Brussels, 07/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - In a ruling on 6 September, the Court of Justice of the EU confirms the non-legitimacy of national authorisations introduced in addition to the approval of biotech crops established by the European legal framework, and also confirms that coexistence measures are not mandatory to grow genetically modified (GM) plants authorised at European level. The biotech companies DuPont Pioneer and EuropaBio immediately welcomed the verdict (Case C-36/11), which clarifies the legal requirements applying to GM crops authorised at European level in EU member states, hailing it as a victory for farmers who had been denied the right to grow approved GM crops.
“DuPont Pioneer welcomes and is really satisfied with today's decision of the European Court of Justice”, states Paolo Marchesinio, DuPont Pioneer Government, Public and Regulatory Affairs Manager Southern Europe, in a press release published on 6 September, before continuing: “since it confirms the position and reasoning our company has been supporting for many years concerning the cultivation of GM crops in Europe”. He adds: “Concerning our GM crops cultivation experience in other countries, we have always been operating in full compliance with our strict internal and internationally accepted product stewardship standards in order to prevent cross pollination”. Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, EuropaBio's Director of Green Biotechnology Europe, commented: “Today's ruling by the highest court in the European Union again confirms that national bans on GM crops are not legally defendable. Farmers' rights to cultivate approved GM crops have to be respected”.
Under the terms of the ruling, the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as the MON 810 maize varieties cannot be made subject to a national authorisation procedure when the use and marketing of those varieties are authorised. The Court also considers that EU legislation cannot authorise a member state to prohibit in a general manner the cultivation on its territory of such GMOs pending the adoption of coexistence measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in other crops.
The European Court of Justice's ruling comes further to a formal request submitted by Italy's State Council within the framework of a legal case initiated by Pioneer Hi-Bred Italia Srl versus the Italian Ministry of Agriculture on the subject of the legality of a note from that ministry. The note in question had informed Pioneer that, pending the adoption by the regions of their own rules to ensure the coexistence of conventional, biological and GM crops, it could not carry out the request of the company that called for authorisation to grow hybrid GM maize already included in the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species. This relates to the interpretation of Article 26a of Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs. (AN/transl.jl)