Biotech Updates

European Commission Backs GM Cultivation Proposal

January 23, 2009

The European Commission recommended that farmers in 27 EU member states be allowed to grow two genetically modified corn varieties. The recommendation applies to Syngenta’s Bt 11 and TC-1507, which was jointly developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred and Mycogen Seeds. Biotech experts from the member states will decide next month whether to allow the cultivation of these GM corn varieties.

The European Union has approved the importation of several GM crop varieties, including RR2Yield and LibertyLink soybeans, in recent years. But the EU hasn’t given approval for farmers to plant GM crops since 1998, when it approved Monsanto’s MON810 Bt corn. 

For more information, visit http://europa.eu/press_room/index_en.htm