EU Postpones Decision on Allowing GM Foods

In Brussels on Monday, environmentalists placed a giant inflatable tomato in front of EU buildings, driving home their message that genetically modified (GM) foods should have no place on European store shelves or in farmers’ fields. That message got through to members of a committee studying the possibility of allowing biotech crops into the EU, who decided more time was needed before making a decision on authorizing the import of a genetically modified sweetcorn. The committee postponed the decision until December.

“A fierce discussion took place today,” said European Commission spokesman Reijo Kemppinen, who briefed reporters about the debate that took place in an EU specialist committee set up to examine giving the green light to GM foods and crops.

The debate was over whether to allow Bt-11 maize, marketed by the Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta, to be imported into the EU as a food product to be eaten from the can. While a dossier laying out the pros and cons of importing the maize into Europe has been ready for months, the EU’s executive commission had been waiting for Monday’s debate to see where member countries fall on the issue and to gauge the public mood concerning the issue.

The mood does not seem to be improving. Surveys show 70 percent of Europeans oppose GM foods and crops.

Five-year ban

An unofficial ban has been in place since 1998, when the EU approved its last batch of GM food products. The next year, France and Germany led calls for a de facto moratorium on new GM food approval and won the backing of several other EU states. They formed a minority block that has been able to block any vote on a new approval.

But the EU is under pressure from other trading partners, including the United States, Canada and Argentina, to drop the ban. The U.S. filed a complaint with the WTO this year, saying the moratorium is illegal and without any scientific foundation. Farmers in the U.S. say it costs them millions of dollars a year in lost sales.

For the planned December vote, the European Commission will need a qualified majority of members states to approve or reject the Bt-11 maize. A ‘yes’ vote next month would put an end to the unofficial blockade and clear the way for a variety of new GM products. France is seen as playing a crucial vote, since Paris was part of the most vocal anti-GM campaigners. However, it has been softening is opposition to biotech food over the past several months.

Strong opposition

But opposition to GM crops among European consumers continues to run high. Genetically modified foods are popularly referred to as “Franken Food” and consumers say they are extremely wary about buying food products whose genes have been spliced in laboratories. Retailers say they see no reason to offer more GM foods for sale until demand rises.

Farmers, even those not specifically opposed to biotech crops, are also reluctant to go the biotech route, since sowing land with GM seeds is an economic gamble few are willing to take in the current environment. Others do not trust the science.

“I’m afraid we simply don’t have enough information to make the right decision. I’m also concerned that the tests we have so far are not conclusive enough to judge the long-term consequences,” said Carsten Fedder, a farmer who chooses to grow a conventional rapeseed crops, even though several GM varieties have built-in insecticides.

Proponents of GM foods say the fear among consumers is unfounded, since other countries, namely the U.S., have been growing and eating biotech crops for years. They point to the many advantages modern genetic technology can provide, such as maize varieties which flourish even in the midst of drought or picture-perfect tomatoes that are extremely high in vitamin content. Scientists are even exploring creating foods that contain agents that are helpful in preventing diseases like uterine cancer.

“We’ve basically shown that a potato can produce a vaccine,” said Sophie Biemelt, a researcher the Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben. “One could imagine one day getting vaccines from the food you eat.”

But such arguments have thus far failed to sway a majority of Europeans. Farmer Carsten Fedder said he prefers the genetics that nature gave his potatoes, or the rye that he also grows. If he chose to grow the generically modified version of the grain, he would have higher yields, such as American farmers enjoy. Still, Fedder, whose children influence his views, insists he is not concerned.

“The market here in Europe is large enough, really. As long as it’s protected against genetically modified seeds, our opportunities are good,” he said.