In an open statement, the European Seed Association (ESA) opposes the European Commission’s move to re-nationalize the authorization of GM food imports for processing, food and feed use. The decision is expected to be made either today or next week.
Following the agreement of member states and the European Parliament to re-nationalize the authorization of GMOs for cultivation, the European Commission now contemplates taking the same approach for decisions on GMO imports such as corn and soybeans, says Garlich Von Essen, ESA secretary general.
“EU member states would be allowed to ban these imports to their territories on so-called ‘compelling grounds’ — grounds that the commission itself seems unable to quite define,” he says. “While banning the cultivation of GM crops is considered justifiable on grounds of ‘specific landscapes’, ‘town and country planning’ or ‘ethical concerns’ (criteria sufficiently vague to cover most member states’ future decisions), the commission appears to find it difficult to find any compelling grounds for the ethical concerns of the millions of pigs, hens and cows that apparently, healthily and happily, eat imported GM feed year after year.
And of course this is not to mention the 500 million EU citizens that enjoy the resulting dairy and meat products.”
The full opinion piece is published in The Parliament.
