March 8, 2010

 

France denounces GM crop approvals by EU

 
 

Europe's food safety agency has used incomplete evidence to approve genetically modified (GM) crops, according to a French environment minister.

 

France has previously invoked environmental risks to suspend cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 corn, which was the only GM crop approved for growing in the EU prior to last week's approval of BASF's Amflora potato.

 

Chantal Jouanno, a junior minister in the French government, said the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), whose opinions are used by the EU's executive, had ignored the environmental effects of GM crops.

 

"We do not recognize their expertise because we consider that their opinions are incomplete," she said.

 

They are only interested in the sanitary consequences of GM crops, without taking into account their long-term environmental impact, she said, citing potential contamination of soil and adverse effects on other species.

 

France has asked a national biotechnology committee, the HCB, to give its opinion on the Amflora potato, after already consulting the body last year on MON 810 corn.

 

To resolve longstanding divisions between member countries over GM crop approvals, the European Commission also said it may propose letting each country decide whether to authorise the cultivation of GM crops on its soil.

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