December 20, 2006

 

Romania to ban GM soy
 

 

Environmentalists in Romania have managed to secure a ban on GM soy.

 

Environmental group Greenpeace coordinator Gabriel Paun considers the ban a victory for the group.

 

Romania, together with Bulgaria would join the EU on Jan 1 and therefore wants to comply with EU regulations in dealing with GM organisms. GM plantation is unwelcome by most environmentally conscious nations.

 

Incidentally, the country cultivated almost 130,000 hectares of GM soy,

becoming the single largest producer of this product in Europe, according to Greenpeace.

 

Unrestrained production of GM crops is said to have endangered prospects of agriculture exports. Such agricultural produce, often described as "contaminated", cannot reach strictly regulated markets.

 

Similar bans are also expected in other EU nations namely, Austria, Greece and Poland later.

                                                   

The most popular GM crops in the region for some time have been soybeans and maize, and also genetically modified plum trees, according to Romanian environmentalists.

 

The country began a drive against GM soy in February this year and ordered cuts in the production of GM herbicide resistant soybeans, of which the EU does not approve, and introduced a monitoring and control system for GM crops. The move was undertaken to bring food production standards into closer harmony with EU environmental rules.

 

But many farmers insist on GM-crops as the latter mean no more fighting with weeds or bugs.

 

Environmentalist Dragos Dima recently told Romanian media that it would take many years to "put the agricultural house in order." The country, he said would have to decontaminate itself from unapproved GM varieties and put in place working systems on the release of GM organisms and on food labelling.

 

Romania, might become a test case "whether GM crop-plant decontamination is possible at all," he added.