EC Urges EU Member Countries to Lift GMO Safeguards

February 20, 2009

The European Commission has called on France, as well as Austria, Greece and Hungary, to lift their safeguard measures against EU-approved GM crops. MON 810 is the only genetically modified crop approved in the European Union but France suspended its cultivation last year, invoking a so-called safeguard clause against the European Commission's authorization. France will keep a ban on genetically modified maize from US biotech giant Monsanto until the environmental risks are clarified, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on February 12.

The French food safety agency (AFSSA) report, angered environmentalists and embarrassed President Nicolas Sarkozy's government which had resorted to a special EU measure to outlaw the crop. The agency said there was no evidence to support the view that MON810, the only strain of GM maize under cultivation in France before the ban, posed a health risk. Borloo is due to appear before a committee of European biotech experts next week to justify France's ban.

Related Links:

• International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), non-profit organization
• The French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA)