World Grain - August 2010 - 45

REGIONAL REVIEW: E.U. PASSES THE BUCK ON GM

other politically sensitive issues could
be dealt with in Europe."
Dr. Helen Ferrier, chief science and
regulatory affairs advisor for NFU, said
that instead of giving reassurances to
support an effective and rigorous authorization process for GM across the E.U.,
the proposal is all about enabling countries to ban the growing of GM crops.
"The NFU represents all methods of
farming and growing and has always
believed that any GM legislation should
be based around sound science, rather
than politics or emotional rhetoric," she
said. "Ultimately the market will decide
if British growers use the technology.
Effective co-existence is essential for
farmers to make the choice between
organic, conventional and GM. But the
approach announced will cause serious
problems with the internal market."
Scotland's National Farmers Union
didn't like the plan either.
"It would appear that the Commission,
having found it difficult to drive through
a common position on GM cultivation,
is now happy to wash its hands of the
subject and leave European farmers and
consumers to the political preferences of
national or regional governments," said
the Scotland NFU President Jim McLaren. "The big danger is that the science
behind the role that GM may have is
lost, the need for research and development is stifled, and that emotion takes
precedence.
"By leaving GM cultivation policy to
Member States and regions, there is the
potential that GM policy can change
with every election and that GM policy
across borders within member states
- such as those that exist between
Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland - could be very different.
That is a recipe for confusion and may
hold back progress in establishing what
role new technology may play in the
future."
If the farm unions are worried about
bans, the anti-GM campaign groups
take the opposite view. "While the European Commission is seemingly offering countries the right to implement na-

tional bans, in reality the proposal aims
to do the opposite - opening Europe's
fields to GM crops," said Friends of the
Earth Europe's food campaigner Mute
Schimpf. "The Commission continues
to fail to protect Europe's food and feed
from contamination by GM crops, and
we urge countries to reject this deal as
it stands. Until Member States' demands

for a full reassessment of the risks of
GM crops are met, there should be a
moratorium on authorizing new GM
crops."
Chris Lyddon is World Grain's European editor. He
may be contacted at: chris.lyddon@ntlworld.com.
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World Grain - August 2010

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