Brussels, 16/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 January, BASF, the huge German company and world leader in the chemicals sector which was tired of seeing Europe refuse GMO crops, decided that it would relocate all its biotechnological business activities to North and South America. These are currently the two biggest markets for GMOs. The chief office of BASF Plant Science Centre will therefore be transferred from Limburgerhof (Germany) to Raleigh (North Carolina in the US), whilst its research and development activities will be mainly concentrated in Raleigh, Gent (Belgium) and Berlin. Development and marketing of all products exclusively based on crops for the European market, such as the transgenic potato, Amflora, will be halted. Authorisation procedures that are already ongoing in the EU for BASF GMOs will be continued.
Stefan Marcinowski, a member of the BASF Board of Directors and responsible for applied plant biotechnology, said in a BASF press release that, “We are convinced that plant biotechnology is a key technology for the 21st century. However, this technology is still affected by a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe, from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians. Therefore, it does not make business sense to continue investing in products for cultivating on this market. We will therefore concentrate on the attractive market biotechnology in North and South America and the growth markets in Asia”.
Commenting on this news, Marco Contiero from Greenpeace declared, “Europeans don't want GM crops, and for good reason. It's not just the worrying health concerns, GM crops go hand in glove with factory farming, pesticide use, pest resistance and disappointing long-term yields”. He also explained that over the past two years, BASF has suffered a series of defeats, “in China, India, the Philippines, Thailand and elsewhere”. These two latter countries had rejected transgenic rice. (AN/trans/fl).