Brussels, 10/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - France's intention, which was formally announced on 9 January, to notify the European Commission that it would invoke the safeguard clause in order to impose a national moratorium on the GMO crop MON810, which is authorised in the EU, should complicate the European Commission's task in the complex management of the GMO dossier, which is the subject of a complaint filed at the WTO.
MON 810 maize, a product of the American agri-food giant, Monsanto, is the result of genetic engineering that allows it to resist the maize stemborer, a highly destructive insect. MON 810 has been authorised in the EU since 1998, pursuant to the former European directive which covered voluntary dissemination into the environment and marketing approval procedures for GMO crops (Directive 90/220/EEC). To the great displeasure of its detractors, notably Greenpeace, it did not go through a new approval procedure under the new regulatory framework in force (Directive 2001/18/EC), which requires surveillance of the crop's impact on the environment. In order to authorise this crop, the Commission had followed the favourable opinion issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Spain - the leading producer - and France are currently the only two EU member states to grow the crop.
The opinion delivered on Wednesday 9 January in France by the committee of the high authority on GMOs, which notes the risk of contamination of conventional crops by this genetically modified crop, has convinced the French government that it is justified to invoke the safeguard clause foreseen in Community legislation. Article 23 of Directive 2001/18/EC in fact authorises member states to invoke a risk for human health or for the environment in order to provisionally ban an EU-authorised GMO on their territory, as long as this risk is supported by “new or complementary” scientific evidence.
France is therefore preparing to join Austria and Hungary, two member states that have taken safeguard measures against the same maize by invoking protection of the environment and the impact that the MON 810 maize will have on certain species of butterflies. The Commission's attempt to make Austria and Hungary cancel their national ban has so far proved unsuccessful, as a majority of member states have shown proof of solidarity with the these two countries (EUROPE 9370 and 9331).
In answer to press questions on the possible implications that the French decision will have on the Commission's approach to this issue, Barbara Helfferich, who is spokeswoman for Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, answered that France has not yet notified its decision to the Commission. If it does come, notification will mean that the Commission will have to ask EFSA for further scientific advice. (A.N.)