| Author (Person) | Smith, Emily |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.12, 30.3.06 |
| Publication Date | 30/03/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Emily Smith Date: 30/03/06 The EU will next week re-open the arguments over its confused approach to regulating genetically modified (GM) crops. A three-day conference in Vienna (4-6 April), hosted by the Austrian EU presidency and the European Commission's agriculture department, will tackle the thorny issue of how safely to grow GM seeds next to conventional and organic crops. After the revision of EU rules on the traceability and labelling of GM products, disagreements over the so-called co-existence of GM crops and GM-free farms have become the greatest remaining obstacle to more GM cultivation. Biotech companies say farmers and governments are unwilling to invest in GM crops without advice on how to protect surrounding fields. Environmentalists meanwhile say the EU should stop prevaricating and resolve to become a GM-free zone. The Commission earlier this month published a report on national approaches to co-existence. It found that only four EU countries had so far adopted co-existence laws and that only Spain has started large-scale GM crop production. The conference will look at co-existence measures taken across Europe, whether or not these are backed up with legislation. Of the seven countries whose representatives are speaking at the conference, Spain and Austria represent two ends of the spectrum. Spain is happily devoting 12% of its maize output to biotech varieties. Austria is fighting in the EU courts to defend its decision to ban GM cultivation in some regions. Hungarian co-existence proposals have also been rejected by the Commission as being so strict they would cause trade problems. Germany had its co-existence laws approved by the Commission but is now reviewing them. Denmark makes biotech farmers contribute to a compensation fund to pay for accidental contamination of non-GM crops. Friends of the Earth, the environmental campaign group, has called the Danish legislation "a model for liability laws". The Netherlands also has a compensation fund, but only a voluntary one. The Czech Republic remains pro-GM and grows the crops without legislation. Next week's conference will open with speeches from Josef Pröll, the Austrian agriculture minister, Mariann Fischer Boel, the European agriculture commissioner, and Stavros Dimas, the commissioner for the environment. All three are considered wary of GM cultivation. In her native Denmark, Fisher Boel campaigned for tough rules on the accidental contamination of conventional crops from GM varieties. Dimas has remained relatively quiet on the controversial GM question lately. But when questioned by MEPs before taking office in 2004, the Greek commissioner said crops should be labelled as GM if they contained more than 0.1% of a biotech variety - despite claims from scientists that it is impossible to detect these low levels. Article previews a three-day conference in Vienna, 4-6 April 2006, hosted by the Austrian EU Presidency and the European Commission's DG Agriculture, about the issue of how safely to grow GM seeds next to conventional and organic crops. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
