World Grain - May 2015 - 17

NEWSREVIEW

Individual E.U. countries may have more say on GMO's
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Bioengineered
ingredients/GMO's soon may face additional
hurdles for use in food or feed in European
Union countries. If the E.U. authorizes a GMO
for use in food or feed in Europe, member
states/countries individually will have more
freedom to restrict or prohibit the use of the
GMO in food or feed on their territory, according to an April 22 proposal from the Brusselsbased European Commission. Countries will
need to justify that their opt-out measures comply with European Union law.
"Once adopted, today's proposal will, fully
in line with the principle of subsidiarity, grant
member states a greater say as regards to the
use of E.U.-authorized GMO's in food and
feed on their respective territories," said Vytenis Andriukaitis, health and food safety commissioner for the European Commission, the
executive body of the European Union.
The proposal mirrors and complements
the rights already given to individual E.U.
countries in respect to GMO's for cultivation, according to the European Commission. The April 22 legislative proposal will
be sent to the European Parliament.
E.U. food and feed chain partners have
rejected the European Commissions' latest
proposal. Ensuring that current legislation is
properly implemented should have been the
main priority of the commission instead of
trying to change the present market authorization procedure. Speaking on behalf of E.U.
Food and Feed Chain partners, Pekka Pesonen,
Copa-Cogeca secretary general, warned the
European Commission about the adverse economic and social impact of this proposal. "It
will seriously threaten the Internal Market for
food and feed products, causing substantial job
losses and lower investment in the agri-food
chain in 'opt-out' countries. This would cause
serious distortions of competition for all E.U.
agri-food chain partners," he said.
The E.U. food and feed chain partners urge
the E.U. Parliament and Council to reject the
commission's proposal which amounts to
renationalization and would reverse the economic achievements of the European Customs Union and the Single Market.
Additionally, the American Soybean Association (ASA) noted that it was disappointed in a decision from the European
Commission to propose amending its approvals process for biotechnology traits.
The proposal would allow individual
member states to opt out of the import
of products containing those traits, even
though such traits have been fully ap-

"Today's decision from the European
Commission is bad for the E.U.'s own livestock producers and feed industries, will
make those industries less competitive, and
is bad for E.U. consumers who ultimately
will pay more for the meat they put on their
tables," said ASA Vice-President and Dela-

ware farmer Richard Wilkins. "The E.U.
feed and livestock industries have reacted
very negatively to the E.U. Commission's
action, warning that it would make livestock
production uncompetitive and disrupt trade
into and within the E.U. market. Currently,
the E.U. feed industry imports 75 percent of
the soymeal it requires for livestock uses."

For more information, see Page 114.

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