EC to Decide on Five GM Crop Applications
February 22, 2008| |
The European Commission will now decide on the fate of four GM maize and one potato variety after the Council of Agriculture Ministers failed to come up with a decision to either disapprove or allow the market placement of these transgenic crops. Assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) revealed that the derivatives from these GMOs are as safe as products obtained from traditional plants. As already been the case, the Commission seems very likely to follow EFSA’s scientific advice and authorize the five products.
The GM maize varieties are modified to resist pests such as the rootworm and the European corn borer (Monsanto’s GM lines) as well as the herbicide Roundup Ready (Syngenta’s GA21). The three GM maize applications (Mon863xNK603, Mon863xMon810 and Mon863xMon810xNK603) concern GM lines that have already been approved for food and feed use in the European Union. BASF’s GM potato Amflora, on the other hand, will be used mainly for industrial starch production.
On a separate note, BASF has filed a separate application for the cultivation of the GM potato. Since the Council of Agriculture Ministers also failed to reach a qualified majority regarding the application, it has also been forwarded to the Commission.
See http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/336.docu.html for the details of the story.
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