Europe’s Debate on GMOs
Is the EU really starting to move on genetically modified crops?
T
he debate around the European Union’s policy on genetically modified organisms continues, with a flurry of activity and announcements over the past year. There are many different opinions on what direction the policy is taking, but most in the European seed industry agree positive steps have been taken. Since the European Union’s current Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Public Health John Dalli took office in 2010, and was given full responsibility for all files related to GM technology, he seems to have followed a remarkably open and reliable policy line. Shortly after coming into office, he announced there were four priorities that he intended to tackle in regards to GMOs: • The outstanding authorization of some GM products (i.e. the GM starch potato Amflora) for which there was no legal justification; • T he growing problem of trace levels of GMOs not yet authorized in the EU in feed (and food) imports; • The expressed wish of member states to have more of a say in the cultivation of GM crops on their territories; and • T he question of presence of GMOs in conventional seed. He announced that he and his service would address these four priorities in the order outlined above, one after the other. When Dalli cleared the Amflora potato for planting in time for the 2010 growing season, biotech supporters in the EU and worldwide applauded his decision as a signal of change, while anti-GM activists quickly branded him as a negative authority figure. “While it is true that the Amflora potato was the first authorization for cultivation of a GM crop in more than a decade, and that this alone truly is a signal of importance, one should take a closer look at what this actually means in practice,” says Garlich von Essen, secretary general of the European Seed Association. “The Amflora potato is a very specific GM product—it is for industrial use only and not for food production. This means it is not marketed on the open EU market for plant varieties, but solely within a closed industrial circle. Therefore, this GM product is not generally available to 52
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