EU to Face Economic Disaster if GMO is Banned, Food Safety Commissioner Says

The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, defended the position of the European Union as the second-largest importer of GM soybean globally. He mentioned that the claims of biotech critics against the importation of GM feed or food in Europe is "scaremongering" and "a conspiracy theory".

At present, several GM crops have been approved for food and feed in the EU. These include maize, cotton, soybean, oilseed rape, and sugar beet.

Biotech critics, including environmental campaigners, climate change activists, and scientists, and some farming groups are against the importation of GM crops from Brazil because planting such crops have replaced large swathes of rain forests.

The commissioner defended his position to continue the importation of GM crops because banning the products would lead to an economic crisis across the region. "You can't guarantee everyday food on your tables if you exclude today's feed for fish, poultry and animals in Europe…If it's banned, it will be a crisis – a social, economic crisis in the supermarket and it will be immediate, " he stressed.

Read more about the story in AgriLand.