For reasons of public health and environmental protection, MEPs of the European Parliament's Environment Committee objected to the European Commission's plans to allow the import into the EU of transgenic maize varieties resistant to glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium, as well as genetically modified soya.
The objections, adopted on Wednesday 25 September, concern both GMOs and products containing them, namely MZHG0JG (SYN-ØØØØØJG-2) (adopted by 51 votes to 15, with 5 abstentions), MON hybrid maize 89034 × 1507 × MON 88017 × 59122 × DAS-40278-9 (50 votes to 16, with 4 abstentions) and A2704-12 soybean (ACS-GMØØØ5-3) (50 votes to 14, with 7 abstentions).
For transgenic soya, MEPs stress that its production is the main driver of deforestation in South America, that the EU is the world's second largest importer of this legume, mainly for animal feed, and that, according to a recent survey, almost 90% of Europeans surveyed believe that new EU legislation is needed to ensure that products sold in the EU do not contribute to global deforestation.
MEPs also note that the Commission proposed the authorisation without the support of a qualified majority of Member States. The European Parliament will vote on these objections at the October plenary session. An objection from the European Parliament is political. It is not legally binding. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)