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EU environment ministers uphold Austrian GM ban
18 December 2006
London, 18th December, Friends of the Earth has welcomed today's decision by EU environment ministers to allow Austria to retain its national ban on the cultivation and import of two genetically modified maize crops [1]. The UK was one of only four EU members that didn't oppose the Commission's call to overturn the ban.
In a ruling this year, the World Trade Organisation judged that Austria had not followed the risk assessments needed under the trade-friendly WTO rules when it introduced its national GM ban. But the WTO ruling did not rule against GM bans per se.
Friends of the Earth food campaigner, Kirtana Chandrasekaran, said:
"Today's ruling supports the democratic right of every country to protect its citizens and environment. Europeans should not be forced to eat GM food. We are delighted that EU environment ministers have stood up to the WTO, the biotech industry and their friends in the European Commission.
"But yet again the UK Government backed the GM industry, despite overwhelming public opposition to its introduction in Europe. It's time Ministers recognised that there is no consumer demand for GM, and stood up for the interests of the public and the environment."
Austria, together with all EU member states, has ratified the UN's Biosafety Protocol which allows countries to ban genetically modified crops if there is a lack of scientific certainty over their safety. The WTO disregarded the Biosafety Protocol because the complainants in the trade dispute (the US, Canada and Argentina) had not ratified it.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
