Brussels, 28/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European biotechnology industry is one of the rare players in Europe to have welcomed the European Commission decision of Thursday 23 April, authorising the import of 17 GMOs for food and feed use (see EUROPE 11303 and 11302).
EuropaBio, the European association of bio-industries, which has been long awaiting resumption of authorisations, sees the green light given to these 17 GMOs as a step in the right direction, to be followed by others, it hopes.
“We welcome that, after a standstill of one year and half, the European Commission has finally decided to authorise imports of safe products in accordance with democratically agreed procedures and with scientific evidence”, said Beat Spath, director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio. He added: “We hope the Commission will now normalise what has become a dysfunctional approval process and continue approving upcoming applications. There are over 40 additional GMO applications for import still pending in the system, which should be examined and processed without undue delay”.
EuropaBio believes that approval or resumption of the import of 19 GMOs will allow “European livestock farmers in particular (to) benefit hugely from internationally traded GM crops for their animal feed, and it is important to grant them freedom of choice”.
The biotech industry restated its belief that “failing to support the EU's own best science” - that is to say, the favourable scientific opinions delivered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) - “is the single most damaging element for growth, innovation, investment as well as consumer confidence and safety”.
It for these reasons that EuropaBio and all the other players in the food and feed chain firmly reject the proposal brought forward by the European Commission on Friday 24 April for an “à la carte” system for authorising imported GMOs for food and feed purposes. (Aminata Niang)