MEPs divided ahead of key GMOs vote

Date: 06/04/2000

By Renée Cordes

FIERCE arguments over whether to hold the makers of genetically modified goods responsible for the safety of their products have split the European Parliament ahead of a crunch vote next week.

In March, the assembly's environment committee came down in favour of changing the European Commission's proposals for new rules to govern the licensing of GM crops to impose strict liability on producers for any damage done to human health or the environment. But the amendment championed by the Socialist Group was passed by only a slim majority, and the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) remains firmly opposed to this approach.

The liability rule is one of a series of proposed measures aimed at bolstering the Commission's plans for revising the directive known as 90/220, which governs the 'deliberate release' of GMOs into the environment. The committee also called for restrictions on the trade in GM crops, a ban on those which are resistant to antibiotics, and for an annual study to be carried out into the socio-economic costs and benefits of GM products which would evaluate all potential risks.

The Parliament is still taking a softer line than the EU executive on the question of how often licences should be reviewed, calling for this to be done every ten years while the Commission favours seven. But MEPs remain undecided over whether the review period should begin from the time a license is granted or when it goes on sale.

The key sticking point, however, is whether producers should be made liable for the safety of their products. The EPP argues that this should be tackled in a separate planned directive covering environmental liability in all sectors of industry, while the Socialists insist it should be dealt with now.

"Most parts of the proposal will go through, but liability just scraped through the committee. That is the issue dividing the Parliament," said UK Labour MEP David Bowe, the assembly's rapporteur on the issue.

But he insisted he would continue to fight for a liability clause in the revised legislation unless the Commission gave a clear commitment to come forward with its broader proposals on environmental liability quickly. "If the industry thinks these products are safe, they should be prepared to be responsible for them," he insisted.

But Christian Democrats argue that GM crops should not be singled out for special rules. "We do not want quick legislation on this single technology," said German Christian Democrat MEP Peter Liese. "We want environmental liability for everything which could be dangerous, but not specifically for GMOs."

This view is supported by Europe's biotechnology lobby group Europabio. But environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth insists that if the Parliament shies away from demanding tougher measures, "it would really open the whole directive to severe criticism".

Fierce arguments over whether to hold the makers of genetically modified goods responsible for the safety of their products have split the European Parliament ahead of a crunch vote.