Brussels, 25/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - During the Agriculture-Fisheries Council on Tuesday, Commissioner Franz Fischler called on Member States to inform the European Commission "as soon as possible" on the content of their national legislation regarding coexistence between GMO crops and traditional crops. The Commission must verify the conformity of these national laws with the July 2003 guidelines intended to help Member States deal with the problem at national level.
German Minister Renate Künast presented his counterparts with the draft law to be adopted by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in July or August. Germany proposes the creation of a specific cadastral survey for GMO plots of land accessible to the public on-line, the setting in place of a code of good practice (distances to separate crops, pollen barriers, separate harvesting and storage …) and envisages a considerable provision of civil responsibility.
At this stage, only Denmark is also adopting a draft law. Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and Austria welcomed the German initiative. Italy felt the German legislation would be a "point of reference" for the other countries. Germany, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg recalled that they would have preferred to set Community measures in place in this field.