Biotech Updates

EU Court Fines France for Delaying GMO Law

December 12, 2008

The European Union Court of Justice has ordered France to pay a 10 million euros (US $13 million) fine for failing to update its laws on genetically modified organisms and foods. France’s refusal to implement the European Union’s GMO law is “unlawful” says the Luxembourg-based court and that it “finds that the breach serious, especially in the light of its impact on the public and private interests involved”.

France argued that it couldn’t adopt the GMO laws because of “internal difficulties” including violent anti-GMO demonstrations. The EU court, however, rejected those arguments. The country has begun implementing the GMO rules in July this year, nearly six years after the October 2002 deadline that the EU had set.

The press release is available at http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp08/aff/cp080087en.pdf