in seeds, the last piece of a complex legal jigsaw on GMOs. Activist coalition Save our Seeds wants the limit to be set at the threshold of 0.1% and the Greens in the European Parliament warned it would be irresponsible to set the limit any higher. The Commission is expected to submit its proposal to scientific experts from member states in June. Yet insiders say the commissioners might opt to pass the controversial proposal on to their successors, who will take office on 1 November. Seeds are one of the last pieces of law that the EU needs to authorize live GMOs for planting, making it the acid test of whether the EU's biotech ban is really over. The only EU country to cultivate commercial GM crops since 1998 is Spain, which in February added nine new varieties of Bt maize to a list of six already approved for commercial growing. The European Commission was due to consider on 19 May 2004 approving a GM maize variety for consumption in the European Union. However, many European regions are declaring themselves 'GMO-free regions'.. |
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