Archived press release

Monsanto abandons GM oil seed rape plans for australia

13 May 2004

US biotech giant Monsanto has abandoned plans to grow GM oil seed rape (canola) in Australia the company has announced. Earlier this week it was confirmed that Monsanto had pulled out of GM wheat [1]. Friends of the Earth said the latest move was yet further evidence of widespread international consumer and farmer opposition to GM crops. They called on the EU to continue to block the licensing of new GM food and crops. The EU is expected to make a decision on the six year long moratorium next week.

The company blames state-based bans and restrictive trial conditions for its U-turn in Australia. Victoria and Western Australia have announced their intention to ban GM canola [2] this year. GM canola has also proved controversial in Canada, where it has been widely grown, because it has led to wide-spread GM contamination, and many potential markets (such as the EU) have refused to take it because the public demand GM-free food.

The EU has not approved any new GM food or crop licences since October 1998. This followed widespread public GM opposition in Europe, and the realisation that laws to protect food, farming and the environment from GM contamination were not strong enough.

But, some EU politicians now say that with new rules governing GM food and crops, and a legal challenge under the World Trade Organisation from the United States, its time for the moratorium to end. The EU is considering the licensing of a new GM maize (for food import only) next week. Any decision to approve will go against the majority of the European public, and in the absence of a political and scientific consensus on the safety of the GM maize.

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Pete Riley said:

"News that Monsanto has abandoned plans to grow GM oil seed rape in Australia is another massive blow to the biotech industry. There is massive opposition across the world to GM food and crops, and concern about the potential impacts on our food, farming and the environment are growing. The European Union must take note, and continue to refuse to allow any new GM products onto the European market."

Notes

1. www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/ ¬
monsanto_quits_gm_wheat_11052004.html

2. Agra Europe, 26 March, 2004, page M/8.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust