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for immediate release
f
riday 14th may
2004
european commission warned over gm food
import
bureaucrats meet monday before key vote
on wednesday
Brussels , May 14, 2004 -- Friends of the
Earth Europe today warned the European
Commission that they will face increased
public hostility if they force through the
approval of a genetically modified (GM) sweet
corn on Wednesday 19. Senior European
bureaucrats are meeting on Monday 17 to agree
the Commissions position. (1)
The sweet corn, called Bt11, is developed
by Swiss-based Syngenta and has been
genetically engineered to include a deadly
insecticide. The application is only for food
and animal feed imports in the European Union
(EU) and not for growing in the EU. The
application failed to get sufficient support
from EU member states when they voted at a
recent meeting on 26 April. If approved it
will be the first new product allowed onto
the European market since October 1998.
Friends of the Earth Europe, Europe's
largest grassroots environmental group, claim
that with opposition so high and safety
concerns unresolved there is little future
for GM food and crops in Europe. In a new
briefing published today (2) Friends of the
Earth Europe highlights that:
consumers say no
There is virtually no market for GM foods
in Europe as consumers have overwhelmingly
rejected them. New EU labelling and
traceability regulations came into force on
April 18 th giving consumers better
information to decide. Official opinion polls
show that 94.6% of EU citizens want the right
to choose and 70.9% simply do not want GM
food.
gm free regions
Initiatives to ban GM crops from being
grown have now started in at least 22
European countries with some regions
introducing their own legislation to ban the
crops. In France over 1200 municipalities
have issued GM free statements as well as 500
cities in Italy . (3)
gm industry in
retreat
The biotechnology industry sees no future
in Europe . Last week Monsanto withdrew their
GM wheat after selling their European cereal
business last year. Last month Bayer withdrew
the only commercial crop it had in the UK .
Applications to test GM crops outdoors have
reduced 80% since 1997.
exports lost
Countries that have planted GM crops on a
large scale have seen their exports to Europe
crash. Maize from the US to Europe has
declined from 3.3 million tonnes in 1995 to
just 25,000 tonnes in 2002. Canada has lost
all of its oilseed rape (canola) market to
Europe , worth an estimated $300 million.
Adrian Bebb, GM campaigner for Friends of
the Earth said:
“This will be one of the first major
decisions of the newly expanded European
Commission. It provides a great opportunity
for them to put the welfare of its citizens
before the financial interests of the
biotechnology industry or its friends in the
White House.
There is clearly no
political consensus across
Europe
on this genetically
modified sweet corn. Scientists cannot agree
over its safety and the public does not want
it. If the Commission decides to force this
down our throats then they can only expect
the public ' s confidence in GM foods to sink
even further.”
Notes to Editors
• The Heads of Cabinets meet on
Monday to agree the position for the vote by
Commissioners on Wednesday.
• The briefing from Friends of the
Earth can be found in English and Spanish at:
http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/failure_of_GMO_EN_may_2004.pdf
http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/failure_of_GMO_ES_may_2004.pdf
• For more information on GM free
regions see:
www.gmo-free.org
• 4. A briefing on the Bt11 maize can
be found at:
http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/pending/bt11_briefingapril04.pdf
contacts
Adrian Bebb, Friends of the Earth Europe –
mobile 00 49 (0)1609 490 1163
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