Brussels, 19/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Although the European Commission's intention to authorise cultivation of TC 1507 maize by Pioneer-DuPont in the near future, despite the political opposition of 19 member states of the EU, have come under fire, the biotechnologies industry has welcomed the move. It sees it as a step towards putting an end to the long delays in authorisation procedures for GMOs in Europe, despite EU legislation (Directive 2001/18/EC, which lays down the procedure for marketing authorisation for GMOs), the scientific opinions returned by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the interests of the industry and of European farmers.
“The EU and the national public authorities must stick to the rules they adopted and deal with dossiers within the timeframes laid down legally”, observes Europabio, the European Association for Biotechnologies, pointing out that the application for the authorisation of this genetically modified maize dates back 12 years.
The biotechnology industry firmly believes that the fact that the member states are not supporting the EU's own scientific opinions by opposing the authorisation or abstaining from taking position is the most harmful element to growth, investment and consumer confidence. “All products which fulfil the risk assessment requirements, as provided for by the legislation, must be authorised in order to give European farmers the same freedom of choice as is available to their competitors round the world. All genetically modified crops currently on the market in Europe have been subjected to a rigorous risk assessment by EFSA and have been deemed safe”, says Europabio.
In recent years, the European Association for Biotechnologies has consistently reiterated its firm belief that crops from biotechnologies are clearly a tool to help farmers, in the developed countries as well as in the developing world, to have a positive impact in favour of the environment, whilst supporting the vitality of local communities. It also deplores the fact that GM cultivation remains highly marginal in Europe, compared to areas under cultivation in the rest of the world. In 2012, the genetically modified maize MON 810 by Monsanto, the only GMO currently cultivated in the EU, represented 1.35% of the nine million hectares of maize grown in the EU and 0.23% of the 55.1 million hectares of genetically modified maize grown throughout the world. (AN/transl.fl)