EU Green Opposition Outraged by GMO Maize Crop Authorization

13 Feb 2014 --- Campaigners against the US-developed GMO maize crop Pioneer 1507 have expressed their outrage at the Commission’s decision to authorize the crop, despite the opposition of 19 member states which voted against the move earlier this week.

Green MEPs poured scorn on the EU executive, calling its decision “a disdain for the democratic process”, while other MEPs and environmental organisations also expressed their feelings on this subject.

Other environmental groups, such as Friends of the Earth, have also expressed concerns about Pioneer 1507 in the past.  “Despite a number of assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) many questions around the crop’s safety, its legal standing and the European Commission’s mandate in its authorisation, remain unanswered,” it said in a statement at the end of last year.

The French agriculture minister, Stephane Le Foll, expressed his disappointment with the decision. “We will look into the possibility of appealing against this decision,” his team stated.

The row concerns the GM maize ‘Pioneer 1507’, developed jointly by DuPont and Dow Chemical, which will be approved by the European Commission following the inconclusive ministerial meeting on 11 February. A record 19 member states (including France, Italy and the Netherlands) objected to the proposal in an EU Council vote, while five voted in favour and four abstained.

Germany, which was one of those that abstained, is still developing its policy on the cultivation of GMO crops. German government spokesperson, Steffen Seibert said “It is normal procedure to abstain on a dossier where there are different opinions within the government on the matter.” Others who abstained were Portugal, Czech Republic and Belgium.

GM Crops are widely grown in the Americas and parts of Asia but the European Union has only ever approved two other GM crops for commercial cultivation, a maize type and a potato, which was later blocked by a court. There are widespread fears in Europe that GM crops carry potential risks to human health and wildlife, which has led to strong opposition to them among the public and environmental groups.

Greenpeace EU agriculture policy director Marco Contiero said: “The Commission cannot ignore the scientific, political and legal concerns voiced by a large majority of countries, by two thirds of the European Parliament and supported by most EU citizens. The European Court of Justice would very likely overturn an authorization of this GM maize in a legal challenge, as it did with the latest Commission approval of the Amflora GM potato. The Commission must learn from its mistakes and stop breaching the rules that help ensure the safety of what is grown in Europe.” Greenpeace also stated that it believed a toxin produced by Pioneer 1507 is harmful to butterflies and moths.

Meanwhile, an organisation representing the manufacturers in the biotechnology sector, EuropaBio, said in a statement that “All GM crops that are currently on the market in Europe have undergone a rigorous safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and have been deemed safe. This was reinforced by two reports published by the European Commission in 2000 and 2010”.

The 1507 maize crop is designed to provide farmers with protection against insect pests such as the corn borer, according to Pioneer 1507’s co-developer Dow AgroSciences.

by Sonya Hook