The Hindu : International : E.U. lifts ban on GM corn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 16, 2004

International

International

E.U. lifts ban on GM corn

By Ian Black

BRUSSELS, MAY 15. The European Union is to approve the sale of a brand of genetically modified corn for human consumption — ending a six-year ban that was challenged by the U.S.

Next week's landmark ruling by the European commission will allow the insect and herbicide-resistant Swiss-made product to be sold, even though consumer resistance remains powerful.

But growing Syngenta Bt-11 maize in the E.U.'s 25 member states will remain illegal for the moment.

Under new E.U. rules, canned vegetables have to be clearly labelled as having been harvested from a GM plant, the commission's chief spokesman, Reijo Kemppinen, said yesterday.

Since many supermarket chains require suppliers to guarantee that their products are GM-free, the product is unlikely to be a huge success.

The biotech industry trade group, EuropaBio, welcomed the announcement, but conceded that the corn was unlikely to be on sale soon.

The decision was condemned by Friends of the Earth, the environmental group. ``Scientists cannot agree over (the sweetcorn's) safety and the public does not want it,'' a spokesman said.

Polls shows some 70 per cent of the European public remains opposed to GM foods.

Critics say Bt-11 has been modified to produce a toxin that is naturally found only in bacteria and that the scientific assessment was undertaken according to outdated rules.

The decision to lift the ban follows the failure of E.U. Governments to agree on the first application submitted under the new labelling rules, which came into effect in April.

The E.U. has been under pressure from the U.S. and other big exporters to lift the 1998 ban which, they say, is unscientific and illegal under World Trade Organisation rules.

The moratorium came into force when several E.U. countries said they would reject new GM authorisations until there were stricter laws on testing and labelling.

The commission insists that the new rules provide adequate protection for consumers. —

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