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EU Decision on GM Maize

Feb 17 2004

Europe's five year moratorium on new GM products could come to an end tomorrow (Wednesday 18^th February) when experts meet to vote on approval of Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) maize for import. If given the go-ahead, it will be the first GM approval in Europe since October 1998 and the first approval under the new GMO directive [2]. Friends of the Earth is urging the Government to put public safety first and reject the application as the product's long-term health effects have not been investigated.

Representatives from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will join civil servants from member states to discuss the application from US-based Monsanto at a European Regulatory Committee meeting [1]. It is likely to vote for the GM maize despite consumer concerns about the technology and gaps in the safety studies. The GM maize has been modified to tolerate Monsanto's own herbicide, called Round Up. The application is for import and not for cultivation in Europe.

Since 1998 the EU has introduced new regulations to improve the approvals process, tighten GM food labelling and traceability, and has established the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA issued a positive opinion for the GM maize in December 2003. But Friends of the Earth has written to the Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett and the Food Standards Agency [3] detailing concerns that EFSA:

• failed to look at the grain's effects on subsequent generations, cumulative toxic effects and the effects on the health of sensitive consumers as required under EU food law [4]
• disregarded concern about unexpected discoveries occurring after the genetic modification [5]
• insufficiently investigated the possibility of the modification causing more allergies [6]

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:

"It is irresponsible to give this maize the go-ahead before serious safety concerns are fully investigated. The Government must call for the application to be reassessed and for the gaps in the safety testing to be addressed. Only then will the public be able to have confidence in the decision-making process. In the meantime Member States should reject this unnecessary and unwanted application".

Notes

[1] Committee on the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment (Directive 2001/18/EC)

[2] The Deliberate Release Directive 2001/18/EC

[3] Letter available from Friends of the Earth

[4] Article 14(4) of Regulation 178/2002

[5] The EFSA failed to fully investigate unexpected sequences discovered in the genome after the modification. Research shows that such sequences could shut down neighbouring genes.

[6] The EFSA ignored guidance on allergy testing that EU scientists produced in 2003 which would lead to more thorough testing.

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