Three genetically modified strains of maize for which the European Commission was seeking support from member states to authorise thier cultivation including MON 810, will need to wait a little longer before learning their fate, we learned on Friday 27 January.
Member states’ representatives on the standing food chain and animal welfare committee did not manage to reach the required qualified majority (16 countries representing at least 65% of the EU’s population) for approving or rejecting proposals from the Commission.
The GMOs in question are Bt 11 maize from Dupont Pioneer, 1507 from Syngenta, for which application is being made for cultivation for the first time in countries which so desire in the EU, and a renewal of the authorisation licence for Monsanto’s MON 810, the only GMO thus far grown in the EU.
On 6 October, the European Parliament vetoed the authorisation of these three varieties of genetically-modified maize for public health and environmental protection reasons (see EUROPE 11640). The objection vote is not legally binding and the Commission decided to press ahead and has already said that it will re-submit the proposals to an appeals committee in the spring, to the dismay of the Greens/EFA group at the European Parliament, which issued a press release on Friday stating that although Parliament had made its position clear, the member states have not been able to decide, leaving the Commission to choose between withdrawing the proposals, amending them or sending them to an appeals committee.
Maize Bt11 and 1507, which generate the Bt toxin to resist the European corn borer butterfly, may harm other species of butterflies, said the MEPs, challenging the idea of ‘acceptable local mortality’ of non-targeted butterflies, an idea introduced by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The MEPs also argued that the risk assessment for MON 810 carried out by the EFSA was lacking in data, leading to fears of the possibility of cross-contamination from Teosinte – an invasive plant carrying the toxin Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) – that they say presents major risks to farmers and the environment.
Under new EU legislation, member states now have strictly ringfenced room for manoeuvre when it comes to allowing or banning the growing of GMOs in their country that are allowed at EU level (EU Directive 2015/412 of the European Parliament and Council, amending Directive 2001/18/EC). Nine of the 28 member states and three regions (England, Flanders and Brussels) have already said that they want to use their opt-out granted under this directive. Time will tell whether the arguments they will be allowed to put forward will be robust enough legally to resist any possible attacks from the World Trade Organisation (OMC) (see EUROPE 11267). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)